SEO: What about spaces in URLs?

The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the unique address that tells you where you can find an object or a page on the World Wide Web. And it plays an important role in the way search engines evaluate your website...

Same language and a clear reference to the content

In a previous article, we already explained that, in order for search engines to find it without too much difficulty, the URL should be written in the same language as that of the website. But there is another factor you need to consider.

For a good SEO strategy, the URL should not contain insignificant numbers, such as www.mypage.com/1777455.html, but a clear reference to the content of an article. Webmasters often use the title of the article – the easiest and most obvious solution. But that title contains spaces. So, what should happen with those spaces in URLs?

Replace spaces by hyphens

In a recent post, Webmaster Trend Analyst John Mueller has put together a few very useful tips on this topic. First of all, using spaces (e.g. www.mypage.com/this is my page.html) is out of the question. Spaces in a title can often lead to errors. Some content management systems overcome this problem by replacing spaces by %20 strings, or plus signs. And this is what you get: www.mypage.com/this%20is%20my%20page.html or www.mypage.com/this+is+my+page.html. But it is not very clear, huh?

A much better solution is to use hyphens (no underscores!). Like this: www.mypage.com/this-is-my-page.html. WordPress.com, for instance, does this automatically.

Not only is it SEO-friendly, but it is also much clearer for your visitors!