What is a URL slug?

A URL slug is the part of a web address that comes after the domain name and identifies a specific page in a human-readable format. For example, in example.com/blog/how-to-make-coffee, the slug is how-to-make-coffee. Slugs are designed to be clean, descriptive, and easy to read—both for users and search engines.

Good slugs use lowercase letters, separate words with hyphens, and avoid special characters or unnecessary words. They play an important role in SEO because search engines use them to understand page content, and users are more likely to click on links with clear, meaningful URLs.

Why do slugs matter for SEO?

Search engines like Google analyze URL structure when ranking pages. A well-crafted slug that includes relevant keywords can improve your page's visibility in search results. Clean slugs also build trust with users—a URL like /best-chocolate-chip-cookies is far more inviting than /page?id=12345&cat=7.

Beyond SEO, readable slugs make it easier to share links on social media, in emails, or in print materials. They're memorable and give readers a preview of what to expect before clicking.

Tool description

This slug generator converts any text into clean, URL-friendly slugs ready for use in web addresses, file names, or database identifiers. It automatically handles special characters, diacritics, and spacing to produce consistent, standardized output.

The tool offers several customization options including separator style (hyphens, underscores, or dots), case handling (lowercase or preserve original), accent transliteration, and maximum length limits. These options let you match the slug format to your specific platform requirements or style guidelines.

Examples

Input Text Settings Output Slug
How to Make Perfect Coffee Default how-to-make-perfect-coffee
Café Münster: Best Spots! Default cafe-munster-best-spots
Product Name 2024 Underscore separator product_name_2024
My Article Title Preserve case My-Article-Title
Very Long Article Title About Something Max length: 20 very-long-article
Résumé & Portfolio No transliteration rsum-portfolio

Features

  • Multiple separator options: Choose between hyphens (-), underscores (_), or dots (.) to match your URL structure requirements
  • Case handling: Convert to lowercase for standard web URLs or preserve original casing for special use cases
  • Accent transliteration: Automatically convert characters like é, ñ, ü to their ASCII equivalents (e, n, u) for maximum compatibility
  • Maximum length control: Set a character limit to ensure slugs fit within database constraints or platform requirements
  • Real-time preview: See your slug update instantly as you type or change settings

Use cases

  • Blog and CMS platforms: Generate consistent, SEO-friendly URLs for articles, pages, and posts across your content management system
  • E-commerce product URLs: Create clean product page URLs that include relevant keywords and improve search engine visibility
  • File naming conventions: Convert document titles or project names into standardized file names without spaces or special characters
  • API endpoint design: Design readable REST API endpoints that follow URL best practices and naming conventions
  • Database identifiers: Generate unique, human-readable keys for database records that are easy to reference and debug