Slash at the end of a url
-
I keep reading contradicting information, so I figured I'll ask here.
What's the best practice for slash '/' at the end of a URL?
Should it be idealchooser.com/search/laptop/ or idealchooser.com/search/laptop (no trailing slash)?
The options:
1. Accept both equally
2. Accept 1 and redirect the other with 301
3. Accept 1 and treat the other as a wrong URL returning 404
Which would be the best for SEO?
Thank you.
-
Thank you very much Matt.
Now I get it
-
Just to be clear that when you decide which version you want to be your main url structure you need to make sure that all your internal should point at the preferred format.
So if you are putting preference on the trailing slash as in your 301 redirect is from none trailing slash to trailing slash then your internal link structure should match.
-
Thank you Matt,
From the article: "The takeaway here is that whenever possible, it is better to internally link to the version with the backslash."
Just to be clear, does this mean that all my internal links should not contain a trailing slash and I should make sure links with a trailing slash are internally redirected to the same page?
If I remember correctly, when I did this SEOmoz marked it as duplicate content, but Google seemed to be fine with it.
I know I'm being very picky here, I just want to make sure I don't loose ranking because of something that seems so minor.
Thanks.
-
I would look at going down the canonical route - have a look at canonicalization guide from SEOMoz here - http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/canonicalization
I would add a canonical tag pointing at your preferred format url and I would also do a 301 redirect between the two. Using both won't cause issues and obviously your link juice will keep flowing.
It specifically talks about trailing slashes and redirecting from none trailing to trailing towards the end of the article.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Virtual URL Google not indexing?
Dear all, We have two URLs: The main URL which is crawled both by GSC and where Moz assigns our keywords is: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/ The second one is called a virtual url by our developpers: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/ This is currently not indexed by Google. We have been linking to the second URL and I am unable to see if this is passing juice/anything on to the main one /banksy/ Is it a canonical? The /banksy/ is the one that is being picked up in serps/by Moz and worry that the two similar URLs are splitting the signal. Should I redirect from the second to the first? Thank you
On-Page Optimization | | TAT1000 -
Will page be marked as 404 if you replace country specific letters from url?
What I'm reffering to is replacement of Polish characters from i.e "ł" to "l" or "ę" to "e". I believe it relates same way as other similar Slavic languages.
On-Page Optimization | | Optimal_Strategies0 -
Best Tool for Retrieving Multiple URL Word Counts in Bulk?
I am doing some content analysis with over 200 URLs to go through! Does anybody know of, or can recommend any bulk on-page word count checkers which would help with the heavy lifting? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | NickG-1230 -
Home page keyword in url
I have been looking into SEO for a few weeks now trying to perfect a homepage. Going through various sources on MOZ, and other examples out there on the internet, I keep seeing that you should have your keyword in the URL of the page. The homepage is the page most people want to rank the highest in google searches, however, you cannot put the keyword in the URL as most home page URLs are simply /. Should I actually make the home like this: www.example.com/key-word-example? I would imagine this would not be the normal for many users and would seem like it's not the home page.
On-Page Optimization | | Matthew_smart0 -
Duplicate URL's in Sitemap? Is that a problem?
I submitted a sitemap to on Search Console - but noticed that there are duplicate URLs, is that a problem for Google?
On-Page Optimization | | Luciana_BAH0 -
Trailing slash
Our homepage never had trailing slash and we always pointed internal and external links to homepage URL with no trailing slash. Our canonical also has no trailing slash. Recently our SEO agency is asking us to change it to trailing slash. Is it required as part of best SEO practices?
On-Page Optimization | | rbai0 -
Redirects for new site new urls?
If redoing a site and updating some of the url's for SEO should you do permanent redirects for the old sites url's ? Using WordPress. I saw that the Yoast Pro plugin allows you to do this inside WordPress , is this the best way? Suggestions.? I know there are old articles written out on the web pointing back to the what will be soon old url's so just wondering what's the best way to go about this. Thanks Scott
On-Page Optimization | | scott3150 -
Canonical URL Category and Tags
Hello, I would like to know that I want to use both category and tags in my blog StylishMahi. If I index both category and tags, should I use canonical URL tag to pass referring to main category. As I want more my categories in SERP results ranking higher? I have also attached a picture. Can someone please confirm? Photo by Moz ZigdWMx
On-Page Optimization | | PratapSingh0