Fix Double Slash in URLs Error in WordPress

Updated 10/30/2024, Posted 10/30/2024 by James Parsons James Parsons •0 Comments

Some analytics and SEO suites will trigger errors if you're linking to pages that have two slashes. In Ahrefs, this shows up as a "Double slash in URL" error. Google says these are usually related to a bug in a website's code.

So, they're not good for your SEO and they should be fixed. Example, this should only have one slash:

  • domain.com/blog//your-post

WordPress should already redirect these automatically. But that doesn't change the fact that you're still linking to these erroneously:

  1. You're still linking to a 301 redirect (possibly on your own site) which is bad practice.
  2. Your link still contains an error; it has two slashes in it instead of 1.

I wrote some simple code to replace these errors on your entire site with one simple fix. Just plop this at the bottom of your theme's functions.php file:

// Cleans up double slashes in URLs within the main content area for better output formatting

function clean_double_slashes_in_content($content) {
    return preg_replace_callback(
        '#(https?://[^/\s]+)(/+)#i',
        function($matches) {
            return $matches[1] . '/';
        },
        $content
    );
}
add_filter('the_content', 'clean_double_slashes_in_content');

Now any links that have this error will be fixed!

A couple notes:

  • This excludes the double slash in http:// and https:// - those double slashes are obviously important and needed. So it won't remove those.
  • This only changes the issue on the front-end of your site; what your visitors and search engines will see. It doesn't actually make bulk updates to your database or update the link in the WordPress post editor. That means this fix is also completely reversible if you decide to remove this code later.

As long as you have this fixed enabled, you no longer have to worry about these hurting your SEO and you'll see those errors drop off.

Please let me know if this helped you! I'd also like to hear what you think about this fix and if you have any questions!

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Written by James Parsons

Hi, I'm James Parsons! I founded Content Powered, a content marketing agency where I partner with businesses to help them grow through strategic content. With nearly twenty years of SEO and content marketing experience, I've had the joy of helping companies connect with their audiences in meaningful ways. I started my journey by building and growing several successful eCommerce companies solely through content marketing, and I love to share what I've learned along the way. You'll find my thoughts and insights in publications like Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Journal, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc, among others. I've been fortunate to work with wonderful clients ranging from growing businesses to Fortune 500 companies like eBay and Expedia, and helping them shape their content strategies. My focus is on creating optimized content that resonates and converts. I'd love to connect – the best way to contact me is by scheduling a call or by email.