Marketing-skills url-slug-generator

When the user wants to create, optimize, or validate URL slugs for content pages. Also use when the user mentions "URL slug," "URL path," "blog URL," "article URL," "short URL," "clean slug," "permalink," "slug optimization," "URL structure," "SEO-friendly URL," "create URL slug," or "SEO slug." For site-wide URL policy, use url-structure.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/components/utility/url-slug" ~/.claude/skills/kostja94-marketing-skills-url-slug-generator && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/components/utility/url-slug/SKILL.md
source content

Components: URL Slug

Guides creation of SEO-friendly URL slugs for blog posts, articles, and content pages. Research on 11.8M Google results shows shorter URLs tend to rank higher; position #1 URLs average 50–60 characters.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope

  • URL slug: The path segment after the base (e.g.,
    ai-people-search
    in
    /blog/ai-people-search
    )
  • Applies to: Blog posts, articles, guides, category pages, product pages

Best Practices

Length

GuidelineTarget
Slug lengthUnder 60 characters total (including path prefix)
Word count3–5 words
PrincipleShorter = easier to read, share, remember; less truncation in SERPs; see serp-features

Example: "The Complete Guide to AI Search Engine for Finding People" →

ai-people-search
(3 words) or
ai-search-finding-people
(4 words), not
ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach
(9 words, 51 chars).

Format

RuleDoAvoid
SeparatorsHyphens (
-
)
Underscores (
_
), spaces, periods
CaseLowercase onlyMixed case (causes duplicate content)
CharactersLetters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphensSpecial chars
Stop wordsRemove when possible: the, a, and, or, toKeep when needed: "how-to"

Content

RuleGuideline
Primary keywordInclude near start; one focus per URL
DescriptiveClear what page is about from slug alone
No keyword stuffingOne keyword mention is enough
No datesOmit unless time-specific (news, annual roundups)

Non-ASCII Characters

ScenarioRule
Accented lettersConvert to ASCII: é→e, ü→u, ñ→n, ç→c
Non-Latin scriptsUse UTF-8 percent-encoding if required; prefer ASCII for compatibility
Example
jalapeno
not
jalapeño
;
cafe
not
café

Common Mistakes

  • Copy-pasting full title: Summarize instead — long title → short slug
  • Auto-generated IDs:
    /post/12847
    — always customize
  • Tracking params in slug: UTM, session IDs — use query params separately
  • Changing without redirect: Always 301 from old to new slug

Slug Generation Workflow

  1. Extract primary keyword from title or target keyword
  2. Summarize in 3–5 words (don't copy full title)
  3. Remove stop words (the, a, and, or) unless needed for readability
  4. Lowercase, hyphenate, validate length < 60 chars
  5. Check uniqueness — no duplicate slugs site-wide

Examples

Title / Topic❌ Too long✅ Recommended
AI Search Engine for Finding People: Speed vs. Discovery
ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach
ai-people-search
or
ai-search-finding-people
The Ultimate SEO Checklist for 2025
the-ultimate-seo-checklist-for-2025
seo-checklist-2025
How to Increase Website Traffic
how-to-increase-the-traffic-to-your-website
increase-website-traffic
Best Running Shoes for Marathon Training
best-running-shoes-for-marathon-training-in-2025
best-running-shoes-2025

Output Format

When creating or auditing a slug:

  • Recommended slug (3–5 words)

  • Character count (slug only)

  • Primary keyword included

  • Alternatives if multiple valid options

  • Reference: Alignify URL optimization

Related Skills

  • url-structure: URL hierarchy, site structure; references this skill for slug conventions
  • canonical-tag: When changing slugs, set up 301 redirects
  • article-page-generator: Article URL slugs
  • blog-page-generator: Blog post URL slugs
  • glossary-page-generator: Glossary term slugs
  • products-page-generator: Product page slugs
  • customer-stories-page-generator: Case study page slugs
  • resources-page-generator: Resource page slugs
  • features-page-generator: Per-feature page slugs