URL Parameters

Understanding parameter strategies to optimize crawl budget and indexation

The Parameter Problem

Why unchecked parameters are an SEO risk

URL parameters create exponential duplicate content that wastes crawl budget and dilutes ranking signals. A single product category with just 5 filters (color, size, price, sort, gender) can generate 100,000+ URL variations pointing to the same products.

/shop/shoes?color=red&size=10&sort=price
/shop/shoes?size=10&color=red&sort=price
↑ Same content, different URLs = crawl trap

Without a parameter strategy, search engines waste time crawling duplicates instead of discovering valuable new content.

Strategic Decision Framework

Three approaches based on search intent and implementation

Clean Paths

Best
/shoes/running

Use when: The page represents a real search intent users actually type (e.g. “running shoes”).

SEO: Indexable, self-canonical, included in sitemap.

Rule: If an intent matters, give it a clean, permanent URL.

Single Parameter

Avoid
/shoes?color=red

Use when: As a temporary fallback when clean paths cannot be implemented.

SEO: Not indexed by default; canonicalized to the clean path.

Rule: If a filter deserves to rank, it deserves a clean URL.

Multiple Parameters

Block
/shoes?color=red&size=10&sort=price

Use when: Never for SEO—only for on-site filtering UX.

SEO: Not indexed, excluded from sitemap, canonicalized to clean URL.

Rule: Multi-parameter URLs are crawl traps, not landing pages.

Parameter Policies - Best Practices

Recommended parameter handling strategies for optimal SEO performance

stable

These parameters create meaningful variations. In this playground they stay noindex variants with canonicals to the base; promote to clean paths if you want them indexed.

color
stable

Color is a meaningful facet. Best practice: keep as variant (noindex) and canonical to base.

size
stable

Size is a meaningful attribute. Best practice: keep as variant (noindex) and canonical to base.

unstable

These parameters create duplicate or low-value pages. Use noindex,follow to allow crawling but prevent indexing. Strip from canonical URLs.

sort
unstable

Sorting changes order only; no unique value.

blocked

These parameters should be completely blocked from crawling via robots.txt and always stripped from canonical URLs to prevent crawl waste.

utm_source
blocked

Tracking parameter; strip from canonical and block in robots.

utm_medium
blocked

Tracking parameter; strip from canonical and block in robots.

utm_campaign
blocked

Tracking parameter; strip from canonical and block in robots.

gclid
blocked

Google Click ID tracking parameter.

fbclid
blocked

Facebook Click ID tracking parameter.

sid
blocked

Session ID tracking parameter.

view
blocked

UI preference parameter. Creates noise, should be blocked via robots.txt.

per_page
blocked

Items-per-page UI preference. Creates explosive crawl space, block via robots.txt.

price_min
blocked

Numeric range filter. Creates infinite combinations, block via robots.txt.

price_max
blocked

Numeric range filter. Creates infinite combinations, block via robots.txt.

Other Parameters

q
search

Search query parameter. Search pages default to noindex,follow to avoid thin content.

Related Resources