URL content format - Any impact on SEO

[SteveMaguire]

I understand that there is a suggested maximum length for a URL so as not to be penalized by search engines.

I'm wondering if I should if should optimize our ecommerce categories to be descriptive or use abbreviations to help keep the URL length to a minimum?

Our products are segmented into many categories, so many products URL's are pretty long if we go the descriptive route.

I've also heard that removing the category component entirely from a product URL can also be considered.

I'm fairly new to all this SEO stuff, so I'm hoping the community can share their knowledge on the impact of these options.

Cheers,

Steve

[ResslerMotors]

I'm wondering if I should if should optimize our ecommerce categories to be descriptive or use abbreviations to help keep the URL length to a minimum?

What kind of search traffic could your categories generate?  If they do generate a lot, I would just create a landing page specifically for that portion, and then use /short-category/exact-match-best-served-product-phrase

Like:

/shoes/whatever-shoes-kids-are-wearing-these-days