Google: Do Not Use Commas, Brackets Or Non-Standard URL Encoding For Faceted Navigation

Jan 18, 2022 - 7:41 am 2 by

Google Facetted Navigation

Google's John Mueller confirmed that the search company's 2014 guidance with faceted navigation remains true today - do not use non-standard URL encoding. That means do not use commas, brackets or other non-standard URL encoding in your URL structure.

Instead, use ampersands, equal signs, hyphens or other supported and standard URL encoded URLs for your fascinated navigation. This guidance is listed in Google's blog post from 2014, here is a screenshot:

click for full size

John said on Twitter it is "still a bad idea" to use non-standard URL encoding for this purpose:

I still see many sites using these methods - I wonder why...

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 28, 2025

Apr 28, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Deposition: Google Used Search Signals & Data To Train Gemini AI Models

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Copilot Answer More Videos Section

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests New Shipping, Returns & Payment Section In Retail Knowledge Panel

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:21 am

Apple Updates Applebot Docs: Explaining Applebot-Extended vs Applebot

Apr 28, 2025 - 7:11 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console API Data Stuck On April 22

Apr 28, 2025 - 5:56 am
Previous Story: Google Business Profile Edit Large Overlay In Search Results