URL structure and slug optimization in SEO Fundamentals - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to create a URL slug by replacing spaces with {{BLANK_1}}.

SEO Fundamentals

slug = title.replace(' ', '[1]')

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A_

B*

C+

D-

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using underscores (_) instead of hyphens (-)

Using plus signs (+) which can be confusing in URLs

Hyphens (-) are the standard and recommended character to replace spaces in URL slugs because they improve readability and SEO.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to convert the slug to lowercase for better URL consistency.

SEO Fundamentals

slug = slug.[1]()

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Alower

Btitle

Ccapitalize

Dupper

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using capitalize() which only changes the first letter

Using upper() which makes letters uppercase

Using lower() converts all characters to lowercase, which is best practice for URL slugs to avoid duplicates and improve SEO.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to remove special characters from the slug using {{BLANK_1}}.

SEO Fundamentals

import re
slug = [1](r'[^a-z0-9-]', '', slug)

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Are.sub

Bre.match

Cre.search

Dre.split

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using re.match which only checks the start of the string

Using re.search which finds but does not replace

Using re.split which splits the string instead of replacing

re.sub replaces all characters not matching the pattern with an empty string, effectively removing special characters from the slug.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a slug dictionary with keys as original titles and values as optimized slugs.

SEO Fundamentals

slug_dict = {title: title[1]().replace(' ', '[2]') for title in titles}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A.lower

B.upper

C-

D_

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using uppercase method instead of lowercase

Replacing spaces with underscores instead of hyphens

Using .lower() converts titles to lowercase and replacing spaces with hyphens - creates SEO-friendly slugs.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to filter titles longer than 5 characters and create slugs with lowercase and hyphens.

SEO Fundamentals

filtered_slugs = {title[1]: title[2]().replace(' ', '[3]') for title in titles if len(title) > 5}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A.upper

B.lower

C-

D.strip

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Skipping the strip method leading to unwanted spaces

Using uppercase instead of lowercase

Replacing spaces with underscores instead of hyphens

.strip() removes extra spaces around the title, .lower() converts to lowercase, and replacing spaces with hyphens - creates clean, SEO-friendly slugs.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of using a slug in a URL?

easy

A. To hide the website's domain name

B. To describe the page content clearly and improve SEO

C. To make URLs longer and complex

D. To add random characters for security

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand what a slug is

   A slug is the part of a URL that identifies a specific page in a readable way.

2. Step 2: Identify the purpose of a slug

   Slugs help describe the page content clearly, making it easier for users and search engines to understand.

3. Final Answer:

   To describe the page content clearly and improve SEO -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Slug = clear description + SEO benefit [OK]

Hint: Slugs explain page content simply for SEO [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking slugs are for security
• Believing slugs make URLs complex
• Confusing slugs with domain names

2. Which of the following is the correct way to write a URL slug?

easy

A. my-new-article

B. My New Article

C. my_new_article!

D. my new article

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify valid slug characters

   Slugs should use lowercase letters and hyphens to separate words for readability and SEO.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   my-new-article uses lowercase letters and hyphens correctly; others have spaces, uppercase letters, or special characters.

3. Final Answer:

   my-new-article -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Slug format = lowercase + hyphens [OK]

Hint: Use lowercase and hyphens for slugs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using spaces instead of hyphens
• Including uppercase letters
• Adding special characters

3. Given the URL https://example.com/blog/how-to-cook-pasta, what does the slug how-to-cook-pasta indicate?

medium

A. A blog post about cooking pasta

B. The website's homepage

C. A product page for pasta

D. An error page

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the URL structure

   The URL contains /blog/ indicating a blog section, followed by the slug how-to-cook-pasta.

2. Step 2: Interpret the slug meaning

   The slug clearly describes a topic about cooking pasta, so it likely points to a blog post on that subject.

3. Final Answer:

   A blog post about cooking pasta -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Slug meaning = blog post topic [OK]

Hint: Slug describes page content clearly [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing slug with homepage
• Assuming it's a product page
• Thinking it's an error page

4. Identify the error in this URL slug: https://example.com/products/Best!Shoes2024

medium

A. Slug uses only lowercase letters

B. Slug is too short

C. Slug uses uppercase letters and special characters

D. Slug contains spaces

Solution

1. Step 1: Examine the slug characters

   The slug Best!Shoes2024 contains uppercase letters and an exclamation mark, which are not recommended.

2. Step 2: Understand slug best practices

   Slugs should be lowercase and avoid special characters for better SEO and readability.

3. Final Answer:

   Slug uses uppercase letters and special characters -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Slug must be lowercase and clean [OK]

Hint: Avoid uppercase and special characters in slugs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring uppercase letters
• Allowing special characters
• Thinking slug length is the issue

5. You want to optimize URLs for an e-commerce site selling shoes. Which URL structure is best for SEO and user clarity?

hard

A. https://shop.com/shoes?category=mens&style=running

B. https://shop.com/item?id=12345

C. https://shop.com/products/12345

D. https://shop.com/shoes/mens-running-shoes

Solution

1. Step 1: Evaluate URL clarity and descriptiveness

   https://shop.com/shoes/mens-running-shoes uses clear, descriptive slugs that tell users and search engines exactly what the page is about.

2. Step 2: Compare with other options

   The other options use IDs or query parameters which are less readable and less SEO-friendly.

3. Final Answer:

   https://shop.com/shoes/mens-running-shoes -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Descriptive slugs improve SEO and user experience [OK]

Hint: Use descriptive, readable slugs for SEO-friendly URLs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using numeric IDs instead of words
• Relying on query parameters
• Ignoring URL readability