What Is URL Slug?

Why It Matters

URL slugs are important for both SEO and user experience. A descriptive slug like /blog/domain-forwarding-guide tells users and search engines what the page contains. A slug like /blog/post?id=47382 tells them nothing.

Slugs are the final segment of the URL path and are part of the overall URL structure. A good slug also contributes to a strong canonical URL, helping search engines identify the preferred version of a page.

For domain forwarding, slugs determine whether path forwarding works correctly. When redirecting old.com/blog/my-post to new.com/blog/my-post, the slug /blog/my-post needs to be preserved in the redirect.

Best Practices

• Use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. Avoid spaces, underscores, and special characters.
• Keep slugs descriptive but concise. /blog/seo-redirect-guide beats /blog/the-complete-and-ultimate-guide-to-seo-redirects-2024-edition.
• Include target keywords. Slugs are a ranking factor — a minor one, but still worth optimizing.
• Don’t change slugs after publishing. If you must change a slug, set up a 301 redirect from the old slug to the new one.

How Path Forwarding Preserves Slugs

When you enable path forwarding on Domain Forward, the entire URL path (including the slug) is appended to the destination domain. old.com/blog/my-post forwards to new.com/blog/my-post, preserving the slug exactly.

Without path forwarding, all URLs redirect to the destination root: old.com/blog/my-post → new.com/. This breaks deep links and loses SEO value for individual pages.