ToolLaunchpadHow to use the slug generator
Type or paste a title. The slug updates while you type. To create several slugs at once, put one title per line and each line becomes its own slug. Options:
- Separator: hyphens are the usual choice for URLs. Underscores are sometimes used for file names or identifiers.
- Max length: shortens long slugs at a word boundary when possible, so you do not end up with half a word.
- Remove stop words: drops short filler words such as a, an, the, of, in, to, for, which makes slugs shorter. If a title consists only of stop words, they are kept.
Worked examples
| Title | Slug |
|---|---|
| 10 Tips for Faster Websites! | 10-tips-for-faster-websites |
| Über 10 Tipps für schnellere Websites | ueber-10-tipps-fuer-schnellere-websites |
| Crème brûlée & café au lait | creme-brulee-and-cafe-au-lait |
| Straße in Zürich | strasse-in-zuerich |
| What is C# — really? | what-is-c-really |
How characters are handled
- German umlauts follow the standard German transliteration: ä becomes
ae, öoe, üueand ßss. Simply dropping the dots (für tofur) changes the meaning of many German words. - Other accents are removed from the base letter: é, è, ê become
e, ñ becomesn, ç becomesc. - Special letters such as æ, ø, å, œ, ł are converted to
ae, o, a, oe, l. - & becomes
andand @ becomesat, because removing them can merge two words. - All other symbols and punctuation become separators, and repeated separators are collapsed into one. There is never a separator at the start or end.
Scripts without a Latin transliteration, such as Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic, are removed by this tool. Modern browsers and search engines handle non-Latin URLs well, so for content in those languages you may prefer to keep the original characters instead of using an ASCII slug.
Slug best practices for SEO
- Keep slugs short and descriptive; three to six words is a good target. Use the main keyword of the page.
- Use hyphens, not underscores. Google treats hyphens as word separators.
- Use lowercase only. URL paths are case-sensitive on most servers, so mixed case invites duplicate URLs and broken links.
- Avoid dates and numbers that will become outdated, such as
best-tools-2023, unless the page really is about that year. - Once a page is published, do not change its slug without setting up a 301 redirect from the old URL.
Frequently asked questions
What is a URL slug?
A slug is the readable part of a URL that identifies a page, such as best-pasta-recipes in example.com/blog/best-pasta-recipes. It is usually lowercase with words separated by hyphens.
How are German umlauts converted?
They use the standard German transliteration: ä becomes ae, ö becomes oe, ü becomes ue and ß becomes ss. For example, Grüße becomes gruesse.
Should I use hyphens or underscores in URLs?
Use hyphens. Google treats hyphens as word separators, while words joined with underscores may be read as a single word.
How long should a URL slug be?
There is no fixed limit, but short slugs of three to six meaningful words are easier to read, share and remember. Use the max length option to cap long titles.
Should I remove stop words from slugs?
It is optional. Removing words like the, a and of makes slugs shorter, but keep them when they are needed for the meaning or the slug reads badly without them.
Does the slug generator store my titles?
No. Slugs are created in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.