Google: Keep URL Length Shorter Than 2,000 Characters

Mar 7, 2014 - 8:45 am 24 — by

urlSEOs obsess about the smallest things, even how long is too long for a URL.

A Google Webmaster Help thread has SEOs and webmasters asking how long can they go for a URL. Google actually answered the question.

John Mueller of Google said, while there is "no theoretical length limit" and they can go forever, Google does recommend you keep it under 2,000 characters. Google's John Mueller wrote:

As far as I know, there's no theoretical length limit, but we recommend keeping URLs shorter than 2000 characters to keep things manageable.

It is interesting cause DoubleClick, a Google company, maxes out on 2,000 characters in a URL. It seems the GET method maxes out on 2,000 characters for a URL and that Internet Explorer can't go beyond 2,000.

If you are unsure if 2,000 characters in URLs is too much, this is what it looks like:

https://www.seroundtable.com/google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219-google-url-characters-18219123.html

So it isn't easy going all the way to 2,000 characters in a URL.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Ads

Google Ads Performance Max Page Feeds Updated

Nov 11, 2026 - 7:11 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Brand Lists Global Brand Library

Nov 11, 2026 - 7:05 am
Legal Search Issues

Google Loses Another Round in Legal Battle Against SerpApi Over Scraping

Nov 10, 2026 - 7:09 pm
ChatGPT

Businesses in ChatGPT Business Hub Live With Click Data

Nov 10, 2026 - 1:45 pm
Google Updates

Google November 2026 Core Update Is Rolling Out

Nov 10, 2026 - 1:25 pm
Google

Gemini 4 Carbon Available In Google Search AI Mode

Nov 10, 2026 - 11:50 am
Previous Story: Google Updates The AdWords Express Stats Dashboard