Have you ever wondered what all the extra stuff in some URLs is? For example, gcc.edu/admissions?category=majors=accounting&finance=undergrad. All the stuff after the question mark (category=majors=accounting&finance=undergrad) is called the URL parameters. Parameters are strung together by “&” and “=” symbols. When put together they are called query strings. These are things you can add to your URls that tell your website how to customize content for a specific user, enabling personalization and overall better user experience.
Benefits of URL Parameters
Some functions include filtering content to target the user’s preferred language or region (ie. ?lang=en, ?region=us, respectively), filtering in products users are specifically searching for (ie. ?search=iphone+case), breaking large pieces of content into more than one page (?page=1, ?page=2, etc.), allowing users to apply filters (specifically on e-commerce sites) without reloading the page, and allowing web masters to understand where users are finding their site within a campaign.
Two Types of URL Parameters
There are two types of URL parameters: active and passive.
Active parameters are the ones that influence what is shown on a webpage. These are things like filtering of products and regions/languages mentioned above.
Passive parameters are more for the webmaster to track sources and sessions of site visitors.
Downsides and Benefits
Parameters can be a useful way to target user intent by filtering in only the content that users are interested in or have already entered into a search. However, there are some downside implications for SEO. Some of these include cannibalization of content due to multiple parameters and URls having been created, loss of budget from SEs to crawl your over-parameterized page, and difficult-to-understand URLs. There are, of course, ways to get around these issues (see articles below), but you must be strategic about it.
Closing Thoughts
Therefore, parameters may give you a leg up if done correctly. But if done poorly, you may actually be hurt by them.
Sources: What Are URL Parameters? A Guide on How to Use Them and URL Parameters: What They Are & How to Use Them
3 Responses
I really liked how you split up the post! It was super easy to read through and understand the content. I am not very familiar with parameters and how exactly they are used, so this was pretty beneficial. I only really knew about active parameters, so it was interesting to learn more about the aspect of passive parameters. This was a really informative post!
This is so interesting! It’s nice to have a better understanding of what all of the coding symbols mean in a URL and why they are necessary for a page to display correctly.
Great breakdown of URL parameters! It’s fascinating how they can enhance the user experience by personalizing content, but I hadn’t realized how they could also cause SEO issues if not handled properly. The balance between personalization and SEO optimization is crucial strategic use of parameters can definitely make a difference.