---
title: "Keep addresses short and readable · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/url-structure
id: SEO-5
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-22
tokens: 688
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Keep addresses short and readable

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-22.

- ID: SEO-5
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md)
- Rule: Keep addresses lowercase, hyphenated, descriptive and shallow. Leave out file endings and session parameters, and treat addresses as permanent.
- Check: A crawl matches every URL against `^https://example\.com(/[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*)*$`, adapted to your chosen slash style. No URL fails.
- How: Choose one style with lowercase, hyphens, and either no trailing slash or always one. Enforce it with redirects. Name pages for what they are, and keep dates and IDs out of lasting URLs. Never route pages with a `#` fragment, because search engines ignore everything after `#`. Apply the style to new addresses. Rename an existing address only together with a 301 in the [redirect map](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/redirects-and-canonicals/redirect-map.md).

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### Plain text example

```text
Good: https://example.com/services/website-review
Bad:  https://example.com/Services/Website_Review.html?sessionid=8f3a
Bad:  https://example.com/2026/03/02/page?id=1234
Bad:  https://example.com/#/services/website-review
```

## Sources

- [Google Search Central – URL structure](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/url-structure)
- [RFC 3986 – URI Generic Syntax](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986)

## Related rules

- SEO-31 [Name the address after the topic](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/words-on-the-page/keyword-in-slug.md) in SEO
- WEB-81 [Keep every old address in one redirect map](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/redirects-and-canonicals/redirect-map.md) in Website

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/url-structure">Agent Wranglers SEO playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Next: [Link every page from another](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/internal-linking.md)
- [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md)