Maximum length of a URL for good SEO?

[inhouseninja]

Hi there,

We have a content  database as part of our site and I noticed that the way the database is loaded with new content, it means that the URL’s for these pages are really long, around 100 characters or sometimes more

http://www.xxxyy.org/knowledge-base/documents/word1-word2-word3-word4-word5-word6-word7-word8

Is there a suggted maximum character length for a URL?  Kind of like for title tag where I max out at 69…

Should I truncate the URL’s or at least reduce the numbers of words in them to something less spammy?  Does that make a difference?

Thanks!

[Theo-NL]

There isn't really a maximum or optimal length to a URL (well, technically it is 2048 characters [http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/misc/urllength.html], but I don't think that was the kind of limit you were refering too).

In general it is a good idea to keep the URL as short as possible, but at the same time try to include keywords in it that make it clear to both the user and the search engine what the article is about. As with many things in SEO: try to find the right balance.

[RyanKent]

The longest functional URL that Google will crawl and index is approximately 1855 characters. There are other limits in place from various browsers and other search engines. In short, the technical limitations on URL length far exceed any reasonable usage.

So the only question is the subjective nature of your question's reference to "good seo". On this point I'll agree with Theo. Keep your URL as short as possible while describing the target's content.

If you desire a long analytical discussion on this topic: http://seocollege.org/news/?p=8869

[dignan99]

That would be a serious long tail.