What is the best URL designed for a product page?

[gallreddy]

Should a product page URL include the category name and subcategory name in it?

Most ecommerce platforms it seems are designed to do have the category and sub-category names included in the URL followed by the product name.

If that is the case and the same product is listed in more then 1 category and sub-category then will that product have 2 unique urls and as a result be treated as 2 different product pages by google?   And then since it is the same product in two places on the site won't google treat those 2 pages as having duplicate content?

SO is it best to not have the category and sub-category names in the URL of a product page?

And lastly, is there a preferred character limit for a URL to be less than in size?

Thanks!

[gallreddy]

Thanks Ryan.  Very helpful.

[gallreddy]

Thanks Tom. Perfect.

[ArizonaFisherman]

A lot of retail shopping carts still do not have the canonical tag feature which I agree is the best method. If you're on a somewhat modern cart there should be a custom  url field wen entering the product in the admin area. You can set the custom url for that product then select all the categories for it to fall under. The url will then appear the same on the front of the site under every category.

[RyanKent]

If that is the case and the same product is listed in more then 1 category and sub-category then will that product have 2 unique urls and as a result be treated as 2 different product pages by google?   And then since it is the same product in two places on the site won't google treat those 2 pages as having duplicate content?

Correct. You should decide which category is the most popular and then use the canonical tag so all other versions of the page point to the main page.

SO is it best to not have the category and sub-category names in the URL of a product page?

Using the canonical tag is one option. Using the same product page for both categories is another option.

And lastly, is there a preferred character limit for a URL to be less than in size?

Technically speaking URLs can be over 2000 characters. Practically speaking, the shorter the better for user readability and other factors. Dr Pete covers this topic well: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/should-i-change-my-urls-for-seo