The Complete Guide to URL Parameters

SEO is a delicate process. Think of it as a chain link, where one weak link can slow the entire thing down or worse—cause it to fall apart. URL parameters are a good example of this. You need them to manage large websites, extensive product catalogs, and track marketing campaigns, among other related tasks. But improperly managed URL parameters can lead to duplicate content, crawl issues, and can even completely undermine your hard SEO work.

This article covers the basics of URL parameters, use cases for them, common issues, and how to monitor and control them. You’ll also learn how to manage them correctly from an SEO perspective. Let’s dive in!

What are URL parameters?

URL parameters (aka URL query parameters or query strings) are extra pieces of information added to the end of a web address after a question mark (?) to modify or track page content. According to Google, they can be either active (content-modifying) or passive (tracking) parameters. Passive parameters don’t change page content. 

URL parameters consist of a key and a value separated by an equals sign (=). Multiple parameters in a URL are separated by an ampersand (&) symbol. The first parameter in the URL always comes after the question mark (?). 

For example:

1. URL parameters are commonly used in ecommerce. When you filter search results, the URL might look like this: https://www.example.com/ski-clothing?category=women

2. On YouTube, the URL may include a timestamp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8M2SdGb7bE&t=120s

URL parameters: Uses and examples

As we already mentioned, URL parameters fall into two categories: active and passive. 

But dynamic and static URLs aren’t the same thing as active and passive parameters. 

Here’s why.

A static URL is a regular web address without any parameters (like https://seranking.com/website-audit.html). 

A dynamic URL often contains parameters (like https://seranking.com/?ga=3126575&source=link). Dynamic URLs can contain either active or passive parameters, or both.

Active parameters

Active parameters directly influence the content displayed on a page, updating it based on user input and preferences. Some of the most common uses and examples of active URL parameters are:

Filtering and sorting 

Used to display the content the user wants to see based on the applied filtering or sorting criteria, like price, color, or rating.

Examples: 

?sort=za (arrange products alphabetically from Z to A)

?color=dark (show only dark-colored products)

?rating=5 (filter products with a 5-star rating)

?filter=automatic (show only automatic products)

Search

Helps users find specific information on a website by passing their query through the URL. This URL parameter (often “q” for “query”) contains what the user typed into the search box.

Example: ?q=seranking (shows search results for “SE Ranking” on the website)

Pagination

Used to navigate multi-page content by specifying which page to display. Instead of loading large sets of data on a single page (which would be slow and overwhelming), pagination divides content into a series of related pages. Using this parameter tells the server which “chunk” to load.

Example: ?page=2 (loads the second page of results)

Translation

Used to switch page content to different languages. When a user selects a language preference, this URL parameter ensures they see content in their preferred language. This is crucial if you have an international site and want to provide localized experiences.

Example: ?lang=en (shows the English version of the page)

Passive parameters

Passive parameters help marketers track data on marketing effectiveness from channel to channel. Unlike active parameters, these ones don’t alter what the user sees on the page. 

Note that websites can use custom parameters for advanced tracking. Unlike fixed parameters like UTM tags, custom parameters give you more control over the information recorded (the values), like unique business metrics, user segments, or campaign attributes.

Below are some common use cases for passive parameters:  

Tracking and analytics

These help marketers determine where the traffic originates from. This could include the marketing campaign, paid ad, or the email clicked on by a user. UTM parameters (like utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign) tell analytics tools how users found your site.

Example: ?utm_source=newsletter (indicates that a visitor arrived via an email newsletter)

Affiliate IDs 

One common use of these parameters is through affiliate marketing programs. When someone clicks a link containing an affiliate ID, the website tracks that click to give credit to the correct partner for any sales or signups. This helps businesses figure out exactly where their sales or conversions are coming from.

Example: ?id=seranking (tracks the click a user made through an affiliate link associated with SE Ranking)

Video timestamps

These parameters let users jump to a specific spot in a video instead of from the beginning. They’re a go-to for sharing standout moments in longer videos. While they change where the viewer begins watching the video, they’re seen as passive because they don’t change the actual content.

Example: ?t=60s (starts the video at 60 seconds)

Negative impact of URL parameters on SEO

URL query parameters might seem straightforward and useful, but they can cause major SEO issues if handled incorrectly. 

Search engines can struggle to crawl and index large websites with many dynamically generated, poorly structured URLs—or URLs with multiple parameters. If there is little or no significant change to the page content, search engines might treat each URL and its parameters as a separate version of the same page. 

This can lead to the issues discussed below.

Duplicate content and keyword cannibalization

One large and common issue with generating multiple URLs while using URL parameters, especially when they mostly show the same content, is duplicate content. And with that comes keyword cannibalization, which causes the pages (especially ones with additional parameters) to start competing. Cannibalized pages tend to target the same keyword cluster, share the same search intent, and cover the same semantic topic. 

Picture how many nearly identical pages can pop up when you’re using multiple filtering and sorting options at once!  

For example, active query parameters used in URLs for filtering, like www.store.com/laptops?brand=dell and www.store.com/laptops?brand=apple, create completely distinct pages by brand. But Google might register them as the same basic page with minor differences. 

The same happens with passive parameters like tracking www.seranking.com/blog and www.seranking.com/blog?utm_campaign=black_friday. Both lead to the same blog page. Humans can easily discern that the extra parameter is for tracking, but search engines might not understand this. Google, for example, would struggle to decide which version to rank. This can water down your content’s authority and hurt your rankings.

You can prevent this by canonicalizing each parameter-containing URL to the main version (the unfiltered, original page without parameters). We’ll cover this in more detail later.

Loss in crawl budget

Search engines have a limited crawl budget for discovering and indexing pages on your website. Sites with thousands of parameter-based URLs that show similar content waste it for nothing. 

For example, an e-commerce site with 100 products and 5 filters (color, size, price, brand, rating) could potentially generate tens of thousands of unique URLs with different parameter combinations. Google might spend days crawling these variations instead of finding the crawling and indexing the most important pages.

Google puts it perfectly.

Diluted ranking signals

When you have multiple URL versions of the same page, the ranking power earned by your site is split between them. For example, if ten websites link to different versions of your page because of different parameters, you end up with ten “weaker” pages instead of one strong page that consolidates all these signals. This dilution makes it harder for any single version to rank well, even if you have great content. 

Poor URL readability

Poor URL readability happens when URLs are long, cluttered, or include confusing parameters. This makes it difficult for users and search engines to understand the content. URLs like these are harder to share in emails, social media and forums. It’s hard to communicate them verbally, and they can also appear suspicious or untrustworthy to some users.

Users are more comfortable clicking on clean, SEO-friendly URLs, which are also better for page performance and rankings.

Tracking issues

Parameter-heavy URLs can distort your understanding of analytics data. 

Let’s say you’re an ecommerce business that uses Google Analytics 4. Your product page is accessible through multiple URL parameter combinations. Many of your reports are based on single URLs. Instead of showing clean page performance data, it shows fragmented data from multiple versions of the original page because each are tracked separately. This results in misleading data that is difficult to analyze, which obscures the true effectiveness of your marketing efforts, organic traffic, or user behavior. 

Since your goal is to get a clearer view of your site’s overall performance, your next course of action would be to set up special configurations.

How to fix URL parameter issues

Each URL parameter-related issue begs the question—how do you tell Google which URL versions to crawl and which to ignore? Let’s go over your options for getting these issues under control.

Rel=”Canonical” link attribute 

One of the first logical solutions is to set up canonical tags. A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is primary. This consolidates ranking signals to the chosen URL. 

One common solution is to add this canonical tag in the <head> section of each URL variation:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://seranking.com/preferred-page.html"/>

Keep in mind that this solution is not a panacea. 

It is most effective when parameterized URLs have similar content to the canonical version. It works best for sorting parameters, tracking parameters, and minor filtering that doesn’t significantly modify the page content.

And since canonical tags are hints and not directives, Google can outright ignore them. Plus, they don’t eliminate crawl budget waste. This is because search engines still have to crawl all parameter-based pages—though you can coax search engines to crawl them less over time. In cases where this is a concern, consider the other solutions discussed in this section.

Robots noindex meta tag

The robots meta tag can prevent search engines from indexing parameter-based pages. They’ll still be crawled, but less often. Keep in mind, however, that this method doesn’t consolidate ranking signals. 

To use the robots noindex meta tag, add the following line to the <head> section of the page’s HTML:

  <meta name="robots" content="noindex">

This is an ideal solution for pages lacking SEO value and when it’s not important for users to find them.

Robots.txt disallow

One common way to save the crawl budget on parameter-based URLs is through the robots.txt file, which prevents crawlers from accessing certain pages. But there’s no guarantee these pages will be excluded from search results.

And although search engines might index them despite the directive, your primary goal is to give search engines a roadmap for which pages to crawl and ignorel. Similar to using robots meta tags, this method doesn’t consolidate ranking signals.

To use the disallow directive, block crawlers from all URLs with a question mark:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /*?*

Or you can restrict bots from accessing specific parameters:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /*?filter=

Disallow: /*?sort=

Moving from Dynamic to Static URLs

Static URLs like www.example.com/shoes/running are generally better for SEO than parameter-based URLs like www.example.com/products?category=shoes&type=running. 

But not everything should be static. Using static URLs for filters, sorting, pagination, or tracking can hurt SEO because they create massive duplicate content, dilute page authority, and waste crawl budget on low-value pages. 

Moving from dynamic to static URLs only makes sense for important pages that contain your core content. These might include product pages, categories, and the top filters searched for by users. They look cleaner, contain valuable keywords, and Google loves them. But users can benefit from parameters when in need of more complex interactions.

The ideal approach is to use static URLs for content meant to be displayed in search results. Manage all other URLs’ parameters properly (use canonicals, noindex tags).

Monitor URLs with parameters

Knowing the impact of your site’s URL parameters can make or break how SEO healthy it is. Here are some ways to learn about them. 

Via Google Analytics 

Google Analytics 4 is a straightforward tool. Its Pages and Screens report shows you how users interact with your parameter-based pages by revealing which URL variations receive traffic and how users engage with them.

To access this data: 

1. Go to Reports in the left-hand menu.
2. Navigate to Engagement > Pages and Screens.
3. In the search bar, enter a question mark (?) to filter out URLs containing parameters.
4. Analyze the performance of these URLs based on traffic, engagement, and conversions.
5. Identify pages whose parameters are valuable to users and use the solutions above to determine which are better to manage.

Note: If your parameter-containing URLs aren’t displayed, enable the full URL path:

1. Click the report customization icon.

2. In the Report Data section, select Dimensions.

3. Add new dimension Page path + query string.

4. Click Apply to save the changes.

Via Google Search Console 

Google Search Console reports help you see how Google crawls and indexes parameter-based URLs on a deeper level. They can also show which ones need to be managed better to prevent SEO issues.

To access this data: 

1. Go to the Page Indexing report in the left-hand menu.
2. Scroll through the list of indexed URLs with parameters.
3. Click on the View data about indexed pages section.
4. Filter the list By URL to show only pages containing question marks (?). 

You can also click on the Magnifying glass icon to inspect every URL to verify if your controls, like noindex or canonical tags, are working as intended.

You can also check the list of non-indexed parameterized URLs, which is located under the chart in the Page indexing report. Use it to learn why they are not indexed, especially if you need them to be.

Control parameterized URLs with SE Ranking’s Website Audit Tool

When performing site audits, be sure to ignore any parameter-based URLs that could distort the data and your website’s SEO health analysis. This ensures the audit focuses on the most important pages and leaves out parameter-based URLs that don’t contribute to your site’s SEO. 

SE Ranking’s Website Audit allows you to set your website scan settings easily. Here’s how.
1. Go to the Website Audit and click on the Settings button in the top right corner.

2. Go to the block with Rules for scanning pages.

3. Scroll down to URL parameter settings. If you want to exclude all query parameters in ther URL from the scan, select the option that says Ignore all parameters. This will ignore any values in the URL variables for the entire scan.

4. If you prefer to exclude only specific parameters, choose the Ignore custom parameters option. Then, manually enter the parameters you want to exclude, such as utm_source, filter, sort, etc.

5. After choosing the parameters you want to ignore, click Apply changes.

6. Once your settings are saved, run the scan.

The tool will now exclude the specified parameters and give you a more accurate picture of your site’s SEO performance. It will also highlight the top issues on your site, showing the number of affected pages. Click for more details to get useful suggestions on how to fix them.

Final thoughts

This article isn’t about forcing a decision on using URL parameters in your SEO strategy. It’s about knowing when and where they make sense. 

No matter the case, you need to guide search engine crawlers on which parameterized URLs to crawl and index. Properly implementing canonical tags that point to your main page version helps keep the consistency train going. Google will recognize these patterns and treat them accordingly. Monitor the impact of any changes you make to stay on the right track.