Free tool Slug generator for clean URLs
Paste a headline and get the short, readable part of the address that comes after the last slash. Accents go, symbols become hyphens, Chinese turns into pinyin, and long titles are cut at a whole word.
- Lowercase, hyphenated
- Chinese to pinyin
- Runs locally
Turn a title into a slug
The slug updates as you type. Copy it into your CMS, router or file name, then read it once before you publish.
A headline, product name or file name. Chinese characters are converted to pinyin without tones.
Hyphens are the usual choice in URLs. Underscores suit file names and code keys.
In characters. The slug is cut at the last whole word; leave empty for no limit.
cafe-guide-10-tips-and-tricks-for-2026Lowercase letters, digits and the separator only.
Length
38
Characters in the slug.
Share these inputs: the values go after the # in the link, so they never reach a server.
https://tapcub.com/tools/slug-generator
Version v1.0Updated Update history
What the slug and the notes tell you
The output is meant to be pasted straight into a URL. The notes under the inputs flag the cases worth a second look.
Slug
Only a–z, 0–9 and the separator you picked. No repeated or trailing separators, so it is safe in any URL or file name without encoding.
Length
The character count of the slug itself, not the full URL. Use it to keep slugs short enough to read in a search result or a shared link.
Pinyin note
Shown when the title contains Chinese. Common words with two readings, such as 银行 (yin hang), use a phrase table; single characters take their most common reading.
Skipped characters
Rare Chinese characters outside the table, and scripts such as Cyrillic or Japanese kana, are dropped. If the result looks short, check what went missing.
A slug becomes part of a page's identity: links, bookmarks and search results point at it. Settle it before you publish, because changing it later means setting up a redirect.
From headline to URL in three steps
Most slugs need a small human edit after the automatic pass.
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1
Paste the title
Use the headline as written. Capitals, accents, punctuation and Chinese are all handled.
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2
Set the limits
Pick hyphen or underscore and an optional maximum length. The cut never lands in the middle of a word.
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3
Trim by hand
Drop filler words the slug reads fine without, such as "how to" or "the", and keep the words people search for.
How the generator builds a slug
The same rules run in the same order every time, so the same title always gives the same slug.
- Chinese is read word by word against a phrase table of common multi-reading words, then character by character
- Pinyin is written without tones; ü becomes v (绿 → lv), as on a pinyin keyboard
- Stop words are kept: the tool does not guess which words you can spare
- The pinyin table covers the 6,763 common characters of GB 2312
| Rule | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Lowercase everything | How To | how-to |
| Remove accents | Café Déjà | cafe-deja |
| & becomes "and" | CPM & CTR | cpm-and-ctr |
| Other characters become one separator, trimmed at the ends | (2026)! | 2026 |
| Chinese becomes toneless pinyin | 数据分析 | shu-ju-fen-xi |
| Multi-reading words by phrase | 银行 | yin-hang |
| Max length cuts at the last separator | a very long title, max 15 | a-very-long |
Four titles, four slugs
Real outputs from the generator with a hyphen separator. The third row shows why a quick read before publishing is worth it.
| Title | Max length | Slug | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Calculate CPM & CTR (2026) | None | how-to-calculate-cpm-and-ctr-2026 | 33 |
| Café Déjà vu: a crème brûlée guide | None | cafe-deja-vu-a-creme-brulee-guide | 33 |
| 10 Ways to Improve Your Website's Conversion Rate in 2026 | 40 | 10-ways-to-improve-your-website-s | 33 |
| 重庆银行的用户增长 | None | chong-qing-yin-hang-de-yong-hu-zeng-zhang | 41 |
In row three the apostrophe became a separator and the limit cut the keyword "conversion rate". A hand edit such as improve-website-conversion-rate is shorter and keeps the point of the page.
Where slugs go wrong
The generator handles the characters. These are the decisions it cannot make for you.
Changing a live slug
A new slug is a new URL. Without a 301 redirect from the old one, links and search traffic land on a 404.
Dates that age
A year in the slug makes the page look stale once you update it. Keep the year in the title, not the URL, unless the page is truly about that year.
Cutting the keyword
A max length cuts at a whole word, which may still drop the words that matter. Rewrite rather than truncate.
Trusting it blindly
Apostrophes become separators (website's → website-s) and letters such as ß are dropped. Read the slug once before you save it.
See how each URL performs after it goes live
Once the page is published, TapCub reports it by path: who arrived there, from where, and whether old links still point at a slug that no longer exists.
Page reports
Entry pages, exit pages and 404s with the referrer that sent people there, the place to catch links to an old slug.
Learn moreSearch performance
Clicks, impressions and position per page from Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster in one view.
Learn moreCampaign links
Tag the links that point at new pages with UTM parameters and see sessions and conversions per campaign.
Learn moreSlug generator questions
Still have a question?
Chat with the team behind TapCub — we usually reply within a few hours on business days.
What is a URL slug?
The readable part of a URL that identifies one page, usually after the last slash. In example.com/blog/cpm-vs-cpc the slug is cpm-vs-cpc. Most CMSs create one from the title and let you edit it.
Should I use hyphens or underscores?
Hyphens. Google's URL guidance recommends hyphens to separate words, and they are the convention on most sites. Underscores are fine for file names and code identifiers.
How long should a slug be?
There is no fixed limit, but shorter is easier to read, share and remember. Keep the words that describe the page and drop the rest. The max length box helps you stay within a limit your CMS or team sets.
Should I remove stop words like "the" or "how to"?
Often, as long as the slug still makes sense. The generator keeps every word so nothing is lost by accident; remove the filler by hand.
How are Chinese titles converted?
Each character becomes toneless pinyin, with common words that have two readings looked up as a phrase first (银行 → yin hang). The table covers the 6,763 common characters of GB 2312; rarer characters are skipped and counted in the note.
Can I change a slug after publishing?
You can, but treat it as moving the page: add a 301 redirect from the old URL, update internal links, and watch the 404 report for anything you missed.
Why did a symbol or letter disappear?
The slug keeps only a–z and 0–9. Accented letters are converted (é → e), & becomes "and", and everything else turns into a separator or is dropped. Letters with no plain equivalent, such as ß, are lost, so check names carefully.
Update history
New features, fixes and data refreshes for this tool, newest first.
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· v1.0
LaunchedFirst release.
Missing something or found an error? Tell us — requests that come up often go into the next update. All tool updates
Publish, then watch the page
Connect your site and every URL shows its visitors, sources and search clicks from the first day.