Blog Post URL Slugs for a Small Business: What Google Recommends (2026)

By PilotaSEO Editorial (GSPTeck) · Published 2026-11-01 · Last verified 2026-11-01

What makes a good blog post URL for a small business?

A short, readable slug made of a few words that describe the page, in your customers' language, separated by hyphens, all in lowercase: /blog/boiler-service-checklist rather than /blog/?p=4821 or /blog/Boiler_Service_Checklist_Final. That's close to word for word what Google's URL structure guidance recommends: use descriptive words rather than long ID numbers, use your audience's language, and separate words with hyphens instead of underscores. Just as important is the part people forget: once a post is live, keep its URL. Changing slugs later means setting up permanent redirects, and the gain is rarely worth it. This guide shows how to write a slug in under a minute, the few rules that actually matter, and what to do if you have to change one.

What Google's guidance actually says

Google Search Central has a page on URL structure best practices. For a small business blog, these are the points that apply:

• Use descriptive URLs. When possible, readable words rather than long ID numbers.
• Use your audience's language. If your customers search in Italian, the words in the URL should be Italian too.
• Use hyphens to separate words. Google recommends hyphens (-) rather than underscores (_), and doesn't recommend joining words together (greendress), because hyphens clearly mark word boundaries.
• Use as few parameters as you can. Trim parameters that don't change the content.
• Remember URLs are case sensitive. Google treats /APPLE and /apple as different URLs. If your server treats them the same, convert everything to one case.
• Don't use fragments to change content. Google generally doesn't support content behind # in a URL.

Notice what isn't on the list: an exact keyword count, a character limit or a rule to stuff the main keyword in. The slug is one small signal among many; it mostly helps people (and Google) understand the page at a glance, including when the link is shared without any other context.

Writing a slug in under a minute

1. Start from the topic, not the title. A title like "Is It Time to Service Your Boiler? 7 Signs Homeowners Shouldn't Ignore" becomes boiler-service-signs.
2. Keep the words that carry meaning. Drop "the", "a", "and", "your", numbers that may change and filler such as "ultimate-guide".
3. Use lowercase and hyphens only. No spaces, underscores, capitals or special characters. Accented letters are allowed in URLs but get percent-encoded when shared, so many sites write the plain letters instead.
4. Check it's unique. Two posts shouldn't compete for the same slug or the same topic. If they would, it may be a sign to update the older post instead; see refresh or write new: a simple test.
5. Read it out loud. If a customer could guess what the page is about from the link alone, it's done.

Before and after: five real-world fixes

All of the "after" versions describe the page, read naturally and won't need to change when the post is updated. Apply this to new posts; for live ones, the next section explains why you usually shouldn't.

Common slug questions

Should the slug match the title exactly?

No. The title can be longer and more persuasive, and you can rewrite it later without touching the URL. The slug only needs the core topic. Our guide to title tags for small business blog posts covers the title side.

Should I put the year in the slug?

Only if the page is genuinely about that year and you'll write a new one next year, such as an annual event recap. For advice you plan to keep updating, leave the year out of the URL, so a refresh doesn't create a mismatch. Put the date in the content and the "updated" line instead.

Do I need a /blog/ folder in the URL?

Either structure works. What matters is that it's consistent and that every post is linked from somewhere a crawler can reach, such as your blog listing and your XML sitemap.

What if two posts need almost the same slug?

Treat it as a warning sign rather than a naming problem. If two posts would both be boiler-service-signs, they probably answer the same question, and one stronger page usually serves customers better than two half-pages. Merge them, keep the URL that already has links, and redirect the other one to it. If they really are different, the slug should say how: gas-boiler-service-signs and oil-boiler-service-signs.

Changing a slug that's already live

Sometimes you have to: a typo, a rebrand, a service you no longer offer. Google's documentation on redirects says that if you need to change the URL of a page as shown in search results, a permanent server-side redirect is the recommended way whenever possible; the 301 and 308 status codes both mean the page has moved permanently. In practice: If the whole post has outlived its use, whether to delete, update or redirect an old blog post walks through the choice.

1. Publish the page at the new URL.
2. Set a 301 (or 308) redirect from the old URL to the new one, on the server, not with JavaScript.
3. Update your own links to point straight at the new URL, including menus, other posts and the sitemap. Our internal linking guide shows where those links usually hide.
4. Check that the new page's canonical tag points to itself; see when you need a canonical tag.
5. Keep the redirect in place. Removing it later breaks every old link and bookmark again.

What not to do: change slugs in bulk for a few extra keywords. Every change costs a redirect hop, and the old URL's links and bookmarks depend on that redirect forever. If a slug is readable and accurate, leave it alone and improve the content instead.

Where this fits in a done-for-you blog

If someone else writes your posts, slugs are one of the details worth agreeing on once: lowercase, hyphens, a few descriptive words, no dates unless the page is dated, and no changes after publishing without a redirect. PilotaSEO posts use readable, hyphenated slugs built from the topic, like the ones on this blog. If you have older posts with messy URLs that already rank, keep them; consistency from now on matters more than fixing history.

FAQ

Are hyphens or underscores better in URLs?

Hyphens. Google's URL structure guidance recommends hyphens to separate words and doesn't recommend underscores, because hyphens clearly signal a word boundary to both people and search engines.

How long should a blog post URL be?

Google's URL structure guidance doesn't give a length limit for slugs. Aim for a few descriptive words that explain the topic; shorter slugs are easier to read, share and remember.

Will changing a URL hurt my SEO?

It can cause a temporary disruption while Google processes the move, and links to the old URL depend on the redirect. Use a permanent server-side redirect, update your own links, and only change URLs when there's a real reason.

Should URLs be in my customers' language?

Yes. Google recommends using words in your audience's language in the URL. A business serving Italian customers should use Italian words in its slugs.

Sources

• Google Search Central: URL structure best practices (checked 2026-11-01)
• Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search (checked 2026-11-01)