Why do CiviCRM URLs have 'reset=1' in the query string?
reset=1 clears the current local session variables as well as the smarty cache.

For instance, if you have a form that is getting reused, reset=1 will clear the form's fields (whereas, without it, the form may contain values carried over from it's prior invocation). 

If you don't use it, and it's a public, anonymous facing page, I suspect you may get away with it. Try it and see how it works for you. 

If the parameter is necessary, you could add it as a redirect to your installation.  For instance, in your .htaccess file include something like:

Redirect 301 /contribute https://[yoursite.com]/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&amp;id=5  

Which would allow https://[yoursite.com]/contribute as a valid link to the ultimate contribution page.