How to fix: Too long link URLs

Semrush site audit tips URLs too long

Issue: URLs longer than 2,000 characters may not be supported by some browsers and can cause issues with crawling, potentially being ignored by search engines.

Fix: Shorten URLs to below 2,000 characters to ensure compatibility and improve crawlability.

How to Fix for Beginners

  1. Identify Long URLs: Use SEO tools to find links longer than 2,000 characters on your site.
    • Example: https://example.com/category/page?param1=value1&param2=value2... (too long).
  2. Simplify the URL Structure:
    • Remove unnecessary query parameters and session IDs.
    • Replace complex dynamic URLs with clean, static ones.
    • Example: Change https://example.com/page?ref=abc123&session=456 to https://example.com/page.
  3. Use URL Shortening for External Links: For extremely long external links, use a URL shortener (e.g., Bitly or TinyURL) while retaining descriptive anchor text.
    • Example: Shorten https://longexample.com/very/long/link to https://bit.ly/short-link.
  4. Check Internal Links: Review your site’s navigation and link architecture to avoid linking to overly long URLs internally.
  5. Test Shortened Links: After updating, ensure the new URLs are functional and still lead to the correct destinations.

Tip: Clean, short URLs are more user-friendly, SEO-friendly, and easier for search engines to process.

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