Currently I am optimizing the URL's on my site for SEO and wondering what is the "best" way to structure an optimized URL. I have seen several different ways such as below and I am curious which is the way search engines like the most.

http://www.website.com/category/name-of-page/
http://www.website.com/category/name_of_page/
http://www.website.com/category/name-of-page.aspx
http://www.website.com/category/name...3/default.aspx
http://www.website.com/category/name-of-page/23/
http://www.website.com/name-of-page
http://www.website.com/name-of-page.aspx

Any ideas/views?

I would go with one of the two below, having the category might be useful seo wise but if not the shorter the better.

http://www.website.com/category/name-of-page/
http://www.website.com/name-of-page

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MGS Web Design - Web Design Kildare, Web Design Ireland

Yep, if I was starting something afresh I'd go for:

http://www.website.com/keyword-rich-name-of-page

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Search Engine Optimisation - Red Cardinal Internet Marketing
Internet Consultant Ireland | Search Engine Optimisation Services
Catering Company Dublin - My sister's handmade canape company!

Mine would be:

http://www.website.com/keyword category/keyword-rich-name-of-page/

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Just wondering, whats the reasoning for having no .aspx or .html ?

Also if a number needs to be included (id of page) would this be the best way of handling it
http://www.website.com/keyword-rich-name-of-page/23
OR
http://www.website.com/keyword-rich-name-of-page-23

i will go for the second one

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:. Web Design & Development Web Design Ireland
:. Search Engines Optimization Search Engines Optimization
:. Directory Submission Directory Submission
:. News & Press Release Ireland GiveItSocks.com
:. Used Cars Ireland, Car Parts & Car Audio Cars For Sale, Car Parts & Accessories
:. I Have 2 Find It Directory SEF Directory

Ending filenames with a / allows for future changes from say .html to .php without G treating them as new pages.......

http://www.website.com/name-of-page would be better from the SEO point of view, while http://www.website.com/category/name-of-page/ would be better for user experience (give your visitors better idea about the pages they are browsing).

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Voytec

As Glengara says it's great if you want to change file types in the future and it also makes it shorter and simpler so it's easier to read and say over the phone or put the link into an email etc. The simpler and shorter the url the better, not just for seo but for visitors to your site too.

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MGS Web Design - Web Design Kildare, Web Design Ireland

Lads,

Apologies to re hash this topic but I have moved on to a new project and have a couple questions.

I am creating a dynamic site for an auctioneering firm and have 3 classes of pages handled via a CMS. I have bolded and ranked what I believe is both the best and technical possible for me in each category and wondered if everyone agrees with me.

A normal page handled via a CMS (id of 3):
http://www.url.com/page-name/
http://www.url.com/page-name/3/
http://www.url.com/page-name.html
http://www.url.com/page-name-3.html
http://www.url.com/page-name.3.html

A property category page handled via a CMS (id of 3):
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale/
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale/10/
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale.html
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale-10.html
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale.10.html

A property details page handled via a CMS (id of 20):
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale/2-shamrock-road-birr-co-offaly/20/
http://www.url.com/property-for-sale/2-shamrock-road-birr-co-offaly/10/
http://www.url.com/2-shamrock-road-birr-co-offaly.html
http://www.url.com/2-shamrock-road-birr-co-offaly-20.html
http://www.url.com/2-shamrock-road-birr-co-offaly.20.html

I know I am probably re asking the same question, but I appreciate yer opinion.