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Do search engines really care about whether the URL has a _ or - ?. Some SEO experts say they do, is it really so?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Hsekhar

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Several contributors (, , and others) touched on how search engines treat characters in URLs. The practical next step is not debating a single character in isolation but making sure URLs are consistent, crawlable and managed safely if changed. The checklist below focuses on what to do on a real site, whether it has a handful of pages or thousands.

  • Inventory current URLs with a crawler (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb or similar) and export variants.
  • Use Google Search Console (URL Inspection) and server logs to see which URL forms are actually indexed and receiving links/clicks.
  • Decide and document a canonical URL policy for the site (separator conventions, lowercase, trailing slash policy, parameter handling).
  • Plan an explicit old→new mapping for every URL you will change; avoid blind bulk rewrites without mapping tests.
  • Implement server-side 301 redirects from every old URL to its canonical replacement; eliminate redirect chains and ensure the final URL returns 200.
  • Update internal links, navigation, XML sitemap, and any CMS settings so new URLs are emitted going forward.
  • Use rel="canonical" for pages that must remain accessible under multiple URL forms while you migrate.

Testing and monitoring: submit the updated sitemap, request indexing for critical pages, and monitor Search Console coverage and crawl errors for several weeks. Track organic traffic and rankings in analytics to detect regressions. Small sites can make changes quickly; large sites should stage changes, batch redirects, and monitor logs closely.

Caveat: 301 redirects transfer most signals, but renaming URLs still carries risk and temporary ranking fluctuation. If a site is stable and the gain is marginal, consistency and readability usually matter more than chasing micro-optimizations.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for jbennet

I *think* google counts _ as meaning nothing and so the string e.g home_page becomes homepage. - generally is treated as meaing NOT, but i think this isnt a problem.

So, i think "-" is better if the url uses multiple distinct words.

but im no SEO expert

Member Avatar for blackpooldanny

Sometimes having symbols in the URL doesnt matter as its readable but having symbols like ?!%& doesnt help with getting indexed

Member Avatar for stephen186

I think Jbennet has explained it exactly why SEO experts recommend _ or -

Member Avatar for Robdale

yea... jbennet has covered the major point. Nothing more to say. the less you will have the symbols, the better results you will get.

Member Avatar for mrandrei

Google sees words separated by an underscore as one word.

Member Avatar for jbennet

yep thats what i thought too

Member Avatar for Hsekhar

Google itself should clear the doubt here

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