In the world of web development and SEO, the term slugify refers to the
process of converting a string of text — like a blog title — into a URL-friendly format. A slug
is the part of a URL that identifies a specific page in a human‑readable way. For example: Original Title: What is Slugify and Why Does it Matter?
→ Slugified Result: what-is-slugify-and-why-does-it-matter.
If you don't slugify your titles, URLs often end up looking like a mess of random ID numbers or
percent‑encoded characters (%20 for spaces). Clean slugs are essential for both robots and
humans. In this guide we'll explore why, how, and the best practices to craft perfect slugs.
Why Should You Slugify Your Content?
Clean URLs are not just cosmetic — they directly impact discoverability and trust.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Search engines like Google look at words in your URL to understand context. Keywords in a slug are a minor but relevant ranking factor.
- User Experience (UX): Users are more likely to click a link that tells them exactly where they're going. A readable slug builds confidence.
- Durable Linking: Clean slugs are easier to copy, paste, and share on social media without breaking or looking spammy.
How the Slugify Process Works
To "slugify" a string, a script or function typically follows these five steps. Here’s a quick reference:
| Step | Action | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lowercasing | Convert all characters to lowercase. | "Hello World" → "hello world" |
| 2. Normalization | Remove accents and diacritics. | "Café" → "cafe" |
| 3. Special Characters | Remove symbols ($, @, !, #, etc.) | "Save $10!" → "save 10" |
| 4. Space Replacement | Replace spaces with hyphens. | "how to code" → "how-to-code" |
| 5. Trimming | Remove leading or trailing hyphens. | "-hello-" → "hello" |
Technical Implementation
You rarely need to write this logic from scratch. Most languages have battle‑tested libraries.
JavaScript / Node.js
Using the popular slugify package:
const slugify = require('slugify');
const title = "10 Best Ways to Learn Coding!";
const slug = slugify(title, {
lower: true, // convert to lower case
strict: true, // strip special characters except replacement
replacement: '-' // replace spaces with this character
});
console.log(slug); // "10-best-ways-to-learn-coding"Python
Python developers often use python-slugify:
from slugify import slugify
text = "L'été arrive bientôt!"
print(slugify(text)) # "lete-arrive-bientot"Best Practices for Perfect Slugs
Follow these golden rules to make your slugs both user‑friendly and search‑engine‑optimized.
- Keep it short: Aim for 3–5 words. Shorter URLs are easier to read and share.
- Remove "stop words": Words like "a", "the", and "and" can often be omitted (e.g.,
how-to-bake-cakeinstead ofhow-to-bake-a-cake). - Use hyphens, not underscores: Google explicitly recommends hyphens (
-) because they treat them as word separators. Underscores (_) are often seen as part of the word. - Avoid dates: Unless you're a news site, avoid putting dates in slugs. This lets you update content without the URL looking "old".
Quick Reference: Slug Golden Rules
| Rule | Do this | Avoid this |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 3–5 words | Long, run‑on phrases |
| Separator | hyphen (-) |
underscore (_) or spaces |
| Stop words | omit "a", "the", "and" | keeping unnecessary words |
| Character set | a-z, 0-9, hyphen | accents, symbols, uppercase |
Conclusion
"Slugifying" is a small step in the development process that has a massive impact on how both robots and humans perceive your website. By transforming messy titles into clean, hyphenated strings, you improve your site's accessibility and its chances of climbing the search engine results pages. Whether you're using JavaScript, Python, or any other stack, a good slugify library and the best practices above will keep your URLs tidy and effective.