Study first
Review the ideas behind the questions
Review how ecommerce pages are connected and named before starting. Focus on crawlable links, product URLs, pagination, and filter pages.
Make products reachable through links
Google needs crawlable paths to product and category pages. Search boxes and hidden scripts are not a substitute for links.
- Pages should be reachable through site navigation, such as menus to categories, categories to subcategories, and subcategories to product pages.
- Googlebot generally does not submit searches into a site search box while crawling.
- Googlebot should find links through HTML links with `a href` tags.
In Practice
Category paths matter
A product that is only reachable from search results inside the site can be missed by crawling. Link it from a browse path or another crawlable source.
Sitemaps and feeds are backups
When every product cannot be linked from pages, a sitemap or Merchant Center feed can help expose URLs that crawling might miss.
Common mistakes
Putting products behind a search box and assuming Googlebot will search for them.
Create crawlable links to products that should be indexed, or use a sitemap or Merchant Center feed when links cannot cover everything.
Q&A
What kind of link should a beginner look for in navigation?
Look for normal HTML links with `a href` tags that Googlebot can locate.
Can a site search box replace category and product links?
No. Googlebot generally does not submit searches into a search box while crawling.
Choose URLs Google can separate
Ecommerce URLs often differ by variant, page number, sort order, or temporary parameters. The URL pattern affects how Google crawls the site.
- Fragments should not be used to show different product content because Google does not use fragments in indexing.
- Each product variant should be identifiable by a separate URL, such as a path segment or query parameter.
- Avoid internally linking to temporary parameters such as session IDs, tracking codes, user-relative values, or current-time values.
In Practice
Use stable variant URLs
A color or size that changes the product content should have a URL Google can tell apart, not only a page fragment.
Keep internal links consistent
Use the same URL form across internal links, sitemaps, and canonical tags so Google sees one clear version.
Common mistakes
Using a page fragment like `#green` as the only way to show a green product variant.
Give the variant a separate path or query-parameter URL that Google can identify.
Q&A
What is the safe beginner choice for variant URLs?
Use a separate URL, such as a path segment or query parameter, for each variant that needs to be identified.
Why are session IDs risky in internal links?
They can create short-lived or duplicate URLs that make crawling less clean.
Make long lists crawlable
Category lists, reviews, and search results may load in pieces. The page design should still give Google crawlable paths to the content.
- Google generally crawls URLs found in HTML links and does not click buttons or trigger JavaScript functions that require user actions.
- Each page in a paginated sequence should have a unique URL, such as a page-number query parameter.
- For filter or alternative-sort URLs, the team can block unwanted variants from indexing with noindex or discourage crawling with robots.txt.
In Practice
Buttons are not crawl paths
A Load more button can help users, but Google still needs URLs in links, a sitemap, or a feed to find all products.
Do not canonical every page to page one
Each paginated page needs its own canonical URL because Google treats URLs in the sequence as separate pages.
Common mistakes
Making every paginated category page canonical to the first page.
Give each page in the sequence a unique URL and its own canonical URL.
Q&A
What is the beginner check for an infinite-scroll product list?
Check that Google can find crawlable URLs through links, a sitemap, or a Merchant Center feed.
What URL choice fits page two of a category list?
Give page two its own URL, such as a page-number query parameter.