What is a URL slug?
A URL slug is the part of a URL that names one specific page. In https://example.com/blog/pour-over-guide/, the slug is pour-over-guide. It usually comes from the page title, trimmed down to a few readable words separated by hyphens.
Slugs matter less to rankings than people assume, but they matter to people. A clear slug shows up in search results, in shared links, and in browser history, and it tells someone what the page is before they click. Google has said words in URLs are a very light ranking signal.
How it works
A good slug is short, descriptive, lowercase, and uses hyphens between words. Google treats hyphens as word separators but does not treat underscores that way, so pour_over_guide may be read as one word. Stop words like "a", "the", and "how to" can usually be dropped, as can dates and numbers that will age.
The main risk with slugs is changing them. Every change creates a new URL. The old one becomes a 404 unless you add a 301 redirect, and any links, bookmarks, and rankings attached to it are at risk. Pick a slug that will still fit if you update the article next year.
Example
For a post titled "The 7 Best Pour-Over Coffee Makers for Beginners in 2026":
- Weak:
/?p=4471(no meaning) - Weak:
/the-7-best-pour-over-coffee-makers-for-beginners-in-2026/(long, and dated) - Weak:
/Pour_Over_Makers/(capitals and underscores) - Good:
/pour-over-coffee-makers/
The good slug survives a change from 7 to 9 picks and a new year without a redirect.
In WordPress
WordPress generates a slug from the title when you first save, and you can edit it in the block editor's URL panel. It only affects the address when the permalink structure includes %postname%; with Plain permalinks, every URL is ?p=123. WordPress sometimes redirects old post slugs on its own, but not reliably for pages and terms. Hydrogen SEO's Auto Redirection option adds a 301 automatically whenever a post, page, or term slug changes; see the redirection manager.
Common mistakes
- Changing slugs on established pages for a minor keyword tweak, with no redirect.
- Leaving auto-generated slugs that include the full, long title.
- Using underscores or capital letters, which can cause duplicate or hard-to-read URLs.
- Keyword stuffing such as
/coffee-maker-best-coffee-maker-pour-over/.
Common questions
Should the slug include my focus keyword?
Usually yes, since the main topic words are also the most descriptive. Do not force it if it makes the slug awkward; the benefit to rankings is small.
Is it bad to change a URL slug?
It is fine if you add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. Without a redirect, the old URL breaks and its links stop counting.