Marketing-skills url-structure

When the user wants to optimize URL structure, fix URL issues, or plan URL hierarchy. Also use when the user mentions "URL structure," "URL optimization," "slug," "clean URLs," "URL hierarchy," "URL path," "permalink structure," "URL best practices," "dynamic URLs," or "URL parameters." For per-page slug wording, use url-slug-generator. For canonical consolidation, use canonical-tag.

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 "$T/skills/seo/on-page/url-structure" ~/.claude/skills/kostja94-marketing-skills-url-structure && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/seo/on-page/url-structure/SKILL.md

source content

SEO On-Page: URL Structure

Guides URL structure optimization for SEO: readability, hierarchy, and best practices.

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

Scope (On-Page SEO)

URL hierarchy: Path structure, categories, depth
URL format: Static vs dynamic; omit file extensions
URL slug: See url-slug-generator for slug creation (3–5 words, under 60 chars)
Duplicate variants: See canonical-tag for HTTPS, www, trailing slash

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If

.claude/project-context.md

.cursor/project-context.md

exists, read it for site structure.

Identify:

Site structure: Categories, subcategories, content types
Current URLs: Existing patterns and issues
Multi-language: URL structure for zh/en (e.g., /zh/, /en/ or subdomains)

Best Practices

URL Guidelines

Principle	Guideline
Readable	Use words, not IDs; `/blog/seo-guide` not `/p/12345`
Short	Shorter is generally better; avoid unnecessary depth
Keyword	Include target keyword when natural
Lowercase	Use lowercase; avoid mixed case
Hyphens	Use hyphens to separate words: `seo-guide`
Avoid	Special chars, query params for core content, session IDs

Hierarchy

Pattern Example Use

Flat

/page-name

Simple sites

Category

/blog/post-name

/tools/tool-name

Content sites

Nested

/category/subcategory/page

Deep hierarchies (keep shallow)

Multi-language

Pattern Example

Path prefix

/zh/page

/en/page

Subdomain

zh.example.com

en.example.com

ccTLD

example.cn

example.com

Static vs Dynamic vs Pseudo-Static URLs

Type	Example	Use
Static	`/blog/seo-guide`	Direct file; best SEO; content stable
Dynamic	`/product?id=123`	Program-generated; avoid for indexable content
Pseudo-static	`/blog/seo-guide` (rewritten from `.php` )	Combines both; common in CMS
Rule	Prefer static or pseudo-static; if dynamic, keep params ≤2; use canonical-tag and robots-txt (Clean-param)

File Extensions

Omit
```
.html
```
,
```
.php
```
,
```
.aspx
```
— keeps URLs technology-agnostic, shorter, easier to refactor
Example:
```
/seo-guide
```
not
```
/seo-guide.html
```

URL Parameter Handling

Scenario	Approach
UTM / tracking	Canonical to base URL; params in query string only
Search results	Canonical to search page; avoid indexing result URLs
Filters / sort	Canonical to base; or robots-txt Clean-param
Session IDs	Use cookies; never in indexable URLs

Use Cases

Scenario	Focus
New site	Plan hierarchy upfront; avoid later restructuring
Migration	301 mapping; canonical; see canonical-tag
Large site	Dynamic URLs, params, multi-language — canonical + robots
SEO audit	Check structure, params, canonical consistency

Common Issues

Issue	Fix
Long URLs	Shorten; remove redundant words
Dynamic params	Use canonical; clean params in robots (Yandex Clean-param)
Mixed case	Redirect to lowercase
Changed URLs	301 redirect old to new

Output Format

URL structure recommendation
Slug conventions
Hierarchy for key content types
Redirect plan if changing URLs
References: Alignify URL optimization; Google URL guidelines

Related Skills

website-structure: Plan structure and URL paths; apply url-structure rules after structure is defined
canonical-tag: HTTPS, www, trailing slash — handles duplicate URL variants
url-slug-generator: Slug creation for content pages; length, keywords, format
category-page-generator: E-commerce category URL hierarchy, faceted URLs
products-page-generator: Product URL hierarchy
services-page-generator: Service URL hierarchy
robots-txt: Clean-param for query params
internal-links: URL structure affects link patterns