To optimise an online shop for search, treat category pages as the pages that win broad searches and product pages as the pages that win specific ones. Give each a clean, stable URL, unique and useful content, consistent canonical signals and structured data, and decide deliberately which filtered URLs should exist in Google’s index. Most e-commerce SEO problems come from duplicate and near-empty URLs, not from missing keywords.
Category pages versus product pages
The two page types answer different questions, so they need different content.
| Page type | Typical search | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Broad: “stainless steel water bottles” | A clear heading, short helpful intro, scannable product grid, links to sub-categories, buying guidance |
| Product | Specific: a model, size or use | Accurate title, full description, images, price and availability, shipping and returns, reviews if genuine |
A category page should help someone choose, not just list items. A short introduction that explains the range, plus a few lines on how to pick between options, usually does more than a wall of keyword text. Google’s own guidance says that content quality likely has more effect than any other tactic, and that keyword stuffing violates its spam policies (Google SEO Starter Guide).
Get the URL structure right first
Google’s ecommerce URL guidance is practical and specific (Designing a URL structure for ecommerce sites). The points that matter most:
- Use descriptive words in URL paths rather than bare numeric IDs.
- Use
key=valuequery parameters (for example?color=green) and do not repeat the same parameter. - Do not link to temporary parameters such as session IDs or tracking codes. Link to persistent URLs.
- Use one URL form consistently across internal links, sitemaps and canonical tags.
- Add self-referencing canonical tags to indexable pages and include those URLs in your sitemap.
Handling product variants
If a t-shirt comes in several colours, each variant can have its own URL, either as a path segment or a query parameter. Google’s guidance is that when variants use optional query parameters, the URL without the parameter should be the canonical one, and variant pages with their own URLs should point their canonical tag to the main product URL.
The practical decision is whether people search for variants as separate products. If they do, a distinct page with its own content may earn traffic. If they do not, consolidate to one product page with a variant selector.
Faceted navigation: decide what should be indexed
Filters such as colour, size, brand and price can generate a huge number of URL combinations. Google notes that crawling faceted URLs can consume substantial server resources and slow the discovery of new pages (Managing faceted navigation).
If you do not need filtered URLs indexed, Google lists these options:
- Disallow crawling of filter URL patterns in robots.txt, while allowing product pages and the unfiltered listing.
- Use
rel="canonical"to point filtered URLs at a simpler version, which may reduce crawling over time but is less effective long term. - Apply
rel="nofollow"to links to filtered pages, remembering that every link to that URL needs it.
If you do need some facets indexed (for example “red running shoes” has real search demand), use & as the parameter separator, keep filter order consistent in path-based filters, and return a 404 for combinations with no results rather than redirecting to a generic page.
A sensible rule: index a facet only when it has genuine demand, a meaningful number of products and unique on-page content. Block the rest.
Empty and thin categories
Google advises against linking to or indexing category pages with no useful content. For an empty category, a noindex robots meta tag is suitable, and if the category is removed from browsing automatically, returning a 404 may be appropriate.
Structured data for products
Product and ProductGroup markup helps Google learn more about your products, and Google’s guidance advises sharing return policies on your site as well (Structured data for ecommerce). Many platforms add this through an extension or plugin, so check what your platform already outputs before adding more. Markup should match what a visitor can actually see on the page: price, availability and reviews included.
A short audit checklist
- Every indexable page has a unique title and a meta description focused on that page.
- Product URLs are stable and descriptive, with one canonical version.
- Variants and filters follow a written indexing policy.
- Empty categories are noindexed or removed.
- Sitemaps list only canonical, indexable URLs.
- Product pages carry accurate structured data, images, delivery and returns information.
- Internal links connect categories, sub-categories and products in a logical hierarchy.
Be patient with results. Google notes that changes can take from hours to months to appear, so wait a few weeks before judging an update. If you are rebuilding a shop, plan URLs carefully first: see how to plan a redesign without losing SEO value. Once traffic arrives, what makes a business website convert covers turning visits into sales, and landing pages for campaign traffic helps when you run paid campaigns to the same products.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact’s Growth team works on search visibility and SEO, and its Technology team builds and redesigns business websites. If you would like help auditing a shop’s structure, see /growth and /technology, or get in touch.
Sources
- Google SEO Starter Guide, Google Search Central
- Designing a URL structure for ecommerce sites, Google Search Central
- Managing crawling of faceted navigation URLs, Google Search Central
- Include structured data relevant to ecommerce, Google Search Central
