Member Avatar for cjohnweb

Hey there,

So I have this domain, let's call it "keyword.com". People search google for "keyword", and I want to show up numero uno. Now, I have made the URLS on my site nice and pretty, in which lies my question.

Often times, people will search for "keyword related-keyword".

Is it best to do URLs as

""

or should I do something like

""

?

Is it better to use your keyword multiple times in the url, or would it be best to keep it short and sweet? Will Google see my "" as "keyword-related-keyword"?

I'm just trying to figure out some of these basics and all the SEO stuff I've read I can't quite find an answer to these questions. I know the basics, just not this.

Thanks!


PS It would be awesome if your answers could also answer the question "why" for each question I've asked. I am trying to learn and ill apply it as it fits my site, but I need as much info as possible.

Edited by cjohnweb because: n/a
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Clarification for (and replies from , and ): prefer short, readable, hyphen-separated slugs that reflect the page topic. Words in the URL are a lightweight relevance signal and help humans and search engines understand a page, but they’re far smaller than page content, title/H1, and backlinks — so focus effort there first. Why: clean URLs improve click‑through and crawling efficiency; stuffing the same term into the path is unnecessary and can look awkward. (developers.google.com)

Between the two forms in the examples, choose the shorter, descriptive slug (for example /related-keyword) rather than repeating the same root (/keyword-related-keyword). Google treats hyphens as word separators (so related-keyword reads as two words), and the domain name contributes context but doesn’t require repeating the keyword in the path. Keeping the slug concise improves usability, sharing, and reduces chance of accidental keyword stuffing. (developers.google.com)

If pages must be reachable from multiple routes (for example /pages/plants/rose and /rose), pick one canonical URL and consolidate signals. Preferred actions: 301‑redirect duplicate URLs to the canonical version (best for link equity), and/or add a rel="canonical" tag on duplicates if redirects aren’t possible. Example canonical and simple Apache redirect: 

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/rose/" />
# Redirect /pages/plants/rose  ->  /rose
RedirectMatch 301 ^/pages/plants/(.*)$ https://example.com/$1

These steps prevent duplicate‑content issues and make Google index the preferred URL. (developers.google.com)

Quick checklist: use hyphens, lowercase slugs, avoid long session IDs or unnecessary parameters, keep URLs stable over time, update internal links and sitemap to the canonical paths, and verify behavior in Search Console. These practices improve crawl efficiency and keep ranking signals consolidated. (developers.google.com)

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Member Avatar for webmaisterpro

Hi John,

Both are fine, honestly I would go for long tail regarding URLs which duplicate the page title. I don't think that there is ideal URL rewriting, but even dynamic pages get ranked without problem.

Member Avatar for cjohnweb

Awesomeness. Primarily, I was a little confused on the structure, I've never done the pretty URL's before (except a little wordpress) but never hand coded anything with pretty urls.

I have a LOT of competition that I need to work into, every little bit helps. Since the site will be a content driven site I can use every little ounce of help I can get in there.

After thinking about it, something like: would be good for general pages and stuff....Well, I don't know how to explain this very well. I don't want to break TOS, but I'm not sure how to explain this.

Let's say I am doing a website about plants. I have a few pages that I want to be able to access via but also I want to be able to directly access the content via

Anyways, Is there any SEO relevance to doing the vs ?

Thanks for the help

Member Avatar for AAREN1975c

Both are good,

""

one make more sense with search engines.

Member Avatar for RSSeosolution

Hi,

Both are fine but in a case only if your both keywords are different. Means in below format search engine can think about keyword stuffing.
"" because keyword and again keyword. Want to say that if you will use single keyword two times then its not good way of SEO. If you have single keyword then first option is more better.

Thanks
RS Seo Solution

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