Your website’s URL structure is the digital scaffolding of your business. If it’s messy, search engines like Google will struggle to understand what your pages are about, and more importantly, your Brisbane customers might feel a bit hesitant to click on a link that looks like a string of random computer code.
In this guide, we’re going to walk through exactly how to clean up your URLs. We’ll move from the basics of 'slug' customisation to the more complex architectural decisions that help a site rank in the Australian market.
Why does this matter for your business?
Think of your URL as a digital signpost. A clear signpost likeyourbusiness.com.au/services/plumbing tells both Google and a local customer exactly what to expect. A messy one like yourbusiness.com.au/p=123?var=xyz tells them nothing. Getting this right improves your click-through rates and helps Google index your site much faster.
---
Prerequisites: What you'll need before we start
- Administrative access to your website’s backend (WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, etc.).
- Google Search Console set up for your domain (to track any changes).
- A Spreadsheet (Google Sheets or Excel) to map out your new structure.
- A cup of tea or coffee. This is a long one, and we’re going to be thorough.
---
Step 1: Audit Your Current URLs
Before we change anything, we need to know what we're working with. If you change a URL without a plan, you’ll break links and lose your current Google rankings. This is where most people get stuck, and honestly, the interface of most CMS platforms doesn't make this easy.
- List your pages: Open a spreadsheet. In Column A, list every page on your website.
- Identify 'Ugly' URLs: Look for URLs that contain dates, random numbers, or underscores.
- Check for 'Breadcrumbs': Does your URL show the path? For example:
store.com.au/mens/shoes/boots. If it’s juststore.com.au/boots, you might be missing an opportunity to show Google how your site is organised.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain Version (The 'WWW' vs 'Non-WWW' Debate)
This feels like a small detail, but to Google, https://www.yourbusiness.com.au and https://yourbusiness.com.au are two different websites.
- Pick one and stick to it: There is no SEO advantage to one over the other in 2024. Most modern Australian brands prefer the cleaner 'non-www' look.
- Force the redirect: In your website settings (usually under 'General Settings' in WordPress), ensure your 'Site Address' matches your preferred version.
https (the 's' is vital for security).
Step 3: Set Your Permalinks to 'Post Name'
If you are using WordPress (which most Brisbane small businesses are), the default setting is often 'Plain' or 'Day and name'. This is terrible for SEO.
- Go to Settings > Permalinks.
- Select 'Post Name'.
- This changes
yourbusiness.com.au/?p=123toyourbusiness.com.au/sample-post/.
(Don't worry if this screen looks different—Google and WordPress change their interfaces constantly, but the 'Permalinks' menu has stayed in the same spot for about a decade.)
Step 4: Use Keywords, But Keep It Lean
Your URL should describe the page using words people actually type into Google.
- Bad:
lmgroup.au/services-offered-by-us-in-2024 - Good:
lmgroup.au/digital-marketing
yourbusiness.com.au/emergency-plumber is often better than yourbusiness.com.au/emergency-plumber-brisbane-queensland-4000. Keep it punchy.
Step 5: Use Hyphens, Never Underscores
This is a classic 'techy' mistake. Google’s crawlers are programmed to see a hyphen (-) as a space, but they see an underscore (_) as a character that joins words together.
seo-guide= "SEO Guide"seo_guide= "Seoguide"
Always use hyphens to separate words. Yes, this step is annoyingly fiddly if you have to go back and change old posts, but it's worth it for clarity.
Step 6: Create a Logical Hierarchy (The Folder Method)
Think of your website like a filing cabinet. You wouldn't just throw every piece of paper into the top drawer. You’d use folders.
- Top Level:
yourbusiness.com.au/services/ - Sub-Level:
yourbusiness.com.au/services/social-media-marketing/ - Deep Level:
yourbusiness.com.au/services/social-media-marketing/facebook-ads/
This tells Google that 'Facebook Ads' is a subset of 'Social Media Marketing'. It builds 'Topical Authority'.
Step 7: Strip Out 'Stop Words'
Words like 'a', 'the', 'and', 'of', and 'for' are generally ignored by search engines. They just make your URL longer and harder to read on a mobile screen.
- Before:
yourbusiness.com.au/how-to-fix-a-leaky-tap-in-the-kitchen - After:
yourbusiness.com.au/fix-leaky-kitchen-tap
Step 8: Use Lowercase Only
URLs are case-sensitive on some servers. If a customer types YourBusiness.com.au/Services, but your URL is actually yourbusiness.com.au/services, they might end up on a 404 error page.
Step 9: Avoid Dates in the URL
This is a huge mistake many bloggers make. If you write an article called "Best Marketing Trends 2023" and your URL is yourbusiness.com.au/2023/10/marketing-trends, that content looks instantly outdated in 2024.
If you use yourbusiness.com.au/marketing-trends, you can update the page content every year without ever changing the URL. This allows you to keep the 'SEO juice' you've built up over time.
Step 10: The Critical Final Step—301 Redirects
This is the most important part of the guide. If you change an existing URL (e.g., changing/about-our-company to /about), the old link will break. Anyone clicking it from an old email or a Facebook post will see a 'Page Not Found' error.
- Install a plugin like 'Redirection' (if on WordPress) or use your Shopify URL redirect tool.
- Enter the Old URL (Source).
- Enter the New URL (Target).
- This tells Google: "Hey, we moved! Please pass all our ranking power to this new link."
---
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Keyword Stuffing: Don't do
yourbusiness.com.au/plumber-plumbing-brisbane-plumber-near-me. Google will penalise you for spammy behaviour. - Changing URLs frequently: Pick a structure and stick to it. Every time you change a URL, there is a temporary 'dip' in rankings while Google re-indexes the site.
- Using ABNs or technical IDs: Unless you are a massive government database, keep IDs out of your URLs. Your human customers can't read them.
Troubleshooting
- "I changed my URLs and my traffic dropped!" Don't panic. This is normal for 1-2 weeks. However, check your 301 redirects. If you forgot to redirect, that's why your traffic disappeared.
- "My URL still shows the old version in Google search results." Google takes time to 're-crawl' your site. You can speed this up by going to Google Search Console and 'Requesting Indexing' for the new URL.
- "I'm a sole trader, do I need complex folders?" Probably not. If you only have 5 pages, a flat structure (
yourbusiness.com.au/service-name) is perfectly fine.
Next Steps
Now that your URLs are clean and SEO-friendly, it’s time to look at what’s actually on those pages. Why not check out our guide on Local SEO for Brisbane Businesses to help you dominate the local map pack?
If this all feels a bit too technical and you’d rather spend your time running your business, we’re here to help. Our team at Local Marketing Group handles technical SEO audits every day for businesses across Queensland.
Need a hand? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and we'll help you get your site structure sorted.