Introduction:

In web development, creating SEO-friendly URLs is crucial for improving a website's visibility on search engines like Google. One common practice is to convert strings into slugified domain names, which are human-readable and contain relevant keywords. In this blog, we will explore different methods to achieve this using PHP.

Method 1: Using Built-in PHP Functions

PHP offers several functions to manipulate strings. We can utilize these functions to create slugified domain names. Let's dive into the code:

<?php
function slugify($string) {
    $slug = strtolower(trim($string));
    $slug = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9-]/', '-', $slug);
    $slug = preg_replace('/-+/', '-', $slug);
    return $slug;
}

$string = "Convert String to Slugify Domain Name in PHP";
$domain = slugify($string);
echo $domain; // Output: convert-string-to-slugify-domain-name-in-php
?>

• strtolower() converts the string to lowercase.
• trim() removes any leading or trailing whitespace.
• preg_replace() with regular expressions replaces non-alphanumeric characters and multiple hyphens with a single hyphen.

Method 2: Using Third-Party Libraries

Alternatively, we can use third-party libraries like cocur/slugify to simplify the process. First, we need to install the library via Composer:

composer require cocur/slugify

Then, we can use it in our PHP code:

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Cocur\Slugify\Slugify;

$slugify = new Slugify();
$string = "Convert String to Slugify Domain Name in PHP";
$domain = $slugify->slugify($string);
echo $domain; // Output: convert-string-to-slugify-domain-name-in-php
?>

• We install the cocur/slugify library using Composer.
• We create a Slugify instance.
• We call the slugify() method to generate the slug.

Method 3: Custom Implementation with Transliteration

Sometimes, we might encounter strings with special characters or accented letters. In such cases, it's beneficial to transliterate these characters into their ASCII equivalents. Let's see how we can achieve this:

<?php
function customSlugify($string) {
    $slug = iconv('UTF-8', 'ASCII//TRANSLIT', $string);
    $slug = strtolower(trim($slug));
    $slug = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9-]/', '-', $slug);
    $slug = preg_replace('/-+/', '-', $slug);
    return $slug;
}

$string = "Café in Paris: An Experience to Remember!";
$domain = customSlugify($string);
echo $domain; // Output: cafe-in-paris-an-experience-to-remember
?>

• iconv() transliterates Unicode characters to ASCII.
• The rest of the process is similar to Method 1.

Conclusion:

In this blog, we have discussed various ways to convert strings into SEO-friendly URLs in PHP. Whether you like using built-in functions, external libraries, or your own code, the aim remains consistent: to produce URLs that are easy for search engines to understand and improve the user experience.