The Internet Needs Better URLs
Would you click on a random link sent by a stranger? I would assume not, but I'm sure you have opened a link coming from friends, family, or online communities you are part of, often without fully understanding where it would land.
The internet allows us to consume an insane amount of content every day, and URLs are the navigational layer linking it all. Still, in most cases, popular services are not doing a great job of making the destination clear for users.
The obvious problem is when a URL leads users to malicious destinations, resulting in massive online fraud, costing billions to business1. A not-so-obvious problem is when everyone gets their attention "stolen." Over time, what will happen when billions of humans consume content they did not intend or need to consume? It is a distraction at a scale we had never seen before, and recent research shows that it can be harmful 2.
Reality Check
By taking a quick look at how popular services URLs look like, we can see that they don't seem to be designed for clarity and often contain a long and unreadable set of strings.
- nbcnews.com/id/wbna2488933
- apple.news/ALCW0MRp4QmyQR1X5Yv
- apple.com/id/wbna24889337
- x.com/brunoportnoy/status/117659280130106573
- open.spotify.com/artist/4vC9kK4Y7SBM3mSsyeTKC
- gem.com/api/click/lhkmmecs
With the creation of rich web objects like Open Graph, many modern products don't seem to care about establishing good URL anatomy for their services. While previews may clarify the destination of a link, they depend on the correct implementation of meta tags. As with most user-generated content on the internet, it is harder to prevent abuse.
When these products don't give users the option to disable previews, they often get exposed to images that they may not want to see, or most commonly, they will see something vague or click-bait that will steal their attention.
TLD (Top Level Domains) like ".design", ".video.", ".crypto," ".app," ".blog" may help to set some expectations on the content category, but given that finding a good available domain can be challenging, the TLD strategy may not be scalable. The internet would probably be more efficient and accessible if we only had a single top-level domain like ".com" or ".net."
A Simple Anatomy
URLs are a shortcut for Uniform Resource Locators. With that, we can already extract two themes to keep in mind: uniformity and location. URLs should be like sentences: short and clear. They should inform where you're going to and what type of content is there to consume. The anatomy below doesn't aim to solve all the issues but should serve as a baseline to support the thinking.
Let's apply this to the examples we saw before to see if they could be helpful.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| nbcnews.com/id/wbna24889337 | nbcnews.com/title-of-the-article |
| apple.news/ALCW0MRp4QmyQR1X5Yv | apple.com/news/title-of-the-article |
| apple.com/id/wbna24889337 | apple.com/apps/games/name-of-the-game |
| x.com/brunoportnoy/status/1176592801301065730 | x.com/brunoportnoy/status/tweet-text |
| open.spotify.com/artist/4vC9kK4Y7SBM3mSsyeTKCo | spotify.com/artist/name/album/song |
| gem.com/api/click/lhkmmecsv | company.com/jobs/job-title |
The point here is to notice that simple steps can lead to a lot more clarity, hopefully making products and services more useful and less misleading to users.
How Can We do Better?
Good URLs = good user experience. Building a zero to one product is hard, and teams often don't prioritize "details" that often lead to great user experiences. In addition, the cost of changing a structural aspect of a product, like how URLs are rendered, can be huge when you already have market fit and users.
Principles to have in mind:
- Clarity — When possible, provide the context of the destination without overwhelming users. For example, the browser status bar is a great quick way to give the context of where a link will go, as long as someone has thought about the URL design.
- Agency — Always give users the agency to disable previews and If your product depends heavily on user-generated content, ensure to provide and enforce guidelines for images.
Another consideration is what happens when you share a link. Because of people's default behavior of spreading links on the internet, even before consuming it or understanding it. I'm a believer in inspiring people by example. When sharing content with friends, take the time to give them a quick summary, level of urgency, and why you're sharing. A kind gesture like that may even save your friend's time, which may yield to a more productive day and additional mental space.
Before sharing something, ask yourself:
- Did I take a minute or two to take a look at the content?
- Is that a good time to share the link or could I just be interrupting someone?
- I am giving him the option to understand what it is before he clicks on it?