URL Length Checker
Check URL length and analyze SEO-friendliness. Measures character count, path length, query strings, and checks against platform limits and SEO best practices.
Enter any URL to analyze its length and SEO-friendliness. The tool will automatically add https:// if no protocol is specified.
Enter a URL above to analyze its length and SEO metrics
Table of Contents
What is a URL Length Checker?
A URL Length Checker measures how long a URL is and tells you whether it's:
- ✅ Search-engine friendly - Optimized for SEO and SERP display
- ⚠️ Risky for SERP display or sharing - May be truncated in search results
- ❌ Too long for best practices - Exceeds recommended limits
It focuses on character count, byte length, and real-world limits across SEO, browsers, and platforms. URL length is a critical factor in SEO because search engines like Google typically display only the first 60-75 characters of a URL in search results.
Long URLs can also cause issues with:
- Social media sharing (platforms have character limits)
- Browser compatibility (some browsers have URL length limits)
- User experience (long URLs look unprofessional and are harder to remember)
- Email clients (some truncate long URLs in emails)
Why URL Length Matters
URL length impacts several critical aspects of your website's performance and user experience:
SEO Impact
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs): Google typically displays only the first 60-75 characters of a URL in search results. If your URL is longer, important keywords may be cut off, reducing click-through rates.
Keyword Visibility: Shorter URLs ensure that your most important keywords are visible in search results, improving the likelihood of clicks.
Optimal Length: SEO best practices recommend keeping URLs under 100 characters for optimal performance.
User Experience
Readability: Shorter URLs are easier to read, remember, and share. Long URLs can look cluttered and unprofessional.
Trust: Clean, concise URLs appear more trustworthy and professional than long, parameter-heavy URLs.
Sharing: Short URLs are easier to share via email, social media, or messaging platforms.
Technical Considerations
Browser Limits: Different browsers have different URL length limits. While most modern browsers support very long URLs, some older browsers or specific implementations may have issues.
Server Limits: Web servers like Apache and Nginx have default URL length limits that can cause issues with extremely long URLs.
Platform Limits: Social media platforms, email clients, and other services have their own URL length restrictions.
What the Tool Calculates
Core Metrics
- Total characters - The entire URL length in characters
- Byte length - The URL size in bytes (important for encoding)
- Path length - Length of the path portion (after domain)
- Query string length - Length of query parameters (?param=value)
- Fragment length - Length of the hash fragment (#section)
SEO-Specific Checks
- Google SERP safe length - Checks if URL fits within the ~60-75 character display limit in search results
- Optimal URL length for SEO - Verifies if URL is ≤100 characters (SEO best practice)
- Keyword stuffing detection - Identifies if words are repeated excessively in the URL path
- Excessive parameters - Flags URLs with too many query parameters or tracking parameters (utm_, ref=, etc.)
Platform Limits
The tool checks your URL against various platform limits:
| Platform | Max Length |
|---|---|
| Google Chrome | ~2,083 characters |
| Internet Explorer | 2,083 characters |
| Apache (default) | ~8,000 characters |
| Nginx | ~8,192 characters |
| Twitter/X | ~4,096 characters |
| ~2,000 characters | |
| Email clients | Varies (often 72-78 characters per line) |
SEO Best Practices
Recommended URL Length
- Optimal: ≤60 characters (fully visible in SERPs)
- Acceptable: 60-75 characters (may be truncated in SERPs)
- Maximum: ≤100 characters (SEO best practice)
- Avoid: >100 characters (poor SEO practice)
URL Structure Tips
- Keep it concise - Remove unnecessary words and parameters. Use only essential keywords.
- Use hyphens - Separate words with hyphens (-) rather than underscores (_) for better readability.
- Avoid keyword stuffing - Don't repeat keywords multiple times in the URL. One instance is enough.
- Limit query parameters - Keep query strings short and avoid excessive tracking parameters when possible.
- Use descriptive paths - Make URLs descriptive but concise. Include relevant keywords naturally.
- Remove unnecessary fragments - Hash fragments (#section) are often not necessary for SEO and can be removed if not needed.
Common Issues to Avoid
- Too many tracking parameters - URLs with multiple utm_ parameters, ref=, source=, etc., can become very long and look unprofessional.
- Nested directory structures - Deeply nested paths like /category/subcategory/subsubcategory/page can quickly exceed optimal length.
- Long product names - Including full product names in URLs can make them excessively long. Consider using shorter identifiers or slugs.
- Date strings - Including full dates (YYYY-MM-DD) adds 10 characters. Use shorter formats when possible.
Platform Limits Explained
Browser Limits
Chrome and Internet Explorer: Both browsers have a practical limit of approximately 2,083 characters for URLs. While modern browsers can handle longer URLs, this is a safe limit to ensure compatibility.
Other Browsers: Most modern browsers (Firefox, Safari, Edge) can handle longer URLs, but it's still best practice to keep URLs under 2,000 characters for maximum compatibility.
Server Limits
Apache: The default limit is around 8,000 characters, but this can be configured. Most shared hosting providers use default settings.
Nginx: Default limit is 8,192 characters, which can also be configured if needed.
Social Media Platforms
Twitter/X: URLs can be up to 4,096 characters, but shorter is always better for sharing.
Facebook: URLs should be under 2,000 characters for optimal sharing.
Email Clients
Email clients often wrap or truncate long URLs. While there's no universal standard, keeping URLs under 72-78 characters per line ensures they display properly in most email clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
For optimal SEO, URLs should be 60 characters or less to ensure full visibility in Google search results. URLs between 60-75 characters are acceptable but may be truncated. URLs longer than 100 characters are generally considered too long and may negatively impact SEO.
URL length itself is not a direct ranking factor, but it affects user experience and click-through rates. Shorter URLs that are fully visible in search results tend to get more clicks, which can indirectly impact rankings. Additionally, shorter URLs are easier to share and remember, improving overall user engagement.
If your URL is too long, it may be truncated in search results, social media posts, or email clients. This can hide important keywords and make the URL look unprofessional. Additionally, very long URLs may cause issues with some browsers, servers, or platforms that have URL length limits.
Query parameters are sometimes necessary (for filtering, tracking, etc.), but they add to URL length. If possible, use clean URLs without query parameters. If you must use parameters, keep them minimal and avoid excessive tracking parameters. Consider using URL shortening services for URLs with many parameters that need to be shared.
To shorten URLs:
- Remove unnecessary words from the path
- Use shorter slugs or identifiers
- Remove or minimize query parameters
- Remove hash fragments if not needed
- Use URL rewriting to create cleaner paths
- Consider using a URL shortener for sharing purposes
Yes, the tool detects keyword stuffing by analyzing the URL path for repeated words. If the same word appears three or more times in the path segments, it's flagged as potential keyword stuffing. This helps you create cleaner, more natural URLs that are better for SEO.
Character count is the number of characters in the URL as displayed. Byte length is the actual size of the URL in bytes, which can be different if the URL contains special characters or non-ASCII characters that require multiple bytes to encode. For most URLs using only ASCII characters, character count and byte length are the same.