URL: /rules/url/hyphens

---
title: "URL Hyphens"
description: "Checks that URLs use hyphens, not underscores"
---

Checks that URLs use hyphens, not underscores

| | |
|---|---|
| **Rule ID** | `url/hyphens` |
| **Category** | [URL Structure](/rules/url) |
| **Scope** | Per-page |
| **Severity** | warning |
| **Weight** | 4/10 |

## Solution

Use hyphens (-) to separate words in URLs, not underscores (_). Google treats hyphens as word separators but treats underscores as word joiners. 'blue-shoes' = 'blue' + 'shoes', but 'blue_shoes' = 'blueshoes'. This affects keyword matching and SEO. Replace underscores with hyphens and set up redirects from old URLs.

## Enable / Disable

### Disable this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["url/hyphens"]
```

### Disable all URL Structure rules

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["url/*"]
```

### Enable only this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
enable = ["url/hyphens"]
disable = ["*"]
```