Slug Generator: Turn Any Text Into a Clean URL Slug
A slug generator turns a title or phrase into the short, readable part of a URL that identifies one page, for example what-is-seo in example.com/blog/what-is-seo. The WritoryBuzz tool lowercases the text, swaps spaces for hyphens, removes special characters, flattens accents and can drop stop words, in single or bulk mode.
Generate a clean slug now or read on to learn how long a slug should be, why hyphens beat underscores and how to change a slug without losing traffic.
Use the toolSlug Generator
Single mode| # | Original Text | Slug | Length | Copy |
|---|
lowercase, hyphen-separated, short and descriptive, with no special characters. Hyphens or underscores: hyphens. Google recommends them for separating words in URLs. Ideal length: about 3 to 5 meaningful words. Changing a live slug: only with a 301 redirect from the old address.
What Is a URL Slug?
A URL slug is the part of a web address that names a specific page in human-readable words. In https://example.com/blog/what-is-seo the slug is what-is-seo. It usually comes last in the path, after the domain and any folders.
A good slug tells a visitor what the page is before they click, is easy to copy into a message and keeps links tidy. A tidy slug can also give search engines a small additional hint about the topic, though it should never be treated as a ranking lever on its own.
The word comes from print: a slug was a short label an editor attached to a story. CMS software borrowed the term for the short name of a post.
How to Use the Slug Generator
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1STEP 1 Choose a mode. Single slug for one title, Bulk Convert for many lines at once.
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2STEP 2 Pick a platform preset if you use WordPress, Shopify, Jekyll or Hugo, Python or Django, or GitHub. Choose Custom to set everything yourself.
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3STEP 3 Set the separator. Hyphen is recommended. Underscore, dot or no separator are also available.
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4STEP 4 Set the case. Lowercase is recommended. Uppercase and Preserve original are available.
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5STEP 5 Set a max length if your system needs one. Zero means no limit.
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6STEP 6 Choose options. Remove stop words, Normalize accents, Keep numbers.
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7STEP 7 Paste your title. The slug appears live. Add a base URL if you want a full preview.
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8STEP 8 Copy the slug with the Copy buttons.
Do not paste the finished headline blindly. Write the headline for readers, then shorten the slug to the core topic, for example "10-best-free-seo-tools-for-small-business-websites" becomes "free-seo-tools".
What the Tool Does to Your Text
These are illustrative examples of the kind of result you can expect with hyphens, lowercase and the matching options switched on.
| Input | Slug | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| How to Write a Blog Post | how-to-write-a-blog-post | Lowercase, spaces become hyphens |
| Café Menu: Top 10 Dishes! | cafe-menu-top-10-dishes | Accent removed, punctuation stripped |
| myCamelCaseTitle | my-camel-case-title | CamelCase split into words |
| Best Tools for the Job | best-tools-job | Stop words (for, the) removed when that option is on |
| Extra spaces | extra-spaces | Whitespace trimmed and collapsed |
The live tool describes handling for accents, CamelCase, stop words and special characters, so a title with brackets, ampersands or symbols becomes plain letters, numbers and separators.
Hyphens or Underscores in URLs?
Use hyphens. Google's guidance on URL structure recommends separating words with hyphens and says underscores are not recommended. Google treats a hyphen as a word separator, so best-practices reads as two words. An underscore can join the words so best_practices may read as one word.
| Separator | How search engines read it | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Hyphen ( - ) | Word separator | Page URLs, blog posts, product pages (recommended) |
| Underscore ( _ ) | May join words together | Python names and some code identifiers only |
| Dot ( . ) | Looks like a file extension | File names, not page slugs |
| None | Words run together (bestpractices) | Rarely a good idea for readability |
Underscores are normal in Python variable and module names. If you generate identifiers for code, choose the underscore. For anything a visitor will see in a web address, choose the hyphen.
Slug Best Practices
- Keep it short. Three to five meaningful words is usually enough. Google does not set a limit, but short slugs are easier to read, share and remember.
- Use the main topic words. Put the primary keyword in naturally, without repeating it.
- Use lowercase. URL paths can be case-sensitive on some servers, so mixed case can create duplicate-looking addresses.
- Avoid dates and numbers that expire. A slug with 2024 in it looks old in 2026. Keep the year out of the slug unless the page is about that year.
- Remove filler words like a, the and of when it keeps the meaning clear. Keep them when removing them changes the meaning.
- Avoid special characters and spaces. Spaces turn into %20 and symbols into encoded sequences that are hard to read.
- Keep it stable. Choose the slug once and avoid changing it.
Platform Slug Reference
| Platform | Separator | Case | Stop words | Max length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Hyphen | Lowercase | Optional | No hard limit, about 200 characters is practical |
| Shopify | Hyphen | Lowercase | No | No hard limit |
| Jekyll or Hugo | Hyphen | Lowercase | No | No hard limit |
| Django or Python | Underscore or hyphen | Lowercase | No | No hard limit |
| GitHub repository | Hyphen | Lowercase | No | 100 characters |
These presets follow the common convention for each platform. Always check your own platform's current rules before bulk-importing slugs.
Accents, Non-English Text and Special Characters
With Normalize accents on, letters such as e with an accent become plain e, so a title like "Café" becomes cafe and not caf%C3%A9. Plain ASCII slugs work in every system, copy cleanly into chat apps and avoid encoded characters.
If your titles are in Hindi or another non-Latin script, test a sample first. The tool documents accent handling for Latin letters. For non-Latin titles, many teams write a short English slug by hand, or use a transliterated version. Browsers can display non-Latin URLs, but they are percent-encoded when shared, which makes them harder to read in plain text.
Bulk Convert
Switch to Bulk mode and paste one title per line to convert a whole list at once. This is useful when you import posts into a CMS, plan a site structure in a spreadsheet or clean up product names. The same separator, case, length and stop word settings apply to every line. Review the list for duplicates before you import, since two titles can produce the same slug. The duplicate word remover can help clean the list.
How to Change a Slug Without Losing Traffic
- 1Decide whether the change is really needed. A stable URL keeps its links, shares and history.
- 2Create the new slug and publish it.
- 3Set up a permanent 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.
- 4Update internal links, canonical tags and your XML sitemap. The XML sitemap generator can rebuild it.
- 5Check the result in Google Search Console and fix any crawl errors.
Common Slug Mistakes
- Copying a long headline into the slug.
- Using underscores in a web address.
- Stuffing keywords, such as best-seo-tool-seo-tools-free-seo.
- Removing stop words that carry meaning. "how to" can matter to the intent.
- Changing the slug on a live page with no redirect.
- Using capital letters or spaces.
- Creating the same slug twice. Most systems then add -2, which looks untidy.
Before you publish, preview how the title and description look in search with the meta tag generator or the Google SERP simulator.
Limits of This Tool
- The tool formats text. It does not check whether a slug is already used on your site.
- Stop word removal is automatic and can change meaning, so read the result.
- It does not translate or transliterate non-Latin scripts.
- A good slug cannot rescue a thin page. It is one small part of on-page SEO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a URL slug?
A slug is the human-readable part of a URL that identifies a specific page. In example.com/blog/what-is-seo, the slug is what-is-seo.
Should I use hyphens or underscores in a slug?
Use hyphens. Google recommends hyphens to separate words in URLs, and treats them as word separators, while underscores may join words together.
How long should a slug be?
Aim for about three to five meaningful words. There is no fixed length limit in Google's guidance, but short slugs are easier to read, share and remember.
Should I remove stop words from a slug?
Remove them when the meaning stays clear, for example "the" and "of". Keep them when they change the meaning, such as "how to". Use the Remove stop words option, then read the result.
Do slugs affect SEO?
A clear, descriptive slug helps users and may give search engines a small topical hint. It is a minor factor, so content quality matters far more.
Can I change a slug after publishing?
Yes, but set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one, then update internal links and your sitemap. Otherwise you risk broken links and lost traffic.
Does the generator handle accents?
Yes. With Normalize accents on, letters like e with an accent are converted to plain letters, so café becomes cafe.
Can I convert many titles at once?
Yes. Switch to Bulk Convert and paste one title per line. The same settings apply to every line.
Should slugs be lowercase?
Yes. Lowercase avoids duplicate-looking URLs, because paths can be case-sensitive on some servers. Generate your slug Next, preview your page title and description with the meta tag generator.
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