If you are developing a website and require a new URL, please contact Brandy Tichonoff. Once the URL has been approved, it will be submitted to the appropriate IT group for creation. Try to plan for a new URL before your project is completed. The entire request process generally takes two to three days.
Seven Guidelines for Creating Great URLs
- It should be obvious. If a user can look at your URL and make an accurate guess about the contents of your page, you’re on the right track.
- Use keywords when you can. Those golden keywords that you spent so much time researching can be utilized in your URL structure. Name your directories accordingly, using the keywords where appropriate.
- Shorter is better. A short URL is easier to copy, paste, say, and write.
- Never use multiple subdomains. If you can, avoid using subdomains altogether. They can be viewed separately from the primary domain, thereby negatively influencing your search engine ranking. If you must use a subdomain, make sure it is well interlinked within your site.
- Avoid too many folders. A folder creates one more layer that search engines have to crawl through—omit unnecessary folders from your site structure.
- Don’t use uppercase characters. URLs can accept both upper and lowercase characters, but that doesn’t mean you should do it. Keep your URLs simple and concise by using lowercase text—always.
- Use static URLs when you can. Search engines treat dynamic and static URLs differently, so keep yours static—that means no random characters. “?^&” means nothing to your user.
The Good, the Bad, and the URLgly
Bad:
http://mobile.yahoo.com/onesearch;_ylt=AjpRL9DUfGFuHlra8WMMmjdWtQcJ
We can forgive the subdomain, but the rest of this URL means diddly to your user.
Good:
http://www.technorati.com/technology/gadgets/
It’s clean, it makes sense, and it gives us a pretty good idea of what we’ll find when we visit the page.