URL Length In Search Engine Optimisation

February 27, 2008

Many search engine optimisation professionals have often been asked the question, are short URLs or long URLs better for SEO?

Research has found that shorter URLs have a much higher click through rate as they are easier for users to decipher. Longer URLs which pass too much information within the URL tend to dilute the optimisation for that page, as too many words are passed in the URL.

Ideally all URLs on the site should be as descriptive as possible whilst still being easily understandable by your users. Long URLs written by CMS programs will only confuse your users, and could lead to fewer clicks.

In addition using relevant keywords within the URL will further optimise the products to the search engines, and will be displayed in bold on a search query. This will help improve rankings and click through rates.

Paul
SEO Programmer

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