What best practices should be followed when encoding URLs in PHP?

When encoding URLs in PHP, it is important to use the `urlencode()` function to ensure that special characters are properly encoded. This helps prevent errors and ensures that the URL is correctly formatted for use in web applications. Additionally, it is recommended to encode only the specific parts of the URL that require encoding, such as query parameters or path segments, rather than encoding the entire URL.

$url = 'https://example.com/search?q=' . urlencode('search term');
echo $url;