Does Google prefer shorter URLs than longer URLs? That’s an SEO myth that won’t go away. Here’s when URL length matters and when it doesn’t.

URL length is the topic of discussion in the latest installment of the Ask Googlebot video series on YouTube.

The following question was answered by John Mueller of Google:

“Do shorter URLs really have an impact compared to long URLs or is it just an SEO myth?

In his response we found that the length of the URL is not what makes the difference that some think. Although there is a case where it plays a search role.

Read Mueller’s full answer below.

Google’s John Mueller at URL Length

URL length is not important for SEO, Mueller explains. Except in a situation where possible.

As a personal preference, Mueller tries to keep URLs less than 1,000 characters because it’s easier to track data that way.

“The direct answer is no. The length of the URL doesn’t matter. We use URLs as identifiers, no matter how long they are. Personally, I try to keep them shorter than 1,000 characters, but that is “It’s just to make it easier to track. The number of slashes doesn’t matter either.”

This advice is in line with a recommendation he gave in 2019 when he first started suggesting that URLs should be less than 1,000 characters.

The only part of Google’s ranking systems where URL length can perform is in canonicalization.

When many identical URLs have the same content on the page, Google will combine all the signals from those pages into one URL.

That URL is referred to as the canonical URL and this is what users see in search results.

In the process of deciding which URLs to display in search results, Google may consider the length of the URLs as one of the factors.

“Currently, I only know one part of our systems where URL length plays — that part is canonicalization.

Canonicalization is what happens when we see multiple copies of a page on your website and we need to select a URL to use for indexing.

If we find a shorter, clearer URL, our systems will likely choose that. “

Mueller clarified that canonicalization has nothing to do with rankings.

In other words — the length of a URL can affect the appearance of search snippets, but won’t affect search rankings.

“It does not affect the ranking. It is purely a matter of which URL is displayed in the search. So, on the whole, when it comes to search rankings, it doesn’t matter the length of the URL or the number of slashes. Use a URL structure that works for you and you can keep for a long time. “

When Mueller mentions slashes in URLs, he is speaking to another SEO myth that flat URL structures rank better.

Assuming this would affect rankings, some sites shortened their URLs by flattening the structure.

A URL like: homepage.com/blog/blog-title

It will be: homepage.com/blog-title

That’s a wasted effort, as Mueller said there’s no benefit to a flat URL structure.

Origin: Google Search Central

---

Featured Image: YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral