How do I create better URLs in my website?

Great question, here are few tips to help you create better URLs.

 

First, remember that browsers will open the index.html file in any folder or subfolder, even if you don’t type it into the URL. That means you can create shorter URLs by carefully naming folders and saving an index.html file inside each one. You can have as many index files as you want, as long as you keep them in separate folders. Also make sure that you save all of the folders and subfolders in one main folder on your hard drive so that you can copy the entire structure to your Web server when your done.

 

The result is you can create a URL such as:

 

If enter that URL into a browser,  it actually opens http://JanineWarner.com/espanol/index.html

 

Another tip, everything after the .com is case sensitive. Thus, if I had named that folder Videos, you’d have to type the V uppercase, so pay attention to that detail when you share the URL, and try to be consistent. I make all subfolders lowercase to keep things simple.

 

That said, everything before the .com is NOT case sensitive. So whether you enter: DigitalFamily.com or digitalfamily.com, you get to the same place, the index.html page at the main, or root level, of my site. I like to use DigitalFamily.com when I write the main URL because it’s easier to read.

 

Finally, search engines such as Google are known to use the URL as one of the many criteria for ranking search results. As a result, if you want to optimize for certain keywords, including them in the name of the files and  folders in your site can help.

 

If you enter, DigitalFamily.com/dreamweaver-training/, you go to my Dreamweaver section, and the fact that I use the words Dreamweaver and Training in the URL is helping me score higher when people search Google for Dreamweaver training (at least a little).

 

I hope that helps you create great URLs and I wish you all the best with your website.

 

Janine