URL Structure - forward slashes, hyphen separated, query paramters

[proptiger]

I am having difficulty evaluating pros and cons of various URL structures with respect to SEO benefits. So I can have the following

1. /for-sale-in-<city>-<someothertext>-<uniqueid>.php
So in this case a term like 'for sale in San Francisco' is directly part of the URL. </uniqueid></someothertext></city>

2. /for-sale/<city>/<someothertext>uniqueId
Here 'for sale in San Francisco' is not so direct in the URL, so I think. Also I 'heard' that forward slash URLs are somehow considered as being 'lower down' in the directory structure.  </someothertext></city>

3. /for-sale/<city>/<someothertext>/?pid=uniqueId</someothertext></city>

someOtherText contains keywords we are targeting.

1. Is there a preference of one format over the other?

2. Does it even matter?

3. someOtherText - does it makes sense to put keywords in the URL for just SEO purposes? I do not per se need someOtherText for functionality.

[MoosaHemani]

When Ever I create URLs I only care about few things that are as follows!

-          The URL should not contain any special characters so anything that contain “?” “&” or similar stuff should not be your choice!

-          I prefer to add the keywords in it but having a complete key phrases in not necessary!

-          What I really prefer is that the keyword length should be short

In your case ideally you should choose a URL that is contain no special string, should have keyword in it (it’s not necessary to have a exact match key phrase) and URL length should ne as short as possible.