Google Revises URL Parameter Best Practices

After Google’s recent update to its Search Central documentation, many major changes have been made to its URL parameter best practices. These new revisions are important for developers and website owners, especially those who manage large websites with dynamic content such as e-commerce stores. After these new updates, Google recommends using standard symbols like “=” and “&” for URL parameters.

Using these symbols will help simplify crawling and reduce potential indexing issues. Let’s understand in simple terms what these changes mean for you and your website.

What Are URL Parameters?

URL parameters are the part of a web address that follows a question mark (?). These parameters allow websites to pass information between different pages. For example, if you’ve ever seen something like ?product=123&category=dress at the end of a URL, then that’s an example of a URL parameter in action. These parameters are commonly used on e-commerce sites where filters such as sorting by price or category are often used.

Although they are a powerful tool for organizing data and user preferences, URL parameters can cause issues if they are not formatted correctly. It can lead to issues with how search engines crawl and index your website.

Google’s Updated Guidelines

The latest guidelines by Google aim to standardize how URL parameters are formatted. Here are the key recommendations:

• Use equal signs (=) to separate key-value pairs.
• Use ampersands (&) to connect multiple parameters.

So now the correct format would be something like this:

www.example.com/products?type=dress&color=blue

Google also advises against using non-standard formats, such as colons (:), brackets ([]) and commas (,). Using these unconventional separators can confuse search engine crawlers and lead to issues in indexing your pages properly.

Why Does This Matter?

You might wonder if using these small symbols really makes any difference. Although using non-standard parameter formats will not directly affect your search rankings, they can cause problems in how Google crawls your site. Improperly formatted parameters can result in:

• Duplicate content issues: Non-standard parameter usage can cause search engines to index the same page multiple times with different URL parameters, thus wasting your crawl budget.

• Inefficient crawling: Google’s crawlers might end up spending more time on pages that have poorly formatted URLs. This can result in other important parts of your site being under-crawled.
  

By following Google’s updated recommendations, you can avoid these potential pitfalls and ensure that your website is crawled and indexed efficiently.

Previous Guidelines vs. New Standards

Earlier, developers had to reference an old blog post on faceted navigation to get detailed information on URL parameters. However, with this new update, Google has consolidated that information into the main URL structure documentation, making it much easier for developers to access and apply these best practices. The recent updates can be found in Google’s Search Central documentation under the Crawling and Indexing section.

What Should You Do Next?

If your website uses any of the above-mentioned non-standard parameter formats, you can start migrating to the recommended structure. Here’s how you can get started:

• Audit your URLs: You should check your site for any non-standard parameters such as colons, commas, or brackets.

• Update your format: You should start using “=” for key-value pairs and “&” for connecting multiple parameters.

• Implement redirects: If needed, you can set up 301 redirects to ensure users and search engines are directed to the newly updated URLs.

• Monitor crawl stats: You must keep an eye on Google Search Console to ensure the changes are being correctly reflected in how Google crawls your site.

While Google’s revised guidelines for URL parameters may seem like a small technical update, following them can help largely improve how your site is crawled and indexed. Team TechnoRadiant, can help you stay on top of these updates and optimize your site for better search performance.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can ensure your website is in line with Google’s latest best practices, helping you achieve a smoother, more effective online presence.