Tuesday, August 14, 2012
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 https://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish&category=gummy-candy.
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.