A page address appears in search results, but also in email, bookmarks and printed documents. A useful structure helps people recognize where a link leads and lets your team improve the website without breaking access to it. Before shortening every URL, first decide which addresses actually need to change.
A redesign can update content, presentation and navigation while keeping many existing addresses. Our recommendation is to retain URLs that still describe their content accurately, then plan the changes that serve a clear purpose. Stability is a maintenance decision, not a promise of higher search rankings.
Choose words people understand
An address such as /en/services/wordpress-maintenance/ gives more context than an opaque identifier. Use terms your customers recognize and keep the structure consistent across related pages. Avoid filling the path with several variations of the same keyword.
Google recommends descriptive URLs with hyphens between words. Decide how your site handles letter case as well: paths differing only in capitalization can identify different resources. A lowercase convention is usually easier for an editorial team to apply consistently.
There is no need to remove every short connecting word mechanically. Instead, read the address and ask whether it remains clear, easy to share and specific enough to distinguish the page. A fictional path such as /en/guides/wordpress-backups/ communicates a subject without adding a list of locations or related services.
Avoid a structure that ages too quickly
Choose folders around the lasting organization of your content. Services, help guides and news may deserve separate sections. Including a temporary campaign name in the address of a permanent service, however, creates an unnecessary dependency on that campaign.
Apply the same reasoning to dates and categories. A year may help identify an annual edition; it is less useful for an explanation maintained over time. If an article could move between categories, consider whether the category needs to be part of its address. These are editorial decisions to make before publishing, rather than universal rules that every website must follow.
For a small team, a brief naming convention can prevent repeated debates. Record a few examples and decide who checks proposed addresses. This is often more useful than a complicated formula that authors cannot apply without technical help.
Distinguish the preferred address from its variants
Sometimes the same page is available through different paths or parameters. Choose a preferred address and use it consistently in internal links. Google's canonical URL documentation explains how to indicate that preference for identical or very similar content.
A canonical indication does not redirect visitors, and it does not guarantee that the search engine will select your preference. When a page actually moves, a redirect serves a different purpose: taking people from its old address to the new location. Do not describe pages serving different needs as equivalent simply to reduce the number of URLs.
For the choice between an address with or without www, see our guide to choosing your website's main address. Make that decision for the site, then keep links and configuration consistent with it.
Preserve a useful bilingual journey
A French page and its English translation can have localized paths. Switching languages should take readers to the corresponding page instead of the homepage. Maintain an explicit relationship between the versions, even when their titles and addresses are not word-for-word translations.
Google describes language-version annotations, including hreflang. These complement translated content; they do not replace it. During a redesign, check the relationship in both directions and avoid sending an old French address to English content without a reason.
Plan each worthwhile change
Before deployment, prepare a mapping of old URLs, new destinations, reasons for changes and the person responsible for checking them. Include pages linked from emails, documents and campaigns, rather than looking only at the current navigation menu.
Google recommends permanent server-side redirects such as 301 or 308 for permanent moves. Match each page to genuinely equivalent content. Sending every old address to the homepage does not meet the needs of someone looking for a specific guide.
After launch, check old addresses, internal links, language switches and reported errors. If your service uses cPanel, consult our guide to redirecting a domain or page; the configuration must suit the application and its hosting environment.
Keeping an address may be the best decision. When changes are useful, discuss your website structure with us, starting with its content and the links people already use.
To go further, our sister brand Nuagiciel has a guide: Website redesign: where to start.
