URL standards for GOV.UK

You must meet these standards when creating URLs to be used on GOV.UK

GOV.UK URLs are designed to be user friendly, and to follow a consistent, predictable, format.

These standards apply to GOV.UK and its sub-domains.

URLs on GOV.UK must follow these rules:

  • URLs always need to be clear, unambiguous, easy to read, easy to type and easy to share

  • URLs should be in lower case

  • URLs should align with the title of the page

  • URLs must use words and should not contain acronyms, unless the acronym is very well known or it’s an acronym of an organisation with a long name

  • dashes should be used to separate words within URLs so they are easy to read - for example, www.gov.uk/set-up-business (another version without hyphens can be created if the URL is designed to be read aloud, like on a TV or radio advert)

  • articles (a, an, the) and other superfluous words should not be used. For example, use /benefits or /benefits-guides rather than /a-guide-to-benefits

  • URLs should use the verb stem, where possible. For example, /apply instead of /applying

  • URLs should be based on user need rather than the (current) name of a policy, scheme or service, which might change. For example, the URL www.gov.uk/advertise-job is intended for people who want to advertise a job on the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Find a job service

  • include the year when using a short URL for one-off promotion of an annual event like www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/budget-2020

  • trailing slashes should not be used when sharing or printing URLs - it’s bad for search engine optimisation (SEO). For example, use www.gov.uk/your-url-here rather than www.gov.uk/your-url-here/

  • you must not use a GOV.UK short URL to redirect a user to a non-government site

Campaign sites

You might need a campaign site if you are promoting a particular topic or scheme to users - for example, https://accessibility.campaign.gov.uk. Campaign sites must follow the GOV.UK URL standards.

It’s okay to not use dashes to separate words in a campaign site URL, but you should consider whether the URL is still easy to read without dashes.

If you are promoting your campaign page offline, you might need a short or ‘friendly’ URL.

Short or ‘friendly’ URLS

You might need to share or promote government information and services offline, for example in letters, on posters, or on TV. Where this is the case, it’s helpful if the URL is especially memorable and easy to say or type. Ask GDS to set up a short URL.

Organisation pages

Each government department, agency or arm’s length body on GOV.UK can have a single short URL for use when promoting itself. 

This URL should use the shortest version of the organisation’s name in common use. This should usually be words, like www.gov.uk/home-office for the Home Office.

You should only use an acronym if either:

  • it is very well known, like www.gov.uk/dwp for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • the organisation has a long name, like www.gov.uk/ofdia for the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA)

High profile groups follow the same standards as those for full organisations. For example, the short URL for Border Force, a high profile group of the Home Office, is www.gov.uk/border-force. 

Other groups incorporate the name of the parent organisation. For example, a group that is part of the Environment Agency (EA) takes the short URL www.gov.uk/ea/clear-info.

Top level redirects

Top level redirects are short URLs which exist at www.gov.uk/url (and contain just one forward slash).

Due to the large amount of content that already exists at the top level of GOV.UK, only a limited number of redirects will be allowed here. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Ask GDS to set up a short URL. If you’re requesting a top level redirect, you’ll need to give evidence that there is a user need for one.

Service sub-domain URLs

Start pages for GOV.UK transactional services will be on GOV.UK and need to follow the URL standards.

The transactional part of the service will usually not be hosted on GOV.UK. The service will exist on a GOV.UK sub-domain, formatted as ‘service-name.service.gov.uk’. There is more guidance in the service manual on getting a service domain name. You’ll agree the URL with GDS once you’ve passed your alpha assessment.