Trailing Slash SEO: Does /page vs /page/ Matter?
Short answer: Google treats /page and /page/ as two different URLs, but it has no preference between them. What matters is consistency. Pick one form, link to it, list only it in your sitemap, and 301-redirect the other form to it. If both currently return 200 with the same content, that’s not an emergency: Google calls it “perfectly legitimate”, and its indexing often sorts it out. A redirect is just cleaner.
What Google actually says
Google’s post “To slash or not to slash” (Search Central blog, 2010) is still the clearest source:
- Google treats each URL separately, with or without a trailing slash, file or directory.
- Different content on the two versions is allowed, but confusing for users, so most sites serve the same page on both.
- If one version redirects to the other, that’s ideal. Google will likely show the version that returns 200, whether the redirect is a 301 or a 302.
- If both return 200, you can fix it or leave it. Google says its indexing process “often handles this case”.
- The root URL is special:
https://example.comandhttps://example.com/are the same, and can’t be redirected.
Check what your site does
curl -sI https://example.com/pricing | head -1 curl -sI https://example.com/pricing/ | head -1 # Good: one answers 200, the other 301/308 to it # Fine: both 200, but with a canonical tag pointing to one # Untidy: both 200 and no canonical
How to make it consistent
- Choose one form. Google notes the slash is more conventional for directory-style URLs, but either is fine. Usually you keep whatever your platform already outputs.
- Redirect the other form with a 301 (or 308). Google names rel="canonical" as a strong alternative if a redirect isn’t possible.
- Link to the chosen form in menus, content and canonical tags.
- List only the chosen form in your sitemap. Google’s post says to include the preferred version and not the duplicate.
Where the setting lives
- WordPress: the permalink structure in Settings → Permalinks decides it; WordPress redirects the other form.
- Next.js: the
trailingSlashoption innext.config.js(off by default, so URLs have no slash and the slash form redirects). - Static hosts and generators (Hugo, Gatsby, Netlify, Vercel and others) have their own trailing-slash setting. Set it once, deliberately.
Mixed slashes in your sitemap
This is the most common way the problem shows up. Your sitemap lists /blog/ while your site redirects it to /blog, or lists some URLs with a slash and some without. Each entry that redirects is a URL you’re asking Google to index that isn’t the final page. In Search Console it shows up as Page with redirect for submitted URLs.
The fix is at the source: build the sitemap from the same routing your site uses, so it outputs exactly the form that returns 200. The free sitemap checker flags mixed trailing slashes across your sitemap and tests 30 URLs live, so redirecting entries show up immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Is a trailing slash better for SEO?
No. Google has no preference. Its advice is to pick one version and use it consistently. A trailing slash is the usual convention for directory-style URLs, but either works.
Does Google treat /page and /page/ as different URLs?
Yes. Google says it treats each URL separately, whether it has a trailing slash or not. If both return the same content, they are duplicates of each other.
Is it a problem if both versions return 200?
Not a serious one. Google calls it "perfectly legitimate" and says its indexing often handles the duplicate. Redirecting one to the other is still cleaner, and saves crawling.
What about the home page?
For the root URL, https://example.com and https://example.com/ are the same thing. There is nothing to redirect.
Should my sitemap use the slash or not?
Use exactly the version that returns 200 and that you link to. Never mix the two, and never list a URL that redirects.