What is a Dynamic URL?
A dynamic URL is a URL that changes depending on the content you are viewing on a site. These URLs are used on webpages that display content that differs from user to user. Such content is commonly found on e-commerce sites, social networks, and search engine results pages.
Dynamic URLs contain parameters. These are a set of numbers, letters, and symbols that provide additional information about a URL. In this case, they typically contain information about the type of content the visitor requested to access.
Parameters begin with a question mark ?. For example, when you search for “What is yoga,” the Google Search results page may return a webpage with a URL like this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+yoga&oq=what+is+yoga&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
This is a dynamic URL. It was generated at runtime, that is, the moment the visitor entered the search term into Google.
Similarly, an e-commerce site like Amazon would generate a page when you search for “Yoga mats.” In this case, here is what the dynamic URL of that page could look like:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=yoga+mats&crid=3S4VJ45FN5B7R&sprefix=yoga+mat%2Caps%2C354&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
How to Identify a Dynamic URL
Dynamic URLs are easily identifiable by their parameters. Parameters begin with a question mark ? followed by a key-value pair.
For example, let us assume you visited an online footwear store. Then, you adjust the search options or filters on the page so that it only shows you black shoes. The page containing the black shoes could have a URL that looks like this:
https://mydomain.com/shoes/?color=black
In the above URL, color=blackis the key-value pair. Specifically, color is the key, while black is the value. Now, if we updated the size filter on the page so that it only shows us black shoes in size 38, the URL would look like this:
https://mydomain.com/shoes/?color=black&size=38
In this new URL, color=black y size=38 are the key-value pairs. Together, both key-value pairs indicate the visitor only wants shoes of color black and size 38 to be displayed on the webpage.
The symbols in the dynamic URL are collectively called separators. There are just three of them:
- Question mark
?— Separates the base URL and parameter - Equals sign
=— Separates the key and value - Ampersand
&— Separates multiple key-value pairs
That said, it is important to understand that while dynamic URLs always contain parameters, every URL with a parameter is not a dynamic URL. Parameters are also used for tracking, so a static URL could also contain parameters.
If you are unsure whether a URL is dynamic, try deleting the parameter from the URL. If it leads you to the same page, then you are sure that it is a tracking parameter. However, if it leads you to a different page, then it is a dynamic URL.
Dynamic vs. Static URLs
Dynamic URLs are one type of URL. Static URLs are another.
A static URL does not change, does not contain parameters that modify the content, and leads to the same webpage every time. For example, yourdomain.com/yoga-for-beginners y yourdomain.com/recipes/cakes/vanilla-cakes/vanilla-cream-cake are static URLs.
Static URLs give bloggers more control over how the URL is created and displayed. This has led many bloggers to prefer them over dynamic URLs, even in situations where they are impossible or undesirable. Some bloggers even try to mask their dynamic URLs as static URLs or convert them into static URLs.
Google advises bloggers against such practices as they only make it harder for Google to understand and crawl the content. They could also lead to serious URL misconfiguration, which will further make it hard for Google to crawl the URL.
Google added that it can crawl dynamic URLs and has systems in place to identify and avoid problematic dynamic URLs. Instead of masking your dynamic URLs as static URLs, Google recommends you remove unnecessary parameters like session IDs from the URL but leave it to continue to look like a dynamic URL.
However, if you insist on using static URLs instead of your dynamic URLs into static URLs, Google recommends that you create a static version of the content displayed for the dynamic URL. This static version should contain the static URL.
Importance of Dynamic URLs
Dynamic URLs are helpful for sites that create their webpages on demand. This is particularly useful in situations where the page needs to be customized to suit the visitor’s requirements.
For example, without dynamic pages, Google would have to create individual webpages for every search query it wants to display results for and store them on its server. This would have made it ineffective and inefficient.
However, with a dynamic URL, Google can create a template for the search results page. Then, when a searcher enters a search term, Google will extract data from its database and fix it into the predefined areas in the template.
Disadvantages of Dynamic URLs
Dynamic URLs come with their own unique problems, which are often easy to miss since the blogger or store owner has little control over how they are created or configured. However, some common issues with dynamic URLs include:
1 They Can Be Long and Complex
Dynamic URLs can become unbelievably long. 200-character-long URLs are quite common, and it is not unheard of to find some with over 1000 characters. In most instances, their final length depends on their configuration and the options or filters selected by the visitor.
2 They Can Cause Duplicate Content
A common issue with dynamic URLs is that multiple URLs can lead to the same content. In many cases, these URLs do not even look alike, and it is often impossible to realize that they lead to the same content unless you visit them. This can quickly lead to serious duplicate content issues.
3 They Are Not User-Friendly
Dynamic URLs can contain so many parameters that they become less user-friendly and unintelligible to humans. In many instances, they contain letters, numbers, and words that do not give the visitor an idea about the sort of content they contain.
This makes them hard to share, remember, or type. They may even appear spammy to visitors even when they are not.
4 They Could Cause Crawling Issues
Dynamic URLs can cause serious crawling issues. This usually occurs because multiple URLs can lead to the same page. So, Google uses up its resources crawling the same pages over and over.
This could result in Google using up more bandwidth from your site than it should. Google may also use up your crawl budget crawling the same pages. In such cases, it may not have any crawl budget left to crawl the URLs that you want on search results.
5 They Can Cause Backlink Issues
Dynamic URLs can cause you to lose out on backlinks. This could occur for several reasons. For example, some sites typically remove parameters when linking to other content. In such cases, they may remove your parameters, causing the backlink to point to a different page on your site.
Sometimes, the site may even refuse to link back to you at all because it is a dynamic URL. Then, there are issues with broken backlinks. Your backlinks can become broken if the content displayed for the dynamic URL becomes unavailable.
Google’s Recommendations on Using Dynamic URLs
URLs, whether dynamic or static, have SEO consequences. However, dynamic URLs typically have their own unique issues, which could affect how Google finds and crawls them. In such a case, you should follow Google’s guidelines on using dynamic URLs.
1 Keep Your Dynamic URLs Short
Google recommends keeping your dynamic URLs short. While bloggers usually have no control over what the final dynamic URL would look like, they usually have control over what parameters are included in it. Sometimes, they are even able to configure the key-value pair.
So, Google recommends that you remove unnecessary key-value pairs like session IDs and tracking data from the dynamic URL. Google ignores them anyway, and they make your URLs long and difficult to understand. Instead, Google recommends that you monitor user sessions using cookies.
However, you should only remove key-value pairs that do not offer any useful information about your content. If unsure about what parameters to remove, Google recommends that you leave the URL as it is and leave its system to determine which parameters are useful and which are not.
2 Block Googlebot From Crawling Certain Dynamic URLs
Google recommends that you update your robots.txt file to block Googlebot from crawling dynamic URLs that can create infinite amounts of URLs.
For example, calendars can generate limitless amounts of dynamic URLs. In this case, if you have a calendar on your site. Google recommends that you block Googlebot from crawling the URLs generated by that calendar. You should also add nofollow attributes to those URLs.
Similarly, Google recommends that you block it from crawling URLs that create search results. These URLs typically result from visitors using your site’s search feature. Such pages are not helpful to Google and can create infinite numbers of URLs.