What is a URL Slug Generator?
A URL slug is the human-readable part of a web address that identifies a specific page. For example, in the URL https://example.com/best-coffee-shops-in-london, the slug is "best-coffee-shops-in-london". Slugs are derived from page titles or article headings, transformed into lowercase text with spaces replaced by hyphens (or underscores), and with special characters removed to create clean, descriptive, SEO-friendly URLs.
Good URL slugs are important for SEO: they help search engines understand the topic of a page, appear in search results, and are included in links shared on social media. The Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines note that clear, descriptive URLs contribute to a positive user experience. Content management systems (WordPress, Shopify, Webflow) generate slugs automatically, but our tool gives you full control to craft the perfect slug for any title or phrase.
How to Use the URL Slug Generator
- Type or paste your page title or phrase into the input area — the slug generates automatically as you type.
- Choose your Separator: Hyphen (-) is the standard for SEO; Underscore (_) is common in older systems.
- Choose your Case: Lowercase (strongly recommended for URLs) or Uppercase.
- Copy the generated slug, or enter a base URL to preview the full URL and copy that instead.
Why Use Our Slug Generator?
- 100% Free — Generate unlimited slugs with no restrictions.
- No Registration — Instant use without an account.
- Browser-Based — Client-side processing with no server involvement.
- URL Preview — Enter your base URL to preview the complete final URL before copying.
- Slug History — The last 8 generated slugs are shown for quick reference and re-use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Google treats hyphens as word separators but treats underscores as part of a word — meaning "best-coffee-shops" is read as three separate words, while "best_coffee_shops" is read as one word. For SEO, hyphens are strongly recommended. Google's John Mueller has confirmed this distinction multiple times. Most modern CMS platforms default to hyphens for this reason.
Keep slugs concise — ideally 3–5 words. Remove stop words (the, a, an, of, in…) that add length without adding meaning. For example, "the-best-coffee-shops-in-london" can become "best-coffee-shops-london". Shorter slugs are easier to share, type, and remember. Google displays roughly 60–70 characters of a URL in search results before truncating.
Be very cautious about changing slugs on established pages. When you change a URL, you lose any backlinks pointing to the old URL (unless you set up a 301 redirect) and may lose some of your Google ranking temporarily while the new URL is re-indexed. Always set up a 301 permanent redirect from the old URL to the new one, and update all internal links if you must change a slug.
Yes — keywords in URLs are a minor but real SEO ranking factor. More importantly, descriptive URLs containing keywords are more likely to be clicked in search results because users can see what the page is about before visiting. Focus on the primary keyword of the page and structure the slug naturally around it, rather than stuffing multiple keywords into the URL.