Most website owners know the basics of a good website – useful content, fast loading times and relevant keywords – but have you ever thought about the URLs on your website?

URL parameters are the parts of a web address that are normally visible after a question mark, an equal sign or an and (&) sign. These parameters, which are often called ‘query strings’, are normally seen on e-commerce sites.

Problems that can arise with URL parameters

The first issue that can arise with URL parameters is duplicate content. Lots of website owners use the URL as a way to establish the keywords for the page, which is generally a useful thing to do; however, this can create page issues on an e-commerce website, especially if you are using similar or the same keywords on different pages. If you are using colour, size or price in the URL, for example, this could quickly create confusion, meaning that your website does not appear in the search engine results page.

If you are looking for local SEO services to help you with your URL parameters, check out agencies such as https://www.elevateuk.com/seo-services/.

One way to see whether the URLs on your website are working correctly is to check the product filters within a category. If you search and do not get the results you are looking for, this could be caused by duplicate content URLs.

Choose your keywords wisely

It can be useful to include keywords in your URLs, as search engines will use the words to rank the web page, but this can result in keyword cannibalisation if multiple pages on your website are using the same keywords. This causes problems for the search engine, as it is unable to correctly identify the difference between the pages; consequently, it can lead to pages being placed in the wrong category.

If you have an e-commerce website, you may be wondering how to choose the right keywords. One option is to use more specific URLs rather than general keywords, as this will make it much easier for search engine bots to correctly go through your website and rank each page accordingly. This will benefit you in the long run, as it means it will be easier for your customers to find the page they are looking for!