Today, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google has updated its best practices for URL structure on its Google Search help documentation page to reiterate its long-standing message not to use URL fragments to change page content.
Google added this section to its best practice page:
- “Don’t use fragments to change the content of a page, as Google generally doesn’t support fragment URLs. If you’re using JavaScript to change content, use the History API instead.”
Barry Schwartz, executive editor at Search Engine Roundtable, reported the update on X:
I’ve looked for the update on the Google Search Central documentation page for Best practices for URL structure on Google, but I can’t locate it. Fortunately, Barry’s an ever-reliable source for all things Google!
URL Fragment recap
Fragment URLs (also known as anchor links) are the optional bit on the end of a URL, starting with a hash (#) character, followed by an identifier that links to a specific internal page reference.
The reason for the update
Barry also reported that Google said its reason for updating its documentation was to:
- “Make it easier to find the guideline about fragment URLs, as it was previously only mentioned in the JavaScript and mobile sites documentation.”
Common URL problems
Complicated URLs that contain multiple parameters (a variable used in a function) and excessive URLs pointing to the same content within your site can confuse crawlers.
The result is that Googlebot consumes far more bandwidth than required, or it can’t index your site’s content.
You can find reasons and examples of URL-related issues on the Google Best Practices for URL Structure Documentation page.
How to resolve issues related to URLs
Google recommends the following actions to avoid URL structure problems:
- “Create a simple URL structure.”
- “Use a robots.txt file to block Googlebot from accessing problematic URLs.”
- “Avoid using session IDs in URLs and consider using cookies instead.”
- “Convert uppercase and lowercase text in a URL to the same case so Google can determine the URLs refer to the same page.”
- “Shorten URLs by trimming unnecessary parameters.”
- “Sites with an infinite calendar, add an attribute (nofollow) links that direct to future dynamically created calendar pages.”
- “Check your site for related links that are not working.”
When he is not writing content, Terry can be found on his boat in Italy or chilling in his villa in Spain.
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