Google Says 75% of Crawl Issues Come from Just Two URL Mistakes

Google has revealed a major insight that website owners and SEO professionals can’t afford to ignore: nearly 75% of crawling and indexing problems come from just two types of URL mistakes.

During a recent episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast, Google Search Advocate Gary Illyes shared findings from Google’s 2025 year-end crawling and indexing report. The message was clear—poor URL management is one of the biggest reasons websites struggle with crawl efficiency, performance, and search visibility.

Why Crawling Issues Are a Serious Problem

When Googlebot wastes time crawling unnecessary or endless URLs, it can create serious technical issues, including:

• Slower website performance
• Increased server load
• Delayed or incomplete indexing
• Confusion around canonical pages
• Reduced organic visibility

In extreme cases, Google’s crawlers can get stuck in infinite URL loops, making recovery slow and costly. As Illyes explained, Google often can’t determine whether a large URL set is valuable until it has already crawled a significant portion of it—by then, the damage may already be done.

The Biggest URL Mistakes Causing Crawl Waste

According to Google’s report, crawl issues typically break down as follows:

1. Faceted Navigation (50%)

Faceted navigation is the biggest culprit. Common on ecommerce websites, it allows users to filter products by size, color, price, brand, and more. The problem? These filters can generate near-infinite URL combinations, all leading to similar or duplicate content.

2. Action Parameters (25%)

Action parameters trigger actions rather than changing page content. Examples include URLs that sort, refresh, or track interactions without providing new value to search engines. Googlebot may crawl these endlessly, wasting crawl budget.

3. Irrelevant Parameters (10%)

These include session IDs, tracking parameters, and UTM tags that don’t change page content but still create unique URLs in Google’s eyes.

4. Plugins and Widgets (5%)

Some third-party plugins and widgets automatically generate URLs that confuse crawlers and create unnecessary indexable paths.

5. Other Edge Cases (2%)

This includes issues like double-encoded URLs and other unusual technical errors that disrupt proper crawling.

Why This Matters for SEO?

A clean, well-controlled URL structure is critical for modern SEO. Without it, even high-quality content may struggle to rank because search engines can’t efficiently crawl or understand your site. By eliminating crawl traps and controlling URL parameters, you can:

• Improve crawl efficiency
• Protect server resources
• Speed up indexing
• Strengthen canonical signals
• Improve overall search performance

If your website relies on filters, parameters, plugins, or tracking URLs, proactive crawl management is no longer optional—it’s essential. Addressing these issues early can prevent serious technical SEO problems and help ensure Google spends its crawl budget on the pages that actually matter.

If you’re unsure whether your site has crawl traps or inefficient URLs, a professional technical SEO audit can uncover hidden issues before they impact rankings.

Crawling inefficiencies can quietly drain your rankings if they’re not addressed early. At Earn SEO, we deliver results-driven New York SEO services that focus on fixing URL issues, crawl traps, and technical barriers that hold websites back. Our team helps search engines navigate your site efficiently, ensuring your most valuable pages are properly indexed and prioritized. Get in touch with us to optimize your site’s crawl health and long-term SEO growth.