Google: URL Folder Structure Doesn't Need To Match Content Folder Structure

Nov 22, 2017 - 8:19 am 4 — by

Google Matching

Let's say you have a recipe site and you have recipes by vegetables. If you let people click from the tomatoes and then into a tomato soup recipe, should the URL structure be domain.com/tomatoes/tomato-soup-recipe/html? John Mueller from Google said it does not matter.

John Mueller said on Twitter that url folder structure does not need to match the content folder structure. He said "for Google it doesn't really matter." "URLs are primarily identifiers. Clean URL structure is generally a good practice regardless," he added.

Here is the full context:

So no need to go nuts about this for your SEO and 100% do not change what you have already published to match this type of flow. But if you have new pages, just keep the URLs short and specific to the page content as possible.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Adopts New AI Training Control

Oct 30, 2026 - 12:50 pm
Bing SEO

Microsoft Bing New AI New Controls With AI Training From AI Search Grounding

Oct 30, 2026 - 12:15 pm
ChatGPT Ads

ChatGPT Gets Wider Ads, Multi-Image Ads Expands, Expansion & More

Oct 30, 2026 - 11:17 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 30, 2026

Oct 30, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Volatility X2, Spam Updates, AI Overviews Everywhere, Blending Ads & Organic, Google & Microsoft Earnings

Oct 30, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google AI Overviews & AI Mode 0.9% Click-Through Rate, Opt Out Study Says

Oct 30, 2026 - 7:51 am
Previous Story: New Google Lens Rolling Out To Pixel 2 Devices