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Descriptive URLs: how to fix a URL that is an ID or a hash

A descriptive URL ends in words that name the page, such as /guides/soil-sensors. SeenLens reports a URL that ends in an ID, a hash, a date or a query string, such as /p?id=123. Rename the slug to a short phrase and redirect the old URL with a 301. A vendor study links descriptive slugs to more citations. That link is a correlation.

By SeenLens · Last updated

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What does the descriptive URL check test?

SeenLens reads the last path segment of the final URL after redirects. That segment is the slug. The check has weight 1 in the content dimension and the lowest priority, P3. Its evidence label is "Vendor studies, mixed results".

How the url-descriptive check scores a URL
URLResultReason
/guides/soil-sensorsPassThe slug is words
/guides/soil_sensorsPassUnderscores between words count as words
/p?id=123InfoA query string selects the page
/a8f3c2e1InfoThe slug is a hash
/2026/11/07InfoThe path is a date and nothing else
/Not testedThe home page has no slug

A slug in another script, such as percent-encoded Chinese or Arabic text, counts as words. Digits count when they sit inside words, as in top-10-tips.

What counts as a descriptive slug?

Google advises readable words rather than long ID numbers in URLs. It also advises hyphens to separate words and says underscores are discouraged. SeenLens accepts both, but hyphens follow the Google advice.

  • Name the topic. /pricing and /guides/soil-sensors tell a reader and a crawler what the page is about.
  • Keep it short. Use two to five words. Drop filler words that add nothing.
  • Use one case. URLs are case sensitive. Use lower case only.
  • Avoid session IDs and tracking parameters. Google advises cookies instead of session IDs in URLs.
  • Link in your audience's language. Non-Latin words are fine. Percent-encode them in links, as Google advises.
URL examples
Weak:   https://example.com/p/8f3a2c
Weak:   https://example.com/article?id=4471
Good:   https://example.com/guides/soil-sensors
Good:   https://example.com/blog/2026/11/soil-sensors-compared

Do descriptive URLs get cited more in AI answers?

One vendor study says yes, with limits. Ahrefs analysed 1.4 million ChatGPT prompts and published the result on 2026-04-15 (a study by a vendor). Among search results, those with natural language URL slugs had a citation rate of 89.78%. Those without had 81.11%.

Treat this as a correlation. The article shows an association and does not claim that slugs cause citations. It does not say how it classed a slug as natural language, and it warns that its cited and uncited groups differ in make-up. Google recommends readable words in URLs, but the study cannot show that the words caused the citations.

SeenLens gives the check a weight of 1 for this reason. A slug with words also helps people. They see what a link is before they click it.

How do I change a slug safely?

  1. List the URLs with IDs, hashes or query strings. Start with pages that matter most.
  2. Pick a new slug of two to five words that names the topic.
  3. Change the slug in your CMS or router.
  4. Redirect the old URL to the new one with a permanent server-side redirect. Google recommends a permanent server-side redirect when a URL changes, and it reads 301 and 308 as permanent.
  5. Update internal links, the canonical tag and the XML sitemap to the new URL.
  6. Request the old and the new URL with curl. The old URL must answer 301 or 308 and point to the new one. The new URL must answer 200.
Redirect examples
# Nginx
location = /p/8f3a2c {
    return 301 /guides/soil-sensors;
}

# Apache
Redirect 301 /p/8f3a2c /guides/soil-sensors

# Next.js (next.config.js; permanent: true sends 308)
module.exports = {
  redirects() {
    return [{ source: '/p/8f3a2c', destination: '/guides/soil-sensors', permanent: true }];
  },
};
Check the redirect
curl -sI https://example.com/p/8f3a2c | head -n 3
curl -sI https://example.com/guides/soil-sensors | head -n 1

Google does not state how long to keep a redirect. Keep it for as long as people or other sites link to the old URL. Never change a URL without a redirect: the old links would return 404 errors.

When can I ignore this check?

Often. The check is informational, has weight 1 and carries a vendor study as its only support. Leave a URL as it is when it has many links, strong traffic or a stable ID that readers use, such as an order or ticket number. Leave account, checkout and app pages alone, because crawlers do not need them. Fix a missing title, a missing canonical or a blocked crawler first.

Should I use hyphens or underscores in a URL?

Use hyphens. Google says hyphens clearly signal a word boundary and discourages underscores. SeenLens passes both.

Is a date in the URL a problem?

Only when the date is the whole slug, as in /2026/11/07. A path such as /blog/2026/11/soil-sensors-compared ends in words and passes.

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