URL parameters are the parts after a question mark: ?utm_source=instagram, ?color=red, ?sort=price. They are useful, but can create many versions of the same page.
Common parameter types
| Type | Example | Changes content? |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking | ?utm_source=... | No |
| Sorting | ?sort=price | Order only |
| Filtering | ?size=m | Yes, subset |
| Session IDs | ?sessionid=... | No |
| Pagination | ?page=2 | Yes |
How to handle them
- Canonical tags pointing to the clean URL for tracking and sorting variants.
- Do not link internally to UTM-tagged URLs; use UTMs only on external campaigns. Build them with our UTM link builder.
- Avoid session IDs in URLs.
- Index only valuable filter pages.
Inspect URLs
Break down parameters with our URL parser.
Read duplicate content.
Want the full picture? This article is part of SEO: the complete guide, our in-depth guide with everything in one place.
