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I'm faced with a decision with creating my paths and not sure which would have the best ranking approach.

  1. example.com/product/[slug]-[uuid]
  2. example.com/product/[uuid]-[slug]
  3. example.com/product/[slug]
  4. example.com/product/[uuid]

The argument for putting the uuid first or only is it's a deterministic path and it never changes.

The argument for slug is human readable urls are supposed to rank better but our slugs might change.

Would a canonical url's approach be different?

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  • Universally unique IDs (UUIDs) are usually very long, too long for URLs. Is there are reason you can't use a shorter locally unique ID to make your URLs shorter?
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Mar 18, 2021 at 19:54
  • I am assuming you mean a numeric id and not an actual uuid. If so, I would go with /product/slug/id. I would expect that if the DB reaches a large enough size, you would rather search for products based on a numeric ID than a string.
    – StephenCollins
    Mar 18, 2021 at 20:35

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Number 3 - just the slug will likely give you a (marginal) SEO advantage over the other options, all else being equal. To the extent that canonical implies "authorative & original address" the URaL makes little difference - but again a slug is likely easier to remember.

Id suggest the only reason to use a UUID over a slug us if you have large swaithes of content or lots of similar content.

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  • The ID can be very important in URLs for SEO in two cases: 1. If the slug is long enough that it is likely to get truncated. Then having the ID can help recover and redirect. 2. If the slug for a page can change (for example if it is computed from an editable page title). Then the ID is important for implementing redirects.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Mar 18, 2021 at 19:58
  • @StephenOstermiller you raise good points. I think our definition of a slug is differs - I don't think a slug can change, as it is not something that is updated from an editable page - rather it is a unique identifier of the page which includes meaning understandable to humans. In Wordpress for example a slug is initially derived from the title, but even if you change the title - or even all the contents of the page, the slug remains the same.
    – davidgo
    Mar 18, 2021 at 21:17

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