Does URL Length Affect SEO? - Search Engine Journal

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Does Google prefer shorter URLs over 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 is answered by Google’s John Mueller:

“Do shorter URLs actually make an impact compared to long URLs or is this just another SEO myth?”

In his response we learn URL length isn’t the difference maker some think it is. Although there’s one case in which it does play a role in search.

Read Mueller’s full answer below.

Google’s John Mueller On URL Length

URL length doesn’t matter for SEO, Mueller explains. Except for the one situation where it might.

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

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

This advice is consistent with a recommendation he gave back in 2019 when he first started suggesting URLs should be under 1,000 characters.

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