Rank Math URL length: why your domain counts toward 75 characters

Doing the character math

Because the whole URL is counted, your domain sets how much room is left for the slug. Some examples for the same article:

The homepage of the long domain alone is 43 characters, so every slug on that site has about 32 characters to work with. The permalink structure adds more: a date-based structure like /2026/09/30/ costs 11 characters on every post, and a category in the path costs its own length plus a slash.

Rank Math also analyzes category archives, and there the default category base adds category/, another 9 characters, to every archive URL.

Why 75, and what Google says

Rank Math's knowledge base argues that shorter URLs tend to rank better and that long ones can look keyword-stuffed. The 75 character line is the plugin's own threshold; it is not a figure from Google.

Google's guidance on URL structure asks for simple, descriptive URLs with readable words, and warns about overly complex URLs, such as those with many parameters, mainly because they can create crawling problems. It does not give a character limit. Googlers have said URL length is not something to worry about for ranking, and Google often shows a breadcrumb path in results rather than the full URL.

There are practical reasons to prefer short URLs anyway. They are easier to read aloud, paste into messages and remember, and they are less likely to be truncated in emails and social posts.

Shortening that is worth doing

In order of effort and risk:

1. Trim the slug on new posts. Drop filler words and keep the core topic. /how-to-choose-a-burr-grinder-for-espresso-at-home/ becomes /burr-grinder-for-espresso/. No redirects needed before publishing.
2. Avoid dates in the permalink structure on new sites. A post name structure keeps URLs short and does not make evergreen posts look old.
3. Remove the category base from archive URLs, if your SEO plugin offers it and redirects the old addresses.

What is usually not worth it is rewriting the slugs of established posts or switching the permalink structure of an existing site just to pass this test. Both mean redirecting every affected URL, and while 301 redirects pass signals, the move introduces risk for a benefit Google has not confirmed. If you do it, plan the redirects before you change anything; see change permalinks without losing SEO.

Leave the test failing on sites with long domain names where any descriptive slug pushes past 75, and on pages whose precise title genuinely needs more words.

One shortcut to avoid is abbreviation. Cutting /wordpress-redirect-plugins/ to /wp-redir-plugins/ saves a few characters and passes the test, but the URL stops being readable, which was the point of keeping it short in the first place.

Shorter URLs with Hydrogen SEO

Hydrogen SEO's per-post score does not measure URL length. Two features help with the fixes above:

• Strip Category Base in general settings removes /category/ from category links and sends a 301 redirect from each old address, keeping query strings. If you import from Rank Math, its strip-category-base setting carries over into this switch.
• Auto Redirection in the Redirection Manager adds a 301 automatically when you change the slug of a published post, page or term.

For writing slugs in the first place, try the URL slug generator. Whether the slug contains your keyword is a separate Rank Math test, covered in focus keyword in the URL.