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Short answer: Google recommends hyphens (-) between words in URLs because they make word boundaries clearer to people and search systems. Underscores are not presented as a ranking penalty, and emojis have no documented ranking benefit. URL wording can help Google understand a page and help users judge a result, but a separator, slug, or emoji is not a standalone ranking lever.
What Google says about URL wording
Google Search Central’s URL Structure Best Practices recommends descriptive words rather than opaque numeric identifiers where practical, using the audience’s language, and separating words with hyphens. Its stated reason is that hyphens help users and search engines better identify concepts in a URL.
That guidance is about clarity and interpretation, not a promise of higher positions. Google’s ranking-systems documentation describes words in domain names as one of many relevance signals and says its exact-match-domain system prevents domains created to match queries exactly from receiving excessive credit. The same principle applies to paths and slugs: meaningful wording can provide context, but punctuation alone cannot compensate for weak, irrelevant or inaccessible content.
Hyphens versus underscores
| URL style | Google’s documented position | Practical assessment |
|---|---|---|
/summer-clothing/ |
Recommended word separator | Clear boundaries for readers, copying, analytics and automated parsing |
/summer_clothing/ |
Not recommended when creating new URLs | Usually works, but is less consistent with Google’s explicit guidance |
/summerclothing/ |
No separator | Can make multiword concepts harder to read and interpret |
/category/48392/ |
Opaque identifiers should be avoided when descriptive words are possible | Readable wording gives users more context before they click |
Do not treat this as evidence that replacing every underscore will improve rankings. Google’s official material does not provide a percentage gain, test result or threshold for hyphens. Changing an established URL creates redirect, canonical, internal-link, sitemap, analytics and social-sharing work; the migration risk can outweigh any clarity benefit when the existing address already functions correctly.
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Do emojis in URLs help SEO?
Emojis are non-ASCII characters. Google’s URL guidance shows an emoji URL represented with percent encoding, including the example %F0%9F%A6%99%E2%9C%A8, and explains that non-ASCII characters should be encoded as necessary. This confirms that correctly encoded Unicode URLs can be supported; it does not establish a ranking, indexing or click-through advantage.
If a team deliberately uses an emoji or another Unicode character, verify the complete delivery chain before publishing:
- The browser and server resolve the same encoded address.
- Redirects preserve the encoded path rather than silently changing it.
- Canonical tags, XML sitemaps and internal links use one consistent representation.
- Analytics, logs, content-management systems and search tools record the URL correctly.
- Social platforms and messaging applications do not truncate or corrupt the address.
Readable words are generally easier to communicate, dictate, troubleshoot and recognize in reports. An emoji can also be ambiguous across devices and languages. Use one only when it has a clear product or editorial purpose, not as an SEO tactic.
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How URL structure affects crawling and indexing
Keep unnecessary parameters out of canonical URLs
Google recommends using as few parameters as possible. Session identifiers, tracking codes, sorting options and filters can generate many addresses with identical or near-identical content. That multiplication makes crawling less efficient and complicates the selection of a representative URL.
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When a parameter does not change the canonical content, keep it out of the address you expose in navigation, sitemaps and canonical tags. If a parameter genuinely changes the page, define a deliberate indexation policy: decide whether the variant should be crawlable and indexable, and ensure links and canonical signals reflect that decision.
Remember that URLs are case-sensitive to Google
Google Search treats URL case as significant. If a server serves identical content for /Guide/ and /guide/, normalize the preferred case and link to it consistently. Otherwise, case variants can look like separate addresses and create avoidable duplicate signals.
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Design for one preferred address
Google calls the process of selecting one representative address from duplicate or very similar pages canonicalization. Signals include HTTPS versus HTTP, redirects, sitemap inclusion and rel="canonical" annotations. No single signal is guaranteed to win in every situation, so alignment matters:
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- Redirect obsolete forms to the preferred address with a permanent redirect where appropriate.
- Use the preferred form in internal links and XML sitemaps.
- Point the canonical tag at that same form.
- Avoid generating alternative parameter and case variants without a specific purpose.
What to use when creating a new URL
- Describe the page. Use a few words that accurately identify the subject, such as
/summer-clothing/, instead of an arbitrary number. - Separate words with hyphens. Use lowercase, readable terms and the language your audience uses.
- Prefer meaning over a fake length rule. Google’s cited guidance gives no magical character limit. Remove needless words, but do not shorten the path until it becomes vague.
- Limit parameters. Keep session and tracking values out of canonical content URLs when they do not alter the page.
- Plan variants deliberately. Decide how filters, sorting, pagination and localized versions should be crawled, indexed and canonicalized.
- Check encoding. Percent-encode non-ASCII characters as necessary and test the result in browsers, servers, redirects, analytics and sharing systems.
- Publish consistently. Match internal links, sitemaps, redirects and canonical tags to the chosen address.
Should you change old underscores to hyphens?
Usually not solely for SEO. A change is easier to justify when it is part of a broader information-architecture, readability or replatforming project. Map every old address to its corresponding new one, implement redirects, update internal links and sitemaps, revise canonical tags, and monitor crawl and indexing reports after launch. Do not create a mass migration merely to chase an unquantified punctuation effect.
For a site that already has duplicate case variants, parameter-heavy URLs or inconsistent canonical signals, fixing those structural problems is generally more valuable than changing a separator in otherwise stable paths.
Where URL wording fits in Google’s ranking guidance
Google Search Essentials emphasizes technical accessibility, spam policies and people-first content. It recommends using words people search for in prominent locations such as titles, headings, alternative text and link text. A descriptive URL supports that overall clarity, but it is only one small part of relevance. The page must still be crawlable, useful, original and technically accessible.
No official Google material cited here quantifies a ranking gain from hyphens, a penalty for underscores, or a benefit from emojis. Treat those choices as usability, parsing and site-architecture decisions rather than guaranteed ranking controls.
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