A query string is the portion of a URL that comes after a question mark, used to pass additional parameters and data to a webpage. It's commonly used for tracking, filtering, or search functionality — `?category=shoes&sort=price` is a typical example.
Common Uses for Query Strings
- Tracking marketing campaigns through UTM parameters
- Filtering and sorting product listings on an eCommerce site
- Passing search terms directly through a site's internal search functionality
- Managing pagination on certain sites (`?page=2`)
Query Strings and SEO
Search engines can sometimes treat URLs with different query strings as entirely separate pages, potentially creating duplicate content issues. Canonical tags help address this by clearly telling search engines which specific version of a URL should actually be indexed.
A Simple Example
In the URL `https://example.com/shoes?color=blue&size=10`, everything after the question mark is the query string — `color=blue` and `size=10` are two separate parameters, each passing a specific piece of filtering information to the page.
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