designing faceted search urls for seo
one area i have thought about the most in regard to seo is url structure. for instance, when should a url use query parameters vs. a folder/file structure? many consultants will insist on using the latter 100% of the time because it is thought as “crawl friendly” or able to mirror the site’s information architecture. i would argue that either structure is preferred depending on a few details.
when it comes to faceted search systems, i have some thoughts of my own as to which url structure is the most preferred.
faceted search design #1: hide non-essential facets with javascript
if your faceted search system is capable of hiding non-essential facets with javascript, then a url structure consisting of folders, files, and the occasional hash (#) is recommended.
www.example.com/shirts/medium/blue#5-stars
the benefits of this approach include:
- urls can mirror the order keywords are searched in
- fewer duplicate urls preserve crawler bandwidth
- link equity isn’t split amongst multiple urls for the same content
faceted search design #2: block non-essential facets
if javascript isn’t an option, then i recommend to generate urls with parameters that include query parameters.
www.example.com/shirts?color=blue&size=medium
without javascript controlling the faceted search options, crawlers are able to find links to both essential and non-essential urls. instead, use the url parameter tool provided by google and bing or the robots.txt file to block crawling of urls with specific parameters.
bonus tip: url rich snippets in google
not all is lost if the faceted search system uses query parameters in urls, especially if they may not be optimized to your liking. google can still reward you with an optimized search listing as long as the page contains breadcrumbs (include semantic markup, too).
instead of having an ugly url listed, google will display the rich snippet version of the url.
resources
i highly recommend reading the below links to learn more about designing faceted search systems as there is much to consider for a truly optimized platform.
- ecommerce seo: product variations, colors, and sizes
- does seo conflict with user-friendly websites?
- matt cutts interviewed by eric enge
- faceted navigation: seo and facets
- designing for faceted search
- categories, facets—and browsable facets?
- considerations for facets and filters in ecommerce
- search engine friendly faceted search in woocommerce