Read Case Study > Jesse Tutt
Founder & CEO
Struggling to tell your APIs from your CDNs? Read our comprehensive cloud computing glossary covering the most common terms.
< Back to glossary
URL rewriting is a method of altering Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to improve their readability, usability, and search engine optimizable. It is the process of converting complicated or dynamic URLs into more readable, more intuitive, but not changing the underlying resource or functionality.
Server-Side Rewriting: Web servers such as Apache, Nginx, or IIS employ rewrite engines that rewrite URLs according to set rules. These rules may route users to other resources or rewrite URLs for enhanced readability and SEO.
Manual Rewriting: Manual URL modifications in the source code of a website can be made by developers to produce more readable and SEO-friendly URLs.
Readability and User Experience: Shortens URLs to be more memorable and easier to type, which enhances user experience.
SEO Optimization: Enhances search engine ranking through the inclusion of relevant keywords and the exclusion of unnecessary parts of URLs.
Redirect Management: Aids in redirect management and duplicate content issues to ensure better search engine indexing.
Take an example of a dynamic website with URLs such as http://example.com/product.php?id=123&category=electronics. With URL rewriting, it can be converted to a better-readable and SEO-friendly URL such as http://example.com/electronics/product-123, which is simpler for users to read and for search engines to crawl.
Implementation: Make sure URL rewriting is implemented correctly so that there is no crawling and ranking problem.
Testing: Test rewritten URLs extensively to confirm they function appropriately and do not create broken links.
SEO Considerations: Take advantage of URL rewriting to optimize keywords in the URL but do not keyword stuff, which could have adverse effects on SEO.
Overall, URL rewriting is an effective method of improving website usability and SEO through the conversion of complicated URLs to more understandable and user-friendly ones. Web developers can enhance user experience and search engine visibility by learning about its benefits and implementation methods.
