Choose a URL slug while your page is still a draft. Keep the words that identify the page’s subject, remove wording that will soon become outdated, and check the result in your website editor before publishing. A short address should still tell a reader which page they are opening.
The Text to Slug Generator turns a heading or a shorter phrase into a slug you can copy. It generates text; it does not rename a WordPress post, publish a page, create a redirect or guarantee search rankings.
Know which part of the address you are choosing
In the fictional address https://example.com/guides/balcony-herb-watering/, the slug is balcony-herb-watering. The website and its /guides/ section are already part of the address. MDN’s explanation of a URL path describes how that path identifies a resource on the server.
If your editor asks for a slug, paste the slug alone. Pasting the domain and the full path into that field may produce a different address from the one you intended.
Start with the topic that will remain useful
Suppose your draft heading is “The Balcony Herb Watering Guide for Beginners (2026).” If you plan to maintain one general watering guide, balcony-herb-watering describes its lasting topic. If the article instead covers a specific annual watering experiment, the year could be a useful distinction. Make that editorial decision before converting the text.
Keep details that separate the page from nearby content. balcony-herb-watering and balcony-herb-pruning describe different jobs; reducing both to balcony-herbs would hide that difference.
Google’s URL structure guidance recommends descriptive words and hyphens between words. Use those recommendations to make an address understandable, rather than adding a string of repeated keywords.
Generate and compare two candidates
- Open the Text to Slug Generator and enter
The Balcony Herb Watering Guide for Beginners (2026)in Heading or title. - Choose Hyphen, leave Force lowercase checked, leave Strip stop words unchecked, and keep Keep numbers checked. Leave Max length at 60 for this example.
- Read the output:
the-balcony-herb-watering-guide-for-beginners-2026. - Replace the input with
Balcony Herb Watering. With the same settings, the output isbalcony-herb-watering. - Enter your site’s actual section address in Base URL shown in the preview. For this fictional example, use
https://example.com/guides/and inspect the combined address.
The shorter candidate comes from choosing a clearer phrase. The tool cannot decide whether “beginners” or “2026” is essential to your page. Read both candidates against the draft’s actual scope before choosing one.
Review options that can remove meaning
Stop words can distinguish two pages
With Strip stop words checked, both Tea with Milk and Tea without Milk produce tea-milk. The removed words carry the distinction between those topics. Leave the option unchecked when words such as “with” or “without” matter, or rewrite the input so the difference remains clear.
Numbers need an editorial decision
Keep a number when it identifies a model, size, edition or other essential detail. In this tool, unchecking Keep numbers removes tokens made only of digits: 15 Minute Balcony Herb Check becomes minute-balcony-herb-check. It does not remove digits inside a mixed token: A5 Balcony Planner still becomes a5-balcony-planner.
A length cap is not a readability check
The default 60-character cap is a tool setting, not a ranking target. A small cap can remove important words and can cut inside a word. For example, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with Max length set to 10 becomes supercalif. Set the limit to 0 while comparing complete candidates, then shorten the input deliberately if needed.
Check letters and capitalization
Leave Force lowercase checked if your site uses lowercase slugs. Google explains that its URL handling distinguishes paths such as /APPLE and /apple. Follow your site’s existing convention consistently.
The tool converts some accented Latin letters. With Max length set to 0 and the other example settings, Crème Brûlée & Coffee: A 2026 Guide becomes creme-brulee-and-coffee-a-2026-guide. It does not transliterate every writing system; an unsupported heading can leave an empty result. If you need a native-language slug, check your editor’s support, or supply a readable transliteration that suits your audience. Google’s guidance supports words in the audience’s language, including transliterated words where applicable.
Save the candidate in the draft and inspect the permalink
- Use Copy slug and paste the value into your editor’s slug or permalink setting.
- Save the draft and inspect the complete address, including any section path and trailing slash your site uses.
- Check whether another page already uses that address. If the editor adds a suffix or changes your input, investigate before publishing.
- Confirm that the slug still matches the finished page and that you have kept the words readers need to distinguish it.
The tool’s preview only joins the base address and slug. It does not check whether the address is available or whether a page exists there. Use your editor’s final permalink for publication.
This workflow is for a page that has not yet been published. Changing an existing public address needs a separate plan for links and redirects. For the other wording readers encounter before opening a page, see our practical guide to writing SEO title tags.