URL contains double slashes in path — the fix
This URL contains consecutive forward slashes (//) in the path portion. Most servers serve the same content for both single and double slash versions, creating duplicate content.
Where this fits: crawlability in SEO
Crawlability is whether search engine bots can physically reach and read your pages. Before Google can rank anything, Googlebot has to fetch it: follow links to it, receive a successful response, and parse the HTML. Crawl problems are silent — the page looks fine in a browser while bots hit walls (robots rules, broken chains, server errors, infinite URL spaces). Because everything downstream depends on the crawl, fixing crawlability issues usually unlocks more value per hour than any other SEO work.
Why url contains double slashes in path hurts your rankings
Double slashes create separate URLs that serve identical content, splitting ranking signals between the clean and double-slash versions. While most servers normalize these, search engines may discover and index both variations, diluting link equity.
This is a low-severity issue: a polish item. Fix it in batches during scheduled maintenance; the win is cumulative quality, not a step change.
How to fix it
Fix the links that generate double-slash URLs. Add a server-side rewrite rule to redirect double-slash URLs to their single-slash equivalents with a 301 redirect.
Crawlability best practices
- Keep robots.txt minimal and deliberate — block admin/duplicate spaces, never CSS/JS assets.
- Maintain an XML sitemap that lists only canonical, indexable, 200-status pages, and reference it in robots.txt.
- Keep every important page within 3 clicks of the homepage.
- Return proper status codes: 200 for content, 301 for permanent moves, 410 for gone — never soft-404s.
- Collapse redirect chains to a single hop; update internal links to point at final URLs.
- Keep URL parameters under control — infinite filter/sort combinations burn crawl budget.
The full library: SEO best practices, by category.
Frequently asked questions
What does "URL contains double slashes in path" mean?
This URL contains consecutive forward slashes (//) in the path portion. Most servers serve the same content for both single and double slash versions, creating duplicate content.
Why does url contains double slashes in path matter for SEO?
Double slashes create separate URLs that serve identical content, splitting ranking signals between the clean and double-slash versions. While most servers normalize these, search engines may discover and index both variations, diluting link equity.
How do I fix url contains double slashes in path?
Fix the links that generate double-slash URLs. Add a server-side rewrite rule to redirect double-slash URLs to their single-slash equivalents with a 301 redirect.
How serious is this issue?
This is a low-severity issue: a polish item. Fix it in batches during scheduled maintenance; the win is cumulative quality, not a step change. It belongs to the crawlability family of checks.
How do I find every page affected by this on my site?
Run a free Dr Urls audit: it crawls your site, detects url contains double slashes in path on every affected page, shows example URLs, and generates a ready-to-use fix task. Re-scan after fixing to verify the issue is gone.
Does your site have this issue?
A free Dr Urls audit crawls your site, finds every page affected by url contains double slashes in path, and hands you a ready-made fix task.
Check my site free