How to Fix URL Formatting Issues

What is URL Formatting?

URL formatting is the way that URLs are written, such as the structure, length, and the characters they contain. URL formatting issues are inconsistencies in the structure of URLs that can lead to problems with website functionality, accessibility, and search engine optimization.

Various factors contribute to these issues, including incorrect symbols, spaces, special characters, invalid file extensions, or overly lengthy URLs. Each of these errors can create challenges in directing users to the correct content on your site.

URL Formatting Best Practices

Lowercase letters and numbers only

Hypen-separated words

Single slashes between URL segments

Concise and relevant to the page topic

Ideally no file extensions, but they can be optimized effectively if already present.

URL Syntax Issue Examples

Here are examples of how URLs can be presented outside of best practices.

These are all variations of https://example.com/article-post-name/

https://example.com/article post%20name/

https://example.com/article-po$+(name)/

https://example.com/Article-Post-Name/

https://example.com/article_post_name/

https://example.com//article-post-name/

Why is URL Formatting Important for SEO?

A well-structured and clearly formatted URL helps search engines quickly access and understand a page’s content. URLs aren’t as critical to user experience as they once were, but clear and concise URLs do have user experience benefits as well.

By including relevant keywords and organizing your URL hierarchy logically, you create a clear path for search engine crawlers and offer visitors a predictable destination. This can boost click-through rates and enhance user experience.

Benefits of Proper URL Formatting

• Higher Click-Through Rates
  Users are more likely to click on short, descriptive URLs that align with their search query and expectations.
• Enhanced Crawlability
  Search engines can quickly understand topic relevance when URLs follow a clear, consistent pattern with relevant keywords.
• Better User Perception
  Even though URLs aren’t as critical to user experience as they used to be, clean links can still offer visual clarity and encourage trust when direct URLs are viewed.

Potential Risks of Poor Formatting

• Broken or Confusing Links
  Using special characters or inconsistent casing can result in broken links or unexpected redirects, frustrating users.
• Reduced Search Visibility
  Search engines may struggle to index overly complex or error-prone URLs, limiting your content’s reach.
• Lower User Trust
  Users might hesitate to click on messy URLs, which can lower your site’s credibility and engagement metrics.

Focusing on clear, concise URLs—using lowercase letters, hyphens for word separation, and avoiding special characters—helps search engines quickly understand your page’s relevance. These best practices can also foster user trust, leading to better overall performance in search results.

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Common URL Formatting Issues & How to Resolve Them

Spaces in URLs

Spaces within URLs can create broken links, causing errors or redirects. Sometimes, spaces will be converted to “%20” within URLs, which may properly resolve, but will create a confusing and unclear URL.

For example: https://example.com/this%20url%20has%20spaces/

Solution: Replace spaces with hyphens (-). Avoid underscores or percent encoding whenever possible—hyphens are clearer for both users and search engines.

Special Characters

Characters like &, %, @, etc. can disrupt URL functionality and may require encoding. Some characters can purposely be included in URLs for parameters (?) or fragments (#).

Solution: Remove special characters and implement 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new clean ones. If special characters are absolutely necessary, you’ll need to encode them. Sticking to lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens is the safest approach for stable links.

Overly Long URLs

Lengthy URLs can be difficult to read, remember, and share, potentially impacting click-through rates.

Solution: Keep URLs concise and descriptive. Make them natural and include only essential keywords to clarify content without overwhelming users.

Capital Letters

Using both uppercase and lowercase letters can lead to many errors, such as duplicate content issues, and confusion for search engines.

Solution: Standardize URLs to lowercase for consistency and to prevent indexing problems.

Underscores Instead of Hyphens

Search engines can treat underscores (_) as part of a word, making it harder to parse keywords. While search engines are able to still crawl these URLs just fine, best practice is to avoid using underscores.

Solution: Always use hyphens (-) to separate words. This ensures better readability and indexing.

Multiple Slashes

Extra slashes (e.g., //) can break links or mislead users about your site’s structure.

For example: https://example.com/category//page/

Solution: Remove unnecessary slashes to maintain a clean, logical format. Ensure that any internal links pointing to URLs with multiple slashes are updated to point to the proper URL.

How to Monitor URL Formatting for Website Health

Regularly verifying your URLs is essential to maintaining a user-friendly, search-optimized website.

Platforms like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools can spot broken links and highlight formatting inconsistencies, while site-auditing platforms, such as Screaming Frog, offer in-depth URL analysis. Manual checks also help confirm that each link is concise, lowercase, and free of special characters.

Our Website Health Scan can also provide insight to any URL issues present on your site, among many other technical SEO factors.

By promptly fixing any issues you find, you’ll foster user trust, boost search engine visibility, and keep your site running smoothly.