<b>Long keyword-stuffed slugs are costing you clicks</b>

<b>Long keyword-stuffed slugs are costing you clicks</b>
Client had URLs like <code>/best-cheap-affordable-mens-running-shoes-for-marathon-training-2024</code>. Looked SEO-smart in 2012. Now it's a liability.
Why it hurts:
— Truncated in SERP, looks spammy, lowers click-through.
— Dated year in the slug forces a redirect every January or it looks stale.
— Extra words add zero ranking weight over a clean 2-3 word slug.
The fix:
— <code>/mens-running-shoes</code>. Clean, short, dateless.
— Put the "best/cheap/2024" angle in the title tag, where it actually drives clicks and costs nothing to update.
— 301 the old monster slugs once.
Watch the redirect map. Stuffed slugs often have inbound links — preserve them with a clean 301, don't just let them 404.