How to enable SEO-friendly URLs in Laravel?

@dejuan.watsica 

Enabling SEO-friendly URLs in Laravel involves several best practices that help ensure your URLs are clean, readable, and optimized for search engines. Here's how you can achieve SEO-friendly URLs in your Laravel application:

1. Use Named Routes

Named routes make it easy to generate URLs or redirects in your Laravel application. This ensures URLs remain consistent and readable.

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Route::get('/post/{id}', [PostController::class, 'show'])->name('post.show');

You can generate the URL for this route using:

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$url = route('post.show', ['id' => 1]);

2. Use Slugs in URLs

Instead of using IDs directly in your URLs, consider using slugs. Slugs are typically more meaningful and user-friendly.

Create a Slug

First, you need to generate a slug when saving a resource. You can use Laravel’s Str helper:

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use IlluminateSupportStr;

$post->slug = Str::slug($post->title);
$post->save();

Update Routes

Update your routes and controllers to use slugs:

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Route::get('/post/{slug}', [PostController::class, 'show'])->name('post.show');

In your controller:

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public function show($slug) {
    $post = Post::where('slug', $slug)->firstOrFail();
    return view('post.show', compact('post'));
}

3. Use Route Model Binding

With route model binding, Laravel can automatically inject the model instance directly into your route. This makes routes cleaner.

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Route::get('/post/{post:slug}', [PostController::class, 'show'])->name('post.show');

Now your controller method receives a Post model instance directly:

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public function show(Post $post) {
    return view('post.show', compact('post'));
}

4. Customize Your .htaccess File (For Apache)

If you’re using Apache, you may need to ensure your .htaccess file is set up to handle “pretty” URLs.

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<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    <IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
        Options -MultiViews -Indexes
    </IfModule>

    RewriteEngine On

    # Handle Front Controller
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
</IfModule>

5. Use RESTful Resource Controllers

Structure your routes using RESTful principles to ensure consistency and clarity.

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Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);

6. Optimize Route Caching

Use route caching in production to speed up the route registration process.

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php artisan route:cache

7. Avoid Query Parameters

Where possible, avoid using URL query strings, as clean URLs are generally considered more user-friendly and SEO-friendly.

Final Tips

• Keep URLs concise and descriptive.
• Use hyphens - to separate words, not underscores _.
• Be consistent with the URL structure throughout your application.

By following these guidelines, you can create clean, SEO-friendly URLs in your Laravel application that are both user-friendly and search engine optimized.