Components: URL Slug
Guides creation of SEO-friendly URL slugs for blog posts, articles, and content pages. Research on 11.8M Google results shows shorter URLs tend to rank higher; position #1 URLs average 50–60 characters.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Scope
- URL slug: The path segment after the base (e.g.,
ai-people-search in /blog/ai-people-search)
- Applies to: Blog posts, articles, guides, category pages, product pages
Best Practices
Length
| Guideline |
Target |
| Slug length |
Under 60 characters total (including path prefix) |
| Word count |
3–5 words |
| Principle |
Shorter = easier to read, share, remember; less truncation in SERPs; see serp-features |
Example: "The Complete Guide to AI Search Engine for Finding People" → ai-people-search (3 words) or ai-search-finding-people (4 words), not ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach (9 words, 51 chars).
Format
| Rule |
Do |
Avoid |
| Separators |
Hyphens (-) |
Underscores (_), spaces, periods |
| Case |
Lowercase only |
Mixed case (causes duplicate content) |
| Characters |
Letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphens |
Special chars |
| Stop words |
Remove when possible: the, a, and, or, to |
Keep when needed: "how-to" |
Content
| Rule |
Guideline |
| Primary keyword |
Include near start; one focus per URL |
| Descriptive |
Clear what page is about from slug alone |
| No keyword stuffing |
One keyword mention is enough |
| No dates |
Omit unless time-specific (news, annual roundups) |
Non-ASCII Characters
| Scenario |
Rule |
| Accented letters |
Convert to ASCII: é→e, ü→u, ñ→n, ç→c |
| Non-Latin scripts |
Use UTF-8 percent-encoding if required; prefer ASCII for compatibility |
| Example |
jalapeno not jalapeño; cafe not café |
Common Mistakes
- Copy-pasting full title: Summarize instead — long title → short slug
- Auto-generated IDs:
/post/12847 — always customize
- Tracking params in slug: UTM, session IDs — use query params separately
- Changing without redirect: Always 301 from old to new slug
Slug Generation Workflow
- Extract primary keyword from title or target keyword
- Summarize in 3–5 words (don't copy full title)
- Remove stop words (the, a, and, or) unless needed for readability
- Lowercase, hyphenate, validate length < 60 chars
- Check uniqueness — no duplicate slugs site-wide
Examples
| Title / Topic |
❌ Too long |
✅ Recommended |
| AI Search Engine for Finding People: Speed vs. Discovery |
ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach |
ai-people-search or ai-search-finding-people |
| The Ultimate SEO Checklist for 2025 |
the-ultimate-seo-checklist-for-2025 |
seo-checklist-2025 |
| How to Increase Website Traffic |
how-to-increase-the-traffic-to-your-website |
increase-website-traffic |
| Best Running Shoes for Marathon Training |
best-running-shoes-for-marathon-training-in-2025 |
best-running-shoes-2025 |
Output Format
When creating or auditing a slug:
Recommended slug (3–5 words)
Character count (slug only)
Primary keyword included
Alternatives if multiple valid options
Reference: Alignify URL optimization
Related Skills
- url-structure: URL hierarchy, site structure; references this skill for slug conventions
- canonical-tag: When changing slugs, set up 301 redirects
- article-page-generator: Article URL slugs
- blog-page-generator: Blog post URL slugs
- glossary-page-generator: Glossary term slugs
- products-page-generator: Product page slugs
- customer-stories-page-generator: Case study page slugs
- resources-page-generator: Resource page slugs
- features-page-generator: Per-feature page slugs
1---
2name: url-slug-generator
3description: When the user wants to create, optimize, or validate URL slugs for content pages. Also use when the user mentions "URL slug," "URL path," "blog URL," "article URL," "short URL," "clean slug," "permalink," "slug optimization," "URL structure," "SEO-friendly URL," "create URL slug," or "SEO slug." For site-wide URL policy, use url-structure.
4metadata:
5 version: 1.0.1
6---
7
8# Components: URL Slug
9
10Guides creation of SEO-friendly URL slugs for blog posts, articles, and content pages. Research on 11.8M Google results shows shorter URLs tend to rank higher; position #1 URLs average 50–60 characters.
11
12**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
13
14## Scope
15
16- **URL slug**: The path segment after the base (e.g., `ai-people-search` in `/blog/ai-people-search`)
17- **Applies to**: Blog posts, articles, guides, category pages, product pages
18
19## Best Practices
20
21### Length
22
23| Guideline | Target |
24|-----------|--------|
25| **Slug length** | Under 60 characters total (including path prefix) |
26| **Word count** | 3–5 words |
27| **Principle** | Shorter = easier to read, share, remember; less truncation in SERPs; see **serp-features** |
28
29**Example**: "The Complete Guide to AI Search Engine for Finding People" → `ai-people-search` (3 words) or `ai-search-finding-people` (4 words), not `ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach` (9 words, 51 chars).
30
31### Format
32
33| Rule | Do | Avoid |
34|------|-----|-------|
35| **Separators** | Hyphens (`-`) | Underscores (`_`), spaces, periods |
36| **Case** | Lowercase only | Mixed case (causes duplicate content) |
37| **Characters** | Letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphens | Special chars |
38| **Stop words** | Remove when possible: the, a, and, or, to | Keep when needed: "how-to" |
39
40### Content
41
42| Rule | Guideline |
43|------|-----------|
44| **Primary keyword** | Include near start; one focus per URL |
45| **Descriptive** | Clear what page is about from slug alone |
46| **No keyword stuffing** | One keyword mention is enough |
47| **No dates** | Omit unless time-specific (news, annual roundups) |
48
49### Non-ASCII Characters
50
51| Scenario | Rule |
52|----------|------|
53| **Accented letters** | Convert to ASCII: é→e, ü→u, ñ→n, ç→c |
54| **Non-Latin scripts** | Use UTF-8 percent-encoding if required; prefer ASCII for compatibility |
55| **Example** | `jalapeno` not `jalapeño`; `cafe` not `café` |
56
57### Common Mistakes
58
59- **Copy-pasting full title**: Summarize instead — long title → short slug
60- **Auto-generated IDs**: `/post/12847` — always customize
61- **Tracking params in slug**: UTM, session IDs — use query params separately
62- **Changing without redirect**: Always 301 from old to new slug
63
64## Slug Generation Workflow
65
661. **Extract primary keyword** from title or target keyword
672. **Summarize** in 3–5 words (don't copy full title)
683. **Remove stop words** (the, a, and, or) unless needed for readability
694. **Lowercase, hyphenate**, validate length < 60 chars
705. **Check uniqueness** — no duplicate slugs site-wide
71
72## Examples
73
74| Title / Topic | ❌ Too long | ✅ Recommended |
75|---------------|-------------|-----------------|
76| AI Search Engine for Finding People: Speed vs. Discovery | `ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach` | `ai-people-search` or `ai-search-finding-people` |
77| The Ultimate SEO Checklist for 2025 | `the-ultimate-seo-checklist-for-2025` | `seo-checklist-2025` |
78| How to Increase Website Traffic | `how-to-increase-the-traffic-to-your-website` | `increase-website-traffic` |
79| Best Running Shoes for Marathon Training | `best-running-shoes-for-marathon-training-in-2025` | `best-running-shoes-2025` |
80
81## Output Format
82
83When creating or auditing a slug:
84
85- **Recommended slug** (3–5 words)
86- **Character count** (slug only)
87- **Primary keyword** included
88- **Alternatives** if multiple valid options
89
90- **Reference**: [Alignify URL optimization](https://alignify.co/zh/seo/url-optimization)
91
92## Related Skills
93
94- **url-structure**: URL hierarchy, site structure; references this skill for slug conventions
95- **canonical-tag**: When changing slugs, set up 301 redirects
96- **article-page-generator**: Article URL slugs
97- **blog-page-generator**: Blog post URL slugs
98- **glossary-page-generator**: Glossary term slugs
99- **products-page-generator**: Product page slugs
100- **customer-stories-page-generator**: Case study page slugs
101- **resources-page-generator**: Resource page slugs
102- **features-page-generator**: Per-feature page slugs
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