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Configuring URL Parameters in Webmaster Tools

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at 8:58 AM

Webmaster Level: Intermediate to Advanced

We recently filmed a video (with slides available) to provide more information about the URL Parameters feature in Webmaster Tools. The URL Parameters feature is designed for webmasters who want to help Google crawl their site more efficiently, and who manage a site with -- you guessed it -- URL parameters! To be eligible for this feature, the URL parameters must be configured in key/value pairs like item=swedish-fish or category=gummy-candy in the URL http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish&category=gummy-candy.


Guidance for common cases when configuring URL Parameters. Music in the background masks the ongoing pounding of my neighbor’s construction!

URL Parameter settings are powerful. By telling us how your parameters behave and the recommended action for Googlebot, you can improve your site’s crawl efficiency. On the other hand, if configured incorrectly, you may accidentally recommend that Google ignore important pages, resulting in those pages no longer being available in search results. (There's an example provided in our improved Help Center article.) So please take care when adjusting URL Parameters settings, and be sure that the actions you recommend for Googlebot make sense across your entire site.

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17 comments:

Gagan Masoun said...

Maile Ohye you are right, I checked my webmaster tool account, every thing is working fine...I will put this useful video in 9 Videos That Tell How To Do Better SEO & Drive More Traffic on my blogs daddy blog.Because, it is very helpful for all webmasters :)

benone said...

So.. I dont understand.

Looks like old style urls with parameters
(section=blog&page=posts&post_id=5) is better for google and webmaster tools than CRUD blog/posts/5

Is that correct?

admin said...

Thank for making video tutorial. It helped me to learn this features easily.

Blurbpoint Media said...

Hi jatin i visited that URL and it contains god posts about the SEO guidelines.

Alex said...

Thanks for sharing this video. I got great information from it.

Private Business Space (PBS) said...

Nice, i like it your post...

Tariq Noor Khan said...

I like this post I have thanks type comment for you but you captcha is too much difficult.

Project Management Documentation said...

Great info

Ms. yeAh or nAy in Queen City said...

I thought having a "category" in URL is not good that's why I removed it. Well, good thing I found this information from Google blog.. I will return it back..lol Thanks!

cstyles said...

looking for a email something so google can go into my account and help with my domain set up I took it out of the blogspot and now it says that domain is in use. I just want to switch it over to my new domain

Icahbanjarmasin said...

Thank for sharing,I like it.

negentropist said...

Nice and informative video !

:)

bdcoder said...

How do you remove one (or all) parameters from the URL Parameters section of Google Webmaster tools??

I see "Edit" and "Reset" (whatever that means", but there is no "Delete" option.

technoclouds said...

I like this post...

acgt said...

I have a question about which setting I should use and was wondering if you could help me?

Let's say I have the following scenario:

1. www.domain.com/widgets
2. www.domain.com/widgets?ssd=1234
3. www.domain.com/widgets?ssd=5678

And ssd is only used for tracking.

What is the best way to configure GWT?

Do I set it as: No, Doesn't Affect Page Content?

Select this option if this parameter can be set to any value without changing the page content. For example, select this option if the parameter is a session ID. If many URLs differ only in this parameter, Googlebot will crawl one representative URL.

Does this mean these two will be ignored?

www.domain.com/widgets?ssd=1234
www.domain.com/widgets?ssd=5678

Or does it mean that Google will index both of these:

www.domain.com/widgets
www.domain.com/widgets?ssd=1234 (one of the representative urls)

----

I notice there is also any option when you select Yes (changes content or reorders...) to have Google not index any of the urls. Is this what I am supposed to do to make sure only www.domain.com/widgets is indexed?

Nwosu Desmond Mavtrevor said...

This is really explanatory and i now understand better.

2manydots Nederland said...

We launched a new website and the previous settings in URL parameters are no longer needed. How do I delete them as there is no DELETE option?