Addresses are very long
In the reportInternal URLs exceed the configured length limit
internal_url_over_length · Review item
This appears when a link on your site points to an address longer than a set number of characters, 115 by default, counting the domain and the query. Long addresses are harder to read and share. Shorten new addresses where you can.
Severity: Notice. It is a notice about readability: 115 characters is our threshold, not a Google Search cutoff.
Why it matters
Screaming Frog notes that addresses over 115 characters are generally not a problem, that people prefer shorter URLs, and that changing existing addresses for SEO alone is often not worth it.
What to do
- Look at the finding: it shows the address, its length and up to ten pages that link to it.
- For new pages, keep the path short: a few meaningful words, no repeated folders, no parameters that do not change the page.
- Change an existing address only with a permanent redirect from the old one.
When to leave it as it is: if the address is established and works, you can leave it: a long address is not an error.
What we read
We read the <a href> and <area href> links in the HTML of each crawled page, without running JavaScript, resolve them against a <base href> if there is one, and keep the links to your own host, with or without www.; other hosts and subdomains are left out. This rule makes no extra request for a linked URL; the audit may already have crawled it.
An address is reported when it is longer than the set number of characters, 115 by default, counted over the whole address as we normalise it: scheme, domain, path and query, without the fragment. The limit is part of your audit settings and is recorded with each audit. Each address is its own finding, listed with the pages that link to it.
Only pages that answered 200 with complete HTML are read. A page we cannot read reliably without a browser, for example one with unsupported SVG markup or a <select> menu, and a page with a link we cannot resolve, such as one with a space in it, are marked as not checked for all the address checks.
Example & evidence
Illustrative example — one link, not a live audit.
https://bakery.example/ contains a link to:
https://bakery.example/shop/cakes/celebration-cakes/birthday-cakes/chocolate-birthday-cakes/large-chocolate-birthday-cake-with-candles/The address has 135 characters, more than the default of 115, so it is reported with the page that links to it.
A possible correction for a new page: https://bakery.example/cakes/chocolate-birthday-cake/.
Confirm & check again
Check for yourself: paste the address into any character counter, domain and query included.
Check again: Full audit — run a new audit of the site. The finding for this address closes when every page that linked to it is crawled again, read in full, and no longer links to it. A linking page that is not crawled again, or cannot be read, keeps the finding open. A higher limit can also remove this notice on a new audit if the measured address no longer reaches its trigger and all prior referring pages are fully rechecked; the finding records its original limit.
Limits & sources
The length is counted on our normalised form of the address, which can differ slightly from what a browser shows. The check reads links as written in the HTML and makes no extra request for those addresses, does not follow redirects, and does not compare them with other versions of the page. Links added by JavaScript are not seen.
Confidence: High because the address is measured directly.
Sources
- Screaming Frog, Issues — URL — lists the URL issue category; the category page does not itself state the 115-character threshold. The linked over-115-character issue page below provides that context. Checked 29 September 2026.
- Screaming Frog, URL: Over 115 Characters — defines its over-115-character check, notes that long URLs are generally not an issue and that people prefer concise URLs, and advises against changing URLs for SEO alone without reason. Checked 29 September 2026.
Editorial review: 29 September 2026