URL Slug Generator Guide

What is a URL Slug?

A URL slug is the user-friendly, SEO-optimized part of a URL that describes the page content. It uses lowercase letters, separators (hyphens or underscores) instead of spaces, and removes special characters. Our tool automatically handles all the conversion rules and provides multiple customization options to fit your specific needs.

Example Conversion

Input:  "How to Learn JavaScript in 2024"
Output: "how-to-learn-javascript-in-2024"

Full URL: https://example.com/blog/how-to-learn-javascript-in-2024

Key Features

🎯 Separator Options

Choose between two separator styles based on your preference or requirements:

• Hyphen (-): Recommended for SEO. Most search engines prefer hyphens as word separators in URLs. Example: my-blog-post
• Underscore (_): Common in programming contexts. Useful for database keys or API routes. Example: my_blog_post

🔄 Lowercase Conversion

Toggle lowercase conversion on or off:

• Enabled (Recommended): Converts all text to lowercase for consistency and SEO. "Hello World" → "hello-world"
• Disabled: Preserves original case. Useful for case-sensitive identifiers. "Hello World" → "Hello-World"

🔢 Number Handling

Control whether numbers should be kept or removed:

• Keep Numbers: Preserve digits for dates, versions, or sequences. "Top 10 Tips 2024" → "top-10-tips-2024"
• Remove Numbers: Strip all numeric digits. "Top 10 Tips 2024" → "top-tips"

📏 Max Length Control

Set a maximum character limit for your slugs (10-200 characters):

• No Limit: Allow slugs of any length
• With Limit: Truncate slugs at the specified length, ensuring no trailing separators
• SEO Recommendation: Keep slugs under 50 characters for optimal search engine visibility

🌍 Accent Removal

Automatically removes diacritics and accented characters:

• "café" → "cafe"
• "résumé" → "resume"
• "tête-à-tête" → "tete-a-tete"
• "naïve" → "naive"

👁️ URL Preview

See how your slug looks in a real URL context:

https://example.com/blog/your-generated-slug

📊 Real-Time Statistics

View instant statistics about your generated slug:

• Characters: Total character count
• Words: Number of words (separated by your chosen separator)
• Separators: Count of hyphen or underscore separators
• Numbers: Count of numeric digits in the slug

⚡ Quick Examples

Start with pre-built examples to see how the tool works:

• "Hello World! This is a Test"
• "10 Ways to Improve Your SEO in 2024"
• "The Ultimate Guide to Web Development"
• "café-résumé & tête-à-tête" (demonstrates accent handling)

How to Use the Slug Generator

Step 1: Enter Your Text

Type or paste the text you want to convert into the input field. This could be:

• Blog post titles
• Product names
• Page headings
• Category names
• Any text that needs to become a URL

Step 2: Choose Your Separator

Select between hyphen (-) or underscore (_). For most web URLs, hyphens are recommended as they're treated as word separators by search engines.

Step 3: Configure Options

Adjust the settings to match your requirements:

• Convert to Lowercase: Keep enabled for standard web URLs
• Remove Numbers: Enable if you want clean, number-free slugs
• Maximum Length: Set a character limit if you need shorter slugs

Step 4: Review the Result

Check the generated slug in the output section. The tool shows:

• The generated slug
• URL preview showing how it looks in context
• Statistics about the slug

Step 5: Copy and Use

Click the Copy button to copy the slug to your clipboard, then paste it into your CMS, website, or application.

Slugification Rules

Our tool applies these transformation rules automatically:

• Trim Whitespace: Remove leading and trailing spaces
• Case Conversion: Convert to lowercase (if enabled)
• Accent Normalization: Remove diacritics from accented characters
• Number Filtering: Remove digits (if enabled)
• Special Character Removal: Replace non-alphanumeric characters with separators
• Separator Consolidation: Replace multiple consecutive separators with a single one
• Edge Trimming: Remove separators from the beginning and end
• Length Truncation: Cut to max length (if set) without leaving trailing separators

Practical Use Cases

1. Blog Post URLs

Create readable, SEO-optimized URLs for blog posts and articles:

Title: "10 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills"
Slug:  10-ways-to-improve-your-writing-skills
URL:   https://example.com/blog/10-ways-to-improve-your-writing-skills

With "Remove Numbers" enabled:
Slug:  ways-to-improve-your-writing-skills
URL:   https://example.com/blog/ways-to-improve-your-writing-skills

2. E-Commerce Product Pages

Generate descriptive product URLs that help both users and search engines:

Product: "Nike Air Max 270 - Blue/White"
Slug:    nike-air-max-270-blue-white
URL:     https://example.com/products/nike-air-max-270-blue-white

3. Category and Tag Pages

Create clean, organized URLs for categories and tags:

Category: "Web Development & Design"
Slug:     web-development-design
URL:      https://example.com/categories/web-development-design

4. Landing Pages

Generate conversion-focused URLs for marketing campaigns:

Page Title: "Get 50% Off Your First Order"
Slug:       get-50-off-your-first-order
URL:        https://example.com/promo/get-50-off-your-first-order

5. Documentation Pages

Create clear, navigable URLs for documentation and guides:

Doc Title: "Getting Started with API v2.0"
Slug:      getting-started-with-api-v2-0
URL:       https://example.com/docs/getting-started-with-api-v2-0

6. File and Folder Naming

Generate clean names for files and folders:

Original: "Q4 Financial Report (Final Version).pdf"
Slug:     q4-financial-report-final-version
File:     q4-financial-report-final-version.pdf

7. API Endpoints

Create consistent, readable API route names:

Endpoint Name: "Get User Profile Information"
With underscore separator:
Slug:          get_user_profile_information
Route:         /api/get_user_profile_information

8. Database Identifiers

Generate clean keys for database records:

Record Name: "Premium Membership Plan"
With underscore:
Slug:        premium_membership_plan
DB Key:      plans.premium_membership_plan

SEO Benefits

• Improved Readability: Users can understand page content just by looking at the URL, increasing click-through rates
• Keyword Relevance: Including relevant keywords in slugs helps search engines understand your content and improve rankings
• Social Sharing: Clean, descriptive URLs look professional when shared on social media and generate more engagement
• User Trust: Professional-looking URLs build confidence and credibility with visitors
• Link Text: When URLs are used as anchor text, descriptive slugs provide better context
• Analytics: Clear slugs make it easier to analyze traffic patterns and understand which pages perform well
• Breadcrumbs: Well-structured slugs create logical breadcrumb navigation

Hyphen vs Underscore: Which Should You Use?

Best Practices for URL Slugs

Do's ✅

• Keep it Short: Aim for 3-5 words or under 50 characters
• Use Hyphens: For web URLs, hyphens are preferred over underscores for SEO
• Include Keywords: Add 1-2 relevant keywords that describe the page content
• Make it Descriptive: The slug should clearly indicate what the page is about
• Use Lowercase: Always use lowercase letters for consistency
• Remove Stop Words: Remove words like "a", "an", "the", "and", "or" when they don't add value
• Be Consistent: Use the same formatting style across your entire site
• Test Before Publishing: Verify the slug looks good and makes sense

Don'ts ❌

• Don't Use Special Characters: Avoid &, %, $, @, !, etc.
• Don't Make it Too Long: Slugs over 60-70 characters may get truncated in search results
• Don't Change After Publishing: Changing slugs breaks existing links and hurts SEO
• Don't Use Dates (Usually): Dates make content seem outdated (unless truly time-sensitive)
• Don't Stuff Keywords: One or two keywords is enough; more looks spammy
• Don't Use Underscores for Web URLs: Search engines prefer hyphens
• Don't Include File Extensions: Modern URLs don't need .html, .php, etc.
• Don't Copy Entire Titles: Summarize long titles into concise slugs

Advanced Tips

Handling Multilingual Content

For non-English content, you have two options:

• Use English Translation: "cómo-hacer-café" → "how-to-make-coffee"
• Transliterate: "como-hacer-cafe" (accents removed, keeps original language)

Version Numbers

When including version numbers in slugs:

Good:  api-v2, guide-2024, product-v3-0
Avoid: api-version-2, guide-for-2024

Handling Duplicates

If you have multiple pages with similar titles, add distinguishing information:

getting-started-python
getting-started-javascript
getting-started-ruby

When to Use Numbers

Keep numbers in slugs when they add value:

• Listicles: "10-best-practices"
• Versions: "api-v2"
• Years: "seo-guide-2024"
• Series: "lesson-1-basics"

Remove numbers when they don't add meaning:

• "1-introduction" → "introduction"
• "chapter-1-basics" → "chapter-basics"

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Using the Full Title

Bad: "the-ultimate-guide-to-learning-web-development-from-scratch-in-2024"
Good: "learn-web-development-guide"

2. Including Too Many Stop Words

Bad: "a-guide-to-the-best-way-of-making-coffee"
Good: "guide-making-coffee" or "best-coffee-making-guide"

3. Not Planning for Growth

Bad: Using "latest-iphone-guide" (becomes outdated)
Good: "iphone-15-pro-guide" (specific model)

4. Mixing Separators

Bad: "web_development-guide"
Good: "web-development-guide"

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change a slug after publishing?

While technically possible, changing slugs after publishing breaks existing links, loses SEO value, and can frustrate users who bookmarked your page. If you must change a slug, always set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.

Should I remove all numbers from slugs?

No, keep numbers when they add value (like "10-tips" or "api-v2"). Remove numbers when they're arbitrary or don't contribute to understanding the content.

How short should my slugs be?

Aim for 3-5 words or under 50 characters. Search engines may truncate slugs that are too long in search results. However, don't sacrifice clarity for brevity – a slightly longer descriptive slug is better than a cryptic short one.

Are underscores bad for SEO?

Underscores aren't "bad," but Google treats hyphens as word separators while treating underscores as word connectors. This means "blue-shoes" is read as "blue shoes" (two words), while "blue_shoes" is read as "blueshoes" (one word). For web URLs, use hyphens. Use underscores for API routes and database keys where you need word concatenation.

Should I include the year in my slug?

Include the year only if the content is specifically about that year (e.g., "tax-guide-2024" or "iphone-16-review"). For evergreen content that you'll update annually, avoid the year so it doesn't appear outdated.

How do I handle very long titles?

Summarize long titles into shorter slugs. Focus on the main topic and 1-2 key keywords. For example: "The Complete Beginner's Guide to Learning JavaScript Programming in 2024" could become "javascript-beginners-guide" or "learn-javascript-guide".

Can I use special characters in slugs?

No, avoid special characters like &, %, $, @, #, etc. Our tool automatically removes them. Stick to letters, numbers, and your chosen separator (hyphen or underscore).

What about accented characters?

Our tool automatically converts accented characters to their non-accented equivalents (café → cafe, résumé → resume). This ensures maximum compatibility and avoids encoding issues in URLs.

Is there a maximum length for URL slugs?

While there's no strict technical limit, best practice is to keep slugs under 50-60 characters. Very long URLs may be truncated in search results, social media shares, and browser address bars. Use our max length control to set specific limits.

Should I translate slugs for multilingual sites?

Yes, for multilingual sites, use translated slugs for each language. For example:

• English: /about-us
• Spanish: /acerca-de (not /about-us)
• French: /a-propos (not /about-us)

This improves SEO in each language and provides a better user experience.