Slug Generator

A slug is a URL-friendly version of text, typically used in web addresses to identify pages in a human-readable way. Our slug generator transforms arbitrary text into valid URL components through a multi-step normalization process. First, the text is converted to lowercase to ensure URL consistency (URLs are case-sensitive on some servers). Next, the algorithm strips or converts special characters: spaces become hyphens, accented characters are transliterated to ASCII equivalents (é→e, ñ→n), and invalid URL characters are removed. The generator handles Unicode properly using normalization (NFD - Canonical Decomposition) to separate base characters from diacritical marks, then strips the marks. Multiple consecutive hyphens are collapsed into single hyphens, and leading/trailing hyphens are trimmed. The result is a clean, readable slug containing only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. Advanced features include custom separator options (hyphens vs underscores), maximum length limits, and preservation of certain special characters. The algorithm follows SEO best practices: keeping slugs short, descriptive, and keyword-rich while removing stop words like "the", "a", "an" when appropriate.

1. Blog Post URLs & CMS Content
Generate SEO-friendly permalinks for blog posts, articles, and CMS pages. Converting "10 Tips for Better Sleep" to "10-tips-for-better-sleep" creates readable URLs that improve click-through rates from search results and make links shareable. Content management systems rely on slug generators to automatically create clean URLs from article titles.

2. E-commerce Product Pages
Create descriptive product URLs that include keywords and improve SEO. Transforming product names like "Men's Running Shoes - Size 10 (Blue)" to "mens-running-shoes-size-10-blue" helps search engines understand page content and improves organic rankings for product searches.

3. User Profile & Vanity URLs
Generate username-based URLs for user profiles, portfolio pages, and social features. Converting "John Smith" to "john-smith" creates memorable, shareable profile links. Multi-user platforms need slug generators to handle duplicate names (john-smith-2) and special character usernames.

4. Category & Tag Pages
Create clean taxonomy URLs for categories, tags, and filter pages. "Web Development & Design" becomes "web-development-design", making category hierarchies navigable and bookmarkable. Proper slugs improve site architecture and internal linking strategies.

5. File Naming & Downloads
Generate safe filenames for downloadable content, uploads, and file storage systems. Slugified names prevent file system errors from special characters and create meaningful names that describe content. "Q4 2023 Sales Report.pdf" becomes "q4-2023-sales-report.pdf".

6. API Endpoint Design
Create consistent, readable API route names and resource identifiers. RESTful APIs use slugs to represent resources (/api/blog-posts/getting-started-with-apis) making endpoints self-documenting and easier to remember than numeric IDs.

• Keep slugs concise - aim for 3-5 words maximum for better SEO and readability

• Include target keywords early in the slug for SEO benefit

• Use hyphens (not underscores) as word separators - search engines treat hyphens as word boundaries

• Remove stop words (the, a, an, and, or, but) to shorten slugs without losing meaning

• Avoid dates in slugs unless content is time-sensitive - evergreen slugs age better

• Ensure slugs are unique within their context to prevent routing conflicts

• Transliterate non-ASCII characters rather than removing them to preserve meaning

• Don't change slugs on published content - it breaks existing links and loses SEO value