What a URL slug is

A slug is the specific, human-readable part of a web address that identifies one page — in example.com.au/services/website-design, the slug is website-design — as distinct from the domain and any folder structure surrounding it.

Why a URL slug is worth choosing deliberately

A clear, descriptive slug gives a visitor scanning a search result or a shared link a genuine sense of what the page is about before clicking it, unlike an automatically generated string of numbers or an unrelated code. It also tends to be easier for a visitor to remember or type directly.

Why changing one is not a small edit

Once a page has been live and potentially linked to, bookmarked or indexed by a search engine, its slug is effectively part of its identity. Changing it changes the page’s actual address, and every existing link, bookmark or search result still pointing at the old address will fail unless a redirect is deliberately put in place from the old address to the new one — the same discipline that applies to any URL change during a redesign or migration.

What tends to go wrong

A slug automatically generated from a long page title, carrying unnecessary words and characters, produces a longer and less readable address than a deliberately shortened, clear version would. Changing slugs casually during a content refresh, without setting up the corresponding redirects, is a common and avoidable way to break existing links and lose accumulated search value on a page that otherwise did not need to change at all.

Where a slug is actually edited

On WordPress, the slug is set in the permalink field, either directly or through an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO, which shows the URL slug alongside the page title and a focus keyphrase field while editing. Other platforms expose the same setting under names like “URL handle” or “page address” — the underlying concept is the same slug regardless of what the interface calls it.

What to do next

For where information architecture decisions like slug and URL structure sit in a build, website design services covers the scope this fits inside.