Will properly encoded & signs hurt or help me?

[sonic22]

Hello friends,

Will properly encoding a url hurt my ranking after having it improperly coded? I want to change my & symbols to &

If I go from:
http://www.example.com/product.php?attachment=pins&model=cool

To:
http://www.example.com/product.php?attachment=pins\&model=cool

Will I get hurt if I make the leap?

[Shaman-Das-khatri]

Properly encoding a URL will not hurt your ranking. In fact, it is a good practice to properly encode URLs because it can help ensure that they are properly interpreted by web browsers and other systems.

The & symbol is used to separate parameters in a URL. When a URL is not properly encoded, the & symbol can be interpreted as the start of a new parameter, which can cause the URL to be incorrectly interpreted. By encoding the & symbol as &, you can ensure that the URL is properly interpreted and that all of the parameters are correctly associated with the correct values.

There is no risk of being penalized or otherwise negatively impacted in terms of search rankings by properly encoding a URL. It is simply good practice to ensure that your URLs are properly formatted and can be correctly interpreted by the systems that use them.

[sonic22]

@Tom-Capper

Thanks! I dodged a bullet. I was going to change all my urls with an & to & the other day, but I decided to ask here first. I'm glad I did. These are very old urls too, maybe 15 years old. I'll just let it be, they rank great.

[Tom.Capper]

@sonic22

Changing URLs in any way will hurt your rankings - the process of redirecting the old URL to the new one causes a loss of equity which then has to gradually be rebuilt.

That said, for new URLs, I would say the only relevant consideration is how the URL will appear in search results and browsers as readable, or not, to human users.