When you publish a page or an article, its address can be an unreadable mess like /page?id=4821, or something clean and human-readable like /how-to-make-a-slug. The second form is called a slug, and it's the backbone of a good URL. Let's break down how to build one properly.
What a slug is
A slug is the part of a page's address derived from its title: lowercase Latin letters, digits, and hyphens instead of spaces. For example, the title "How to Open a HEIC File on Windows" becomes how-to-open-heic-on-windows.
Why slugs matter
- SEO. Search engines and users see keywords right in the address — that helps both ranking and click-through rate in search results.
- Readability. A good link tells you what the page is about before you even click it.
- Reliability. An address with no spaces or special characters doesn't break when pasted into messengers or emails.
Rules for a good slug
- Use lowercase letters only.
- Replace spaces with hyphens (not underscores).
- Transliterate non-Latin characters into Latin letters where needed.
- Optionally drop filler words, but don't overdo it.
- No punctuation, brackets, or special characters.
How to build a slug online
Open the URL slug generator, paste in your title — the tool converts it to lowercase, replaces spaces with hyphens, and transliterates non-Latin characters automatically. Then just copy the finished slug into your page's address.
Case conversion vs. slugs
If you just need to change text casing (UPPER, lower, Title Case, camelCase) rather than build a slug, that's a separate task handled by the case converter. And if you need to encode an already-built URL for safe transmission, the URL Encode / Decode tool has you covered.
An SEO tip
Pick a meaningful slug and avoid changing it after publishing: changing the address means losing the ranking signals you've built up, unless you set up a proper redirect. So it's worth thinking the slug through right when you create the page.