url-slug-generator

# 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

| Guideline | Target |
|-----------|--------|
| **Slug length** | Under 60 characters total (including path prefix) |
| **Word count** | 3–5 words |
| **Principle** | Shorter = 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

| Rule | Do | Avoid |
|------|-----|-------|
| **Separators** | Hyphens (`-`) | Underscores (`_`), spaces, periods |
| **Case** | Lowercase only | Mixed case (causes duplicate content) |
| **Characters** | Letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphens | Special chars |
| **Stop words** | Remove when possible: the, a, and, or, to | Keep when needed: "how-to" |

### Content

| Rule | Guideline |
|------|-----------|
| **Primary keyword** | Include near start; one focus per URL |
| **Descriptive** | Clear what page is about from slug alone |
| **No keyword stuffing** | One keyword mention is enough |
| **No dates** | Omit unless time-specific (news, annual roundups) |

### Non-ASCII Characters

| Scenario | Rule |
|----------|------|
| **Accented letters** | Convert to ASCII: é→e, ü→u, ñ→n, ç→c |
| **Non-Latin scripts** | Use 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](https://alignify.co/zh/seo/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