Google has announced the URL parameters tool in search console is to be deprecated within the month.
The tool which was first launched in 2009 via webmaster tools when content management systems which used parameters such as SessionID would have trouble organizing them and they would often break. The URL parameters tools allowed site owners control over the affect parameters had on their content.
What are URL parameters?
URL parameters, like “SessionID,” are dynamic or query parameters that are often included in URLs to manage and track user sessions and interactions on a website. These parameters are typically used by websites to maintain state information about a user’s session or to pass data between web pages. They can serve various purposes, including tracking user preferences, maintaining shopping cart contents, and facilitating user authentication.
Google has stated that the parameter configurations they have been crawling are not useful, and will no longer be necessary. Since its launch in 2009 Google has gotten much better at identifying which parameters are useful and which are not, this has lead to the deprecation of the URL parameters tool in search console.
What does this mean for my site?
If your site currently uses URL parameters such as: category=electronics, page=2, or sort=price, Google will now automatically identify any useful parameters and disregard the rest. There is no need to specify the function of URL parameters on your site any longer. Webmasters can maintain control of parameters via robots.txt rules by specifying parameter orders in an allow rule and also hreflang for language variations in your content.
It’s important to note that when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), site parameters like “SessionID” can create issues because they can lead to multiple URL variations with different parameters. Search engines may have difficulty crawling and indexing these variations, potentially causing duplicate content issues. Our SEO Services Company can help you identify any issues with your sites parameters and ensure they are not negatively impacting your rankings. Contact us today.
