SEO optimised URLs : expert tips

Creating SEO-friendly URLs is not rocket science, but it does require careful consideration and attention to detail.

The first step on the way to an SEO-friendly URL is to make it simple and descriptive keep. For example :  www.mijnkoffiebar.be/BRAZIL-SANTOS-KOFFIEBONEN-1kg.

Step 2 avoid the use of generic or ambiguous URLs that provide little or no information about the product or content of the page. For example : www.mijnkoffiebar.be/BRAZILIAANSE-KOFFIE. Here, it is unclear whether it is about Brazil Santos or Carmo de Minas, ground, beans, ... This URL can be used for the product category "Brazilian coffee", for example, but then add "product category" in the URL, for example.

Third step; choose concise and meaningful URLs that accurately reflect the nature of the product. This means you can add, for example, the packaging, model, year or other valuable information.

In doing so, always think of your customers and ask yourself the question ; "How do my customers search for my specific products in my online shop?" This is essentially what SEO optimisation is all about and what a seo consultant can help you with.

Creating SEO-friendly URLs is not rocket science, but it does require careful consideration and attention to detail.

The first step on the way to an SEO-friendly URL is to make it simple and descriptive keep. For example :  www.mijnkoffiebar.be/BRAZIL-SANTOS-KOFFIEBONEN-1kg.

Step 2 avoid the use of generic or ambiguous URLs that provide little or no information about the product or content of the page. For example : www.mijnkoffiebar.be/BRAZILIAANSE-KOFFIE. Here, it is unclear whether it is about Brazil Santos or Carmo de Minas, ground, beans, ... This URL can be used for the product category "Brazilian coffee", for example, but then add "product category" in the URL, for example.

Third step; choose concise and meaningful URLs that accurately reflect the nature of the product. This means you can add, for example, the packaging, model, year or other valuable information.

In doing so, always think of your customers and ask yourself the question ; "How do my customers search for my specific products in my online shop?" This is essentially what SEO optimisation is all about and what a seo consultant can help you with.

SEO starts with keywords. What keywords do you want to be found for? Which describe keywords best the products you sell in your own webshop.

Keywords thus play a incredibly important role in SEO. This means that the include of it in your product URLs significantly improves the visibility of your online shop in search engine results.

When selecting keywords for your URLs, it is important to choose relevant and frequently searched terms that match the intent of your target audience.

By using SEO-optimised URLs and strategically placing keywords in your product URLs, you improve your website's chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

How do you find the best keywords for your webshop products?

• Tip 1 : Put it to the test and search in Google yourself. Look at the number of search results - if this is high, this is an indication of a frequently used search term
• Tip 2 : Look at your competitors and learn from them - what search term do they use for their products that you also sell
• Tip 3 : Go see the website or webshop from your supplier. Possibly he/she also has an online shop and there you can see what name and keywords they use to describe the products.
• Tip 4 : Use the keyword tool from Google itself namely the Google Keyword Planner.

The URL structure plays a crucial role in optimising your webshop for both your webshop visitors and search engines.

In e-commerce, there are usually a considerable number of product URLs. Therefore, it is  essential to create a clear, orderly and consistent structure set up.

This URL structure should make it easy to navigate and easy to understand. 

A best practice for SEO optimised URL structure is :

1. for category URLs : the inclusion of the term "/product-category/" in the URL followed by the name of the category and subcategory
2. bee product page URLs : add the term "/product/" in the URL followed by the name of the product

This makes it clear when it is about a category or subcategory and when it is about a product.

This hierarchical approach not only improves the user experience, but also helps search engines to find the relevance and context of your products to understand.

Woocommerce SEO optimised URL - how do you do it?

In your Woocommerce webshop is a SEO-optimised URL structure happy very simple set using the following steps :

1. go to your dashboard : "www.mijnwebsite.be/wp-admin/index.php"
2. in the menu on the left, choose : "settings" (settings)
3. in this menu go to : "permalinks“
4. in the 2nd part : "optinal" you can change the product category name in your URL structure
5. in the last part : "product permalinks"you can set the name in the url structure for product pages
6. select : "custom base" (custom base) and enter : /product/

Got a broken link after editing? Here's how to fix a can find and fix broken link.

Therefore, link building should definitely be a part of your online store marketing strategy.

Such as, for example, pursuing qualitative backlinks and preventing broken links. 

URL - structure optimisation : expert tips from practice.

• Tip 1 : put in the URL of the product pages no categories and sub-categories. You can easily check or uncheck this in a Woocommerce webshop.
• Tip 2 : add the important keyword as close to the front of the URL structure as possible. So not first the year, model, version and then the name of the product but the other way around : first the keyword then type and then details.
• Tip 3 : “product-category" can you cut off as "p-c" to make it simpler and shorter
• Tip 4 : add a Breadcrumb navigation allow it to clearer make

• Tip 5 : use hyphens to separate words. In fact, search engines consider hyphens to be word separators, which means that they are the better understand the meaning of your URLs. 

For example :

• www.mijnkoffiebar.be/product/BRAZIL-SANDOS-KOFFIEBONEN-1kg-2023-SINGLE-ORIGIN-ARABICA, 
• and not
• www.mijnkoffiebar.be/product/1kg-2023-SINGLE-ORIGIN-ARABICA-BRAZIL-SANDO

When optimising your product URLs, it is important to be aware of common mistakes that negatively impact have on you seo efforts.

Here, we provide an overview of common URL mistakes.

1. Dynamic URLs

Dynamic URLs are webshop address URLs that change or are created via a script. Often, these URLs contain a session ID, numbers and characters. This makes them unclear, changing and long. Therefore, it is not recommended to use URLs with ID numbers. 

These URLs are difficult for search engines to understand and can lead to indexing problems

2. meaningless or overly technical URLs

Here I am thinking of adopting, for example, the manufacturer's product name. This can sometimes be a meaningless model number or a combination of, say, a name, colour and year.

On the other hand, you should sometimes copying the name exactly. I am thinking of e.g. the latest iPhone. To be found for this, it is best to copy the name exactly in the URL.

Usage keywords by which your customers describe the product as SEO-optimised URL for a product.

3. Changing the URL structure without a redirect

A golden rule is that you should have a URL never changes once created. Unless you send the old to the new URL via a redirect you best not do this to so-called “broken links" to prevent.

On the one hand, external links to your page or product in the webshop will no longer work, but the internal URLs on your webshop will also stop working. This results in broken links and the 404 landing page.

EXPERT TIP : we use the Redirection plugin to SEO-optimised URL redirects to make.

READING TIP : How to find and fix broken links in my webshop.

4. Do not use stop words or special characters in a URL

Another common mistake is using stop words in your URLs, such as ;  "and", "the" or "of". These words make your URLs unnecessarily long and reduce the impact of you keywords.

The second error under this heading is the use of special characters such as ; %, &, ë. Google URL Structure Guidelines advises against using non-ASCII characters.

A common variant is the omitting hyphens where words are joined together become. This is also a common URL structure error. An example is "/brazilsantos/" instead of "/brazil-santos/".

Woocommerce plugin for SEO optimised URLs

Fortunately, there are various tools and plugins available that the process of optimising your product URLs for SEO can simplify.

One popular tool is Yoast SEO, a WordPress plugin that offers comprehensive SEO analysis and optimisation features, including SEO URL optimisation.

Redirect tool for linking to modified SEO product URLs

The tool cited earlier that we use a lot is the Redirection Plugin for Woocommerce. This handy URL tool not only makes it easy to link to a new URL but also keeps track of which URLs no longer work. This allows you to see which URL to redirect or restore. 

Google Search Console URL analysis tool

Another useful tool is Google Search Console, which allows you to use the check the performance of your website in search results and can identify areas for improvement, such as URL structure and keyword usage.

READING TIP : Useful Google Tools for webshop optimisation. 

In short, product URLs are a essential part by SEO optimization and  success with your webshop. We recap the tips on how to create SEO-friendly URLs. Add relevant keywords, follow our best practices for URL structure optimisation and avoid common mistakes. 

With this optimise product URLs of your online shop and increases the visibility of your website in search engine results.

Take advantage of our listed useful tools and plugins to simplify the optimisation process and constantly monitor and adjust your SEO URL strategy. This ensures that you have a can consolidate positive growth with your E-commerce. 

Let us give you Building a WooCommerce webshop and help you improve the URL structure of your online shop. Get in touch with our seo consultant or online store consultant for Tailored e-commerce advice and lift your online business to new heights.