URL Structure Audit Checklist

Here’s a comprehensive list of questions to ask for each area in your technical SEO audit related to URL structure and optimisation:

Multiple Slashes
(//) in URLs

  • Are there URLs containing multiple consecutive slashes (//) that could create duplicate content issues?
  • Do multiple slashes return 200 OK instead of a 404 or proper 301 redirect, potentially causing indexation issues?
  • Are there internal links pointing to URLs with multiple slashes that could waste crawl budget and confuse search engines?
  • Are URLs with multiple slashes mistakenly included in the XML sitemap, signaling them as valid pages to search engines?
  • Are multiple slashes present in canonical URLs or hreflang tags, risking incorrect handling of preferred URLs or language targeting?
  • Do URLs with multiple slashes have valuable backlinks, requiring proper redirection to preserve link equity?
  • Are multiple slashes causing soft 404s, which can reduce crawl efficiency and impact search visibility?

Spaces in URL

  • Are spaces affecting how URLs are shared or copied?
  • Are there URLs that contain spaces (%20 encoding), which may lead to broken links or misinterpretation in browsers?
  • Are spaces causing crawlability or indexing issues by creating duplicate or inaccessible URLs?
  • Should spaces be replaced with hyphens (–) to improve readability and follow SEO best practices?
  • Are spaces affecting how URLs are shared or copied, potentially breaking links in emails, chats, or social media?

Broken Bookmarks (#fragment)

  • Are there URLs containing broken fragment identifiers (#section) that fail to resolve correctly, potentially causing user confusion or navigation issues?
  • Are there internal links pointing to non-existent fragment identifiers that may reduce crawl efficiency or create poor user experience?
  • Are fragments being misused for critical page content that should instead have dedicated URLs to ensure proper indexing and link equity?
  • Are fragment URLs causing analytics tracking errors, misattributing visits or inflating session counts?

Non-ASCII Characters
in URLs

  • Are there URLs containing special characters, accented letters, or non-ASCII symbols that may cause broken links or accessibility issues?
  • Are non-ASCII characters being correctly encoded (e.g., UTF-8 or Punycode for internationalized domains) to prevent indexing errors?
  • Are these characters resulting in duplicate content issues due to alternate encodings?
  • Are non-ASCII URLs being properly indexed and displayed in search results without errors?

Uppercase Letters
in URLs

  • Are there URLs containing uppercase letters that could cause duplicate content issues if mixed-case URLs are treated separately?
  • Are uppercase and lowercase versions of the same URL resolving to different pages, risking indexing conflicts?
  • Are 301 redirects in place to enforce lowercase URLs for consistency and improved link equity?
  • Are internal links mistakenly pointing to mixed-case URLs, increasing the risk of crawl inefficiencies or fragmented ranking signals?

Repetitive Path Segments

  • Are there URLs with unnecessary or duplicate path segments (e.g., /category/category/product) that create indexing bloat and dilute SEO value?
  • Are repetitive path segments generating unnecessary URL variations, risking duplicate content issues?
  • Can redundant segments be removed to improve URL readability and crawl efficiency?
  • Are these repetitive paths negatively affecting your internal linking structure, making navigation less intuitive for users and search engines?

Internal Search
Pages Indexing

  • Are internal search result pages being indexed, potentially creating thin content or duplicate content issues?
  • Are noindex tags or robots.txt rules in place to prevent search engines from indexing internal search pages?
  • Are indexed search pages producing a large number of low-value URLs (thin or duplicate content), risking crawl budget wastage?
  • Are search result pages diluting ranking signals by fragmenting relevant content across multiple URLs?

URLs Containing
Query Parameters

  • Are URLs with query parameters generating duplicate content, reducing SEO effectiveness?
  • Are query parameters creating excessive URL variations that impact crawl efficiency?
  • Are canonical tags correctly implemented to consolidate parameterized URLs and signal the preferred version?
  • Are unnecessary parameters, such as tracking codes or session IDs, being indexed and cluttering search results?

Google Analytics (GA)
Tracking Parameters
in URLs

  • Are URLs containing tracking parameters (e.g., utm_source, utm_medium) being indexed, causing duplicate content issues?
  • Are canonical tags correctly set to prevent tracking URL variations from appearing in search results?
  • Are tracking parameters skewing analytics data, causing inconsistencies in reporting and performance evaluation?
  • Are internal links using tracking URLs, unintentionally wasting crawl budget or splitting ranking signals?

URLs Containing
Underscores (_)
Instead of
Hyphens (-)

  • Are underscores (_) being used in URLs instead of hyphens (-), risking poor SEO performance?
  • Are search engines treating words separated by underscores as a single word, reducing keyword relevance?
  • Should underscores be replaced with hyphens to improve readability and search engine interpretation?
  • Are URLs with underscores ranking lower due to improper keyword parsing?

Long URLs

  • Are there URLs that are too long, making them difficult to read, remember, or share?
  • Are long URLs being truncated in search results, reducing their effectiveness in driving clicks?
  • Can long URLs be rewritten to be more concise and user-friendly?
  • Are unnecessary parameters, redundant keywords, or deep folder structures contributing to excessively long URLs?
  • Are lengthy URLs affecting crawlability or making pages harder to prioritise in search results?

International Targeting &
Localisation

  • For multilingual or multi-regional sites, is the URL structure appropriately localised (e.g., using country-specific domains like example.de or subdirectories like example.com/de/)?
  • Are URLs tailored to the language of the target audience, using transliterated or translated words as necessary? Example: For a German product page for black shoes, example.com/de/schuhe-schwarz is used rather than example.com/de/black-shoes

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