Are long URLs a turn off?

According to the Marketing Sherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008 long URLs are on the nose.

“What we discovered was that long URLs actually work as a deterrent and stop viewers from doing what they’re supposed to do (click!). Instead, viewers spend time trying to decipher what’s in the URL itself. Those viewing the listing with the long URL actually ended up clicking on the listing immediately after it 2.5 times more than those viewing the listing with the short URL…”

So to rephrase, if your website has long URLs it’s likely that people seeing it in Google will skip right over your site and click on the site after yours.

Here’s an example of a long complicated URL: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/12454-64287-89301-321860-f50-1844701.html

Here’s an example of a good URL: http://www.harrisma.com/promotions/promo_hp_compaq_dx2200.html

This is a serious problem for many content management systems that generate long complicated URLs. If you’re using a content management system, make sure the URLs it generates are people friendly. If they are people friendly, then they’re likely to be search engine friendly as well.

Related posts:

1. We’re number one in Google for number one in Google :-)
2. Do you need a Content Management System?