How to fix: Pages with too many parameters in their URLs

Updated on December 3rd, 2024 at 02:10 am

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Issue: URLs with too many parameters (e.g., ?id=123&name=test&page=2&sort=asc) are hard for users to understand and may confuse search engines, leading to indexing problems.

Fix: Limit the number of URL parameters to four or fewer for better readability and SEO.

How to Fix for Beginners

  1. Simplify Your URLs: Remove unnecessary parameters or combine them into simpler formats.
    • Example: Change ?id=123&name=test&page=2&sort=asc to /products/test?page=2.
  2. Use Static URLs When Possible: Replace dynamic parameter-based URLs with clean, static URLs.
    • Example: /product/test is better than /product?id=123.
  3. Set Rules for URL Parameters in Google Search Console: If parameters are necessary, use Google Search Console to define how search engines should handle them.
    • Example: Specify which parameters to ignore to avoid duplicate content.
  4. Implement Canonical Tags: If multiple parameter variations exist, use a canonical tag to point search engines to the main version of the URL.
    • Example: <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product/test">.
  5. Test URLs: Ensure your simplified URLs still work and lead to the correct pages.

Tip: Clean, simple URLs improve user trust, SEO rankings, and search engine efficiency.

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