Скачать или смотреть Creating SEO Friendly URLs with .htaccess in Your Web Projects

Learn how to configure .htaccess for `SEO friendly URLs` by redirecting your PHP scripts without losing the benefits of HTTPS and WWW.
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Creating SEO Friendly URLs with .htaccess in Your Web Projects

In the digital landscape, optimizing your website for search engines is crucial, and one significant aspect of this is creating SEO friendly URLs. A clean and descriptive URL structure not only improves user experience but also enhances your site's visibility in search engines. In this guide, we will take a closer look at how to achieve this with the .htaccess file.

The Problem: Making URLs More Descriptive

Let's say you have a PHP file named entry.php in the /news/ folder of your website. Currently, when someone wants to access a specific article, the URL looks something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This URL is not very user-friendly or SEO optimized. Instead, it could be much cleaner, like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

To achieve this transformation, we will need to work with the .htaccess file in the /news/ directory.

The Solution: Utilizing .htaccess for URL Rewriting

Basic Configuration

To start, you need to make sure you have a .htaccess file set up in your /news/ folder with the following rule:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This line effectively tells the server to redirect requests for any entry that matches the pattern to the corresponding entry.php script with the slug as a parameter.

Handling HTTPS and WWW Redirection

A common issue arises when you also want to enforce HTTPS and a consistent WWW domain from the root folder's .htaccess file. If these rules aren't working as expected with your current setup, it's likely because of how the rules are inherited by child .htaccess files.

To ensure that your rules in the root .htaccess are applied before the news folder’s rules, add the following line before RewriteEngine On in your news/.htaccess file:

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Your updated .htaccess in the /news/ folder should now look like this:

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Option for Non-Existing Files and Directories

If you also want to ensure that the server doesn't mistakenly rewrite requests for actual files or directories, you should add the following conditions:

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This code checks whether the requested filename is a file or a directory that exists and only rewrites if neither condition is met. This way, your SEO friendly URL management remains robust and functional.

Conclusion: Enhancing Your URL Structure

Creating SEO friendly URLs with .htaccess doesn't have to be complicated. By following these steps, you not only improve the readability of your links but also enhance the search engine optimization of your site. A well-structured URL will lead to better user experience and potentially improved rankings on search engines.

So, if you're struggling with friendly URLs on your site, take the time to adjust your .htaccess file as outlined above, and watch how this small change can lead to significant improvements in SEO and user satisfaction.