URL Contains Underscores

What This Means

The URL path uses underscores (_) as word separators — for example, /my_page_name/ instead of /my-page-name/.

Why It Matters for SEO

Google has stated that it treats hyphens as word separators in URLs but treats underscores differently — "my_page" may be treated as one word ("mypage") rather than two. This reduces keyword matching for multi-word URL slugs using underscores.

This is a notice because the impact is relatively minor and migration requires 301 redirects. For new content, always use hyphens. For existing high-traffic content, weigh migration cost against potential benefit.

What the Platform Checks

Checks URL path segments for underscore characters. Fires when found in the URL path (not query strings or fragment identifiers).

How to Fix It

• For new pages: use hyphens as word separators in URL slugs.
• For existing pages with underscores: create 301 redirects from underscore URLs to hyphenated equivalents, then update internal links.
• In CMS: configure slug generation to use hyphens automatically.