SEO Tools
URL Slug Generator
Convert titles and text into SEO-friendly URL slugs. Removes special characters, replaces spaces with hyphens, and optimizes for search engines.
Use URL Slug Generator to get instant results without uploads or sign-ups. Everything runs securely in your browser for fast, reliable output.
Your results will appear here.
About this tool
A "slug" is the part of a URL that identifies a particular page on a website in a form readable by users. For example, in `example.com/my-first-post`, the slug is `my-first-post`.
Search engines prefer clean, descriptive slugs. Spaces, accents, and special characters (like ?, &, %) cause issues in URLs. This tool sanitizes your text into a standard format used by WordPress, Ghost, and static site generators.
It handles accent removal (transliteration) so that "Crème Brûlée" becomes "creme-brulee" correctly.
Usage examples
Standard Title
Blog post conversion
How to use React Hooks? → how-to-use-react-hooks
Accents
International characters
Café & Restaurant → cafe-and-restaurant
Numbers
Preserving important digits
Top 10 Tools → top-10-tools
How to use
- Type your article title or text input.
- The tool instantly converts it to a URL-friendly slug.
- Choose separator style (hyphen or underscore).
- Click "Copy" to use it in your CMS (WordPress, Astro, etc.).
Benefits
- Instant conversion
- Removes special characters safely
- Transliterates accents (é → e, etc.)
- Preserves numbers
- Custom separators (- or _)
- Lowercase conversion
FAQs
Why are slugs important for SEO?
Google uses the URL to understand what a page is about. A clean slug like /best-pizza-recipe is much better than /post=123. Descriptive URLs rank higher, appear more trustworthy in search results, and get more clicks. Keywords in URLs are a minor ranking factor that compound with other SEO elements.
What characters are removed in a slug?
Special characters, punctuation, and symbols are removed or replaced. Spaces become hyphens, accented characters are transliterated (é→e), and everything is converted to lowercase. Safe characters include letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens. This ensures URLs work across all browsers and platforms without encoding issues.
Should I use hyphens or underscores?
Google recommends using hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) to separate words in URLs. Hyphens are treated as word separators (hello-world = two words), while underscores are not (hello_world = one word). This affects how search engines parse and rank your content. All major CMSs default to hyphens.
How long should a URL slug be?
Keep slugs concise and descriptive, typically 3-5 words (30-60 characters). Shorter URLs are easier to read, share, and rank better in search engines. Avoid unnecessary words like "a," "the," "and" if they don't add meaning. For example, prefer /best-coffee-makers over /the-10-best-coffee-makers-that-you-can-buy.
Should I include the year in slugs?
Include years only for time-sensitive content (2024-trends, best-phones-2024) or when updating annually. Avoid years in evergreen content to prevent looking outdated. For recurring annual posts, use the year to distinguish versions. Some sites update slugs yearly, others keep timeless slugs and update content.
Can I change a URL slug after publishing?
Yes, but implement a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one to preserve SEO value and prevent broken links. Changing slugs without redirects loses all backlinks and rankings. Most CMSs handle redirects automatically. Only change slugs if the improvement justifies potential rank disruption. Maintain consistency when possible.
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