URL structure for small teams

The version of this that works is simpler than the version most people imagine. Most advice about URL structure assumes a team that does not exist at your size. Here is the version that does not.

Technical fixes remove obstacles; content earns the position. Both are needed and they are not interchangeable. The failure mode is not doing it wrong, it is doing it once and assuming it stays done.

What to keep

Short, readable URLs get shared and clicked more. This is the sort of thing that compounds, quietly, in both directions. Write the reasoning down alongside the decision, because the reasoning is what changes first.

What to drop

Process that exists to coordinate ten people is overhead when there are two of you. That sounds obvious written down. It is still the thing most often skipped.

Where to start

Words beat numeric IDs for both people and crawlers. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. Doing this properly once is usually cheaper than doing it approximately three times.

How to tell if yours is fine

Search engines are trying to answer a question, so the pages that answer questions clearly tend to do well. Three things worth confirming about URL structure before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Short, readable URLs get shared and clicked more — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

None of this needs a rewrite. Most of it is a morning's work once someone decides to do it.