URL: /rules/url/stop-words

---
title: "URL Stop Words"
description: "Flags common stop words in URL slugs"
---

Flags common stop words in URL slugs

| | |
|---|---|
| **Rule ID** | `url/stop-words` |
| **Category** | [URL Structure](/rules/url) |
| **Scope** | Per-page |
| **Severity** | info |
| **Weight** | 2/10 |

## Solution

Stop words (a, an, the, of, etc.) add length without SEO value. While not harmful, removing them makes URLs shorter and more focused. 'best-running-shoes' is better than 'the-best-running-shoes-for-you'. However, keep stop words if removing them makes the URL confusing or grammatically awkward.

## Enable / Disable

### Disable this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["url/stop-words"]
```

### Disable all URL Structure rules

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

### Enable only this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
enable = ["url/stop-words"]
disable = ["*"]
```