URL Slug Generator

This free URL slug generator turns any title into a clean, SEO-friendly slug in your browser — converting accented and Turkish characters, lowercasing and replacing spaces with a hyphen or underscore. Use it as a slug generator and SEO friendly URL generator to create URL slugs for blog posts, products and pages. Type a title to generate slug output instantly. Below you'll find what does slug mean, how slug generation works and the rules for making a clean URL.

What Is a URL Slug? What Does Slug Mean?

So what does slug mean in web terms? A URL is the full address of a resource on the internet — technically a Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is made of these parts: protocol (https://), domain (example.com), directory structure (/blog/) and slug (what-is-seo).

In web development and SEO, the last part of the URL is called the "slug"; it describes the page content in a short, readable form. For example, in example.com/blog/how-to-write-seo-friendly-urls the bold part is the slug. A slug generator (or "slugify" tool) turns any title into this clean format automatically.

How to Create a URL Slug and Make a URL

To create a URL slug — and make a URL that ranks — generate the slug with this tool, then follow these rules for an SEO-friendly result:

• Convert special characters: map accented letters to their Latin equivalents (é→e, ñ→n, ü→u, ç→c, and so on).
• Use hyphens (-): use a hyphen instead of a space between words. Google reads hyphen-separated words as independent words.
• Use lowercase: URLs can be case-sensitive, so write all characters in lowercase.
• Keep it short: aim for 3-5 words, under 60 characters where possible.
• Add a keyword: include one or two words that reflect the main topic of the page.
• Avoid special symbols: characters such as &, %, #, ?, = can break the URL; avoid them.
• Avoid numbers: URLs with a year or sequence number can age. Prefer number-free slugs for evergreen content.

SEO-Friendly URLs: Good and Bad Examples

Where Slug Generators Are Used

URL slug generator tools are useful in many scenarios:

• Blogs and CMS platforms: generate SEO-friendly slugs for posts on WordPress, Ghost, Joomla and similar platforms.
• E-commerce category and product URLs: optimize product-page URLs on platforms such as WooCommerce and Shopify.
• Static site generators: set file and page names in slug format with tools like Jekyll, Hugo and Gatsby.
• API endpoint design: define resource names in slug format in REST APIs (/api/products/mens-running-shoes).
• Database tagging: fill slug fields in article, category or tag tables in a consistent format.

Special-Character Conversion Table

Should I Use a Hyphen or an Underscore?

Google prefers hyphens (-) over underscores (_) in URL slugs. The reason is that hyphen-separated words are recognized by the search engine as independent words. For example, the URL what-is-seo contributes a signal for both "what", "is" and "seo". An underscore version like what_is_seo is processed as a single word.

The only place underscores are preferred is in programming variable names and database field names — not in URLs. Always use hyphens in your web URLs.

URL Structure: More Than Just the Slug

An SEO-friendly URL is not only about the right slug. Understanding the full URL structure helps you make better decisions:

• Protocol: https:// — a secure connection. Google flags non-HTTPS sites as not secure.
• Domain: example.com — your site's base address. Subdomains (blog.example.com) and subdirectories (example.com/blog/) suit different SEO strategies.
• Subdirectory: /blog/, /products/ — categorizes content. Balance flat structures (/what-is-seo) and hierarchical ones (/blog/seo/what-is-seo).
• Slug: what-is-seo — the final part that identifies the page. This tool generates that part.
• Query parameters: ?category=seo&page=2 — used for dynamic pages; prefer slug-based URLs for SEO where possible.

Common Mistakes in URL Creation and Management

The most common mistakes when creating URLs and practical tips to avoid them:

• Not adding a 301 redirect after changing a URL: if you change an existing page's URL without a 301 redirect from the old address, the backlink value of that page is lost and rankings drop.
• Including stop words in the slug: stop words like "and", "with", "the", "a" add length without meaning. Removing them gives a cleaner URL.
• Duplicate slugs: using the same slug on more than one page causes duplicate-content issues. Each page must have a unique URL.
• Accepting the auto-generated slug as-is: platforms like WordPress usually turn the whole title into a slug. If the title is long, shortening the slug manually is better for SEO.
• Adding a date to the URL: structures like /2024/03/what-is-seo cause problems when content is updated. Prefer a date-free structure for evergreen content.

What to Do After Creating a Slug

After creating an SEO-friendly URL, complete the process with these steps:

1. Enter the slug you generated into your content management system (WordPress, Shopify, etc.).
2. Set the page's canonical URL correctly so search engines know which URL is the primary one.
3. Update your XML sitemap (sitemap.xml) and request a recrawl from Google Search Console.
4. Update your internal links to point to the new URL.
5. Update any URL filters and goals in Google Analytics or similar tools.

Creating URLs on Different Platforms

The URL creation process can differ depending on your platform:

• WordPress: after entering the post title, replace the auto-generated slug in the permalink field with the clean slug from this tool. You can configure the URL structure under Settings → Permalinks.
• Shopify: the slug can be edited in the "URL and handle" section under the search-engine listing preview on product and page editors.
• Webflow: paste the value generated by this tool directly into the "Slug" field in page settings.
• Hugo / Jekyll: the file name is used directly as the slug. Saving the file as what-is-seo.md sets the URL automatically.
• Custom development: in PHP, Node.js or Python projects you may need to slugify manually; you can copy this tool's output directly.

For frequently asked questions on URL slug generation, what a slug is, URL rules and the hyphen/underscore difference, see the FAQ section below.