Here’s what you need to know: keywords in your URL can help you rank in Google, and URL structure matters even more for ChatGPT. But there’s a catch that most SEOs won’t tell you.
Despite what Google says publicly, having keywords in your URL helps with ranking. It’s not as powerful as your H1 title or meta title, but the impact is real. We know this because Google manually flags exact match domains and demotes them in search results.
Think about it. If URLs didn’t matter for ranking, why would Google need a manual penalty specifically for exact match domains?
The manual penalty exists because the natural ranking boost from keyword-rich URLs is strong enough that Google had to counteract it. Even with the penalty, exact match domains still provide a net benefit.
The One SEO Hack That Still Works in 2025
If you’re starting a new business, consider including your primary search terms in your business name. This is the only remaining SEO hack that reliably outranks competitors orders of magnitude bigger than you.
When your business name is “Solar Energy Company Houston” and someone searches “solar energy company Houston,” Google can’t distinguish whether they’re looking for your brand or just any solar company. You’ll rank for that term and related variations like “solar panel company Houston” or “solar installer Houston.”
For existing businesses, you can get some benefit by changing your Google Business Profile title to include keywords. This technically breaks Google’s terms of service, but enforcement has been minimal. Google may change business names occasionally, but you can simply change them back.
The real power comes from every mention of your business online reinforcing your association with those search terms. Every link using your business name as anchor text signals to Google what you do.
Should You Include Keywords in New URLs?
Yes. When creating new pages, include relevant keywords in the URL slug.
If you’re building a service page for window tinting in Houston, use a URL like: yoursite.com/window-tinting-houston
Not: yoursite.com/services/page-14
The keywords should be clear and descriptive. One or two relevant terms work better than stuffing five keywords into the URL.
The Critical Rule: Never Change Indexed URLs
Once Google has indexed a page or it receives any traffic, changing the URL is almost never worth it. This is the most important point in this article.
When you change a URL, Google doesn’t see it as the same page with a new address. To Google, you deleted the old page and created a new identical page. Any trust or authority that page earned is gone.
Yes, you can set up a 301 redirect. Google recommends keeping redirects in place for at least a year. This tells Google the content moved and preserves most of your PageRank. But some authority still gets lost in the process.
The benefit from optimizing your URL structure rarely justifies losing the trust your existing URLs have built. Apply URL best practices only to new pages.
How Subfolders Affect Your Rankings
Google assumes pages nested in subfolders are less important than pages at the top level of your site. The more subfolders a page sits under, the lower priority Google gives it.
You might think the solution is to avoid subfolders entirely. But if all pages are top-level, then no page stands out as important.
For competitive search terms, keep your most important pages within one subfolder or less. Your homepage and primary service pages should typically be at the root level or one folder deep.
Example of good structure:
- yoursite.com/services (one folder)
- yoursite.com/about (top level)
- yoursite.com/blog/article-name (one folder)
Avoid:
- yoursite.com/services/category/subcategory/page
Google has stated that URL depth itself isn’t a ranking factor, but pages buried deep in your site structure get crawled less often. Keep important content within 2-3 clicks of your homepage.
When to Use Subfolders
Subfolders help organize different types of content and signal different sections of your site to Google. Use descriptive folder names that indicate what type of content lives there.
Good subfolder structure:
- /blog/ for all blog posts
- /resources/ for guides and downloads
- /services/ for service pages
- /about/ for company information
Google’s SEO Starter Guide specifically recommends grouping similar pages in directories. This helps Google understand which parts of your site change frequently and which stay static.
Each subfolder should represent a meaningful category. Don’t create random folder layers just to have structure.
Think of subfolders as distinct sections targeting different audiences or topics. An “Electronics” folder signals different content than a generic “products” folder.
How ChatGPT Reads URLs Differently
ChatGPT and other large language models pay close attention to URLs before looking at page content.
When ChatGPT searches for information, it reviews the URL, title, and meta description first. URLs that clearly represent the page content are more likely to get examined.
This matters because ChatGPT doesn’t rank pages the same way Google does. It looks through multiple pages of search results and reads dozens or hundreds of sources before making recommendations.
A clear, descriptive URL like yoursite.com/ceramic-window-tinting-benefits signals the content better than yoursite.com/services/detail?id=847.
Unlike Google, ChatGPT doesn’t weight keyword-stuffed URLs differently. It simply uses the URL as context to understand what the page likely contains. The clearer your URL structure, the better ChatGPT can match your content to relevant queries.
Practical URL Guidelines for 2025
- Include 1-2 relevant keywords in new URLs
- Use hyphens to separate words (not underscores)
- Keep URLs short and readable
- Never change URLs once indexed
- Use descriptive subfolder names
- Keep important pages within 1 subfolder
- Set up 301 redirects if you must move pages
- Consider keywords in your business name for new companies
The goal is to create URLs that make sense to both search engines and humans. Clear, descriptive URLs that accurately represent your content will serve you well across all platforms.
Ready to Optimize Your Website?
We help businesses rank higher in both Google and AI platforms like ChatGPT. Our approach combines traditional SEO with AI optimization strategies that position you for the future of search.
Contact us for a free website audit and see where your current URL structure might be holding you back.