URL Slug Best Practices & Dynamic Routes in SDP

Clean URLs are not just cosmetic — they improve SEO, user trust, and long-term maintainability of your website. In SDP, you also get powerful dynamic routing using Laravel-style variables, allowing you to build flexible page structures without duplicating content.

Here’s how to do it the right way.

URL Slug Best Practices

A good slug should be:

  • Short
  • Descriptive
  • Lowercase
  • Stable over time

✅ Recommended Examples

/about-us
/products
/products/iphone-15
/services/web-design

❌ Avoid

/AboutUs              (mixed case)
/my page              (spaces)
/products/final-v2-new (unstable wording)
/p                    (too vague)

General Slug Rules

Follow these simple standards:

  • Use hyphens (-) between words
  • Avoid special characters
  • Keep nesting intentional (don’t over-complicate URLs)
  • Use meaningful words for humans and SEO
  • Don’t rename published slugs without planning proper redirects

Your URLs should feel permanent and predictable.

Dynamic Route Variables (Laravel Style)

SDP supports Laravel-style route variables directly inside url_slug. This allows you to create flexible dynamic pages without manually creating every possible URL.

Supported Formats

Required variable

{id}

Optional variable

{category_slug?}

Example Dynamic Slugs

/products/product/{id}
/products/categories/{category_slug?}

How SDP Matches Routes

SDP follows a clear priority order:

  1. First, it checks for exact slug matches.
  2. If none are found, it checks slugs with variables.
  3. If a match is found, URL parameters are extracted and attached to the page.

Example Resolution

Required Variable

Stored slug

/products/product/{id}

Requested URL

/products/product/4

Result

  • Page resolves successfully
  • Extracted params: id = 4

Optional Variable

Stored slug

/products/categories/{category_slug?}

Examples

/products/categories

→ category_slug = null

/products/categories/shoes

→ category_slug = shoes

Accessing URL Parameters in SDP

Once resolved, URL parameters are available inside:

fields.params
url_params

You can use these values in:

  • Components
  • Templates
  • API calls
  • Dynamic queries

This allows you to render fully context-specific content from a single page definition.

Recommended Variable Naming

Use meaningful, semantic variable names.

✅ Good

{id}
{product_id}
{category_slug}
{post_slug}

❌ Avoid

{x}
{temp}
{value1}

Clear naming prevents confusion and future conflicts.

Practical Routing Patterns

Here are common real-world use cases:

Product details

/products/{product_slug}

Category listing

/blog/category/{category_slug}

Campaign landing pages

/promo/{campaign_slug}

Optional filter page

/directory/{city_slug?}

Important Notes

  • Keep dynamic routes specific to avoid unintended overlap.
  • Static routes are always prioritized over dynamic routes.
  • If multiple dynamic patterns could match, the most specific pattern should be preferred.

By following these best practices, you’ll keep your URLs clean, predictable, and scalable — while leveraging the full power of dynamic routing inside SDP.