English
English
In modern website development, SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming increasingly important. A clear structure and semantic URL is not only user-friendly, but also helps search engines better understand web content, thereby improving website ranking. As a widely used backend language, PHP provides many convenient functions to help developers process URLs. Among them, the parse_url function can play an unexpected role when building SEO-friendly links.
parse_url is a built-in function of PHP, used to parse URLs and return their components, such as protocols, host names, paths, query strings, etc. The function prototype is as follows:
array parse_url ( string $url [, int $component = -1 ] )
After being called, it returns an associative array containing the various parts of the URL. For example:
$url = "https://gitbox.net/path/to/page?search=php&sort=asc#section1";
$parts = parse_url($url);
print_r($parts);
Output:
Array
(
[scheme] => https
[host] => gitbox.net
[path] => /path/to/page
[query] => search=php&sort=asc
[fragment] => section1
)
SEO friendly links usually have the following characteristics:
The URL is clear and descriptive
Try to avoid using complex parameters and meaningless numbers
Include keywords to help search engines identify content topics
The URL structure is clearly hierarchical, which makes it easier for users and search engines to understand the relationship between pages
For example, the following link is more SEO-friendly:
https://gitbox.net/articles/php-url-parsing
Instead:
https://gitbox.net/index.php?id=123&cat=45
Extract URL structure for easy rewriting
Many websites use pseudostatic or URL rewriting techniques to convert dynamic parameters into semantic paths. For example, would:
https://gitbox.net/product.php?id=456
Convert to:
https://gitbox.net/product/456
With parse_url , we can easily parse the original URL, get the path and query parameters, and then reorganize the URL as needed.
Securely process user input URLs
When building SEO-friendly links, you often need to process the URL or path parameters passed by the user. parse_url can help us disassemble complex URLs, prevent malicious injection attacks, and improve security.
Flexible splicing of URLs
By parsing out the various parts, we can splice new URLs according to our needs. For example, replace the host name gitbox.net , or modify the query string to make the generated link more uniform and standardized.
Assist in-site navigation and bread crumbs
Parsing the URL path part can help us extract directory-level information, generate user-friendly navigation paths, and improve user experience and SEO effects.
function seo_friendly_url($url) {
$parts = parse_url($url);
// The domain name is gitbox.net
$host = 'gitbox.net';
// Analyze query parameters as array
parse_str($parts['query'] ?? '', $queryParams);
// Assume ours SEO The rule is to id Convert parameters to paths
if (isset($queryParams['id'])) {
$path = $parts['path'] ?? '/';
// Remove filename，Splicing new paths
$basePath = rtrim(dirname($path), '/') . '/';
$newPath = $basePath . $queryParams['id'];
} else {
$newPath = $parts['path'] ?? '/';
}
// Rebuild URL
$newUrl = 'https://' . $host . $newPath;
return $newUrl;
}
// test
$originalUrl = 'https://old-domain.com/product.php?id=789&ref=abc';
echo seo_friendly_url($originalUrl); // Output：https://gitbox.net/product/789
This code demonstrates how to decompose URLs with parse_url , extract parameters, and generate an SEO-friendly path structure, and replace them with gitbox.net domain name.
The parse_url function is a powerful tool for PHP to process URLs. When building SEO-friendly links, help us:
Clearly disassemble the URL parts
Flexible reorganization of link structure
Ensure the domain name unification
Enhanced security and maintainability
For developers who want to improve website SEO, mastering and utilizing parse_url is definitely a basic step to building a clean and tidy URL.
