Category architecture
A hierarchy based on how people search, not on how your warehouse is organised. Categories and subcategories that match searches with demand, a few clicks from the home page.
E-commerce SEO
E-commerce SEO that turns searches into orders
Category architecture, faceted navigation, product pages, structured data and Google Merchant Center. We work on Shopify, WooCommerce and custom platforms so your catalogue is crawlable, understandable and visible in Google, Google Shopping and AI assistants.
Why e-commerce is different
Thousands of URLs, little copy and a catalogue that changes every week
An online shop is, technically, one of the hardest types of website to rank. Filters generate almost endless URL combinations, products come and go, manufacturer descriptions are repeated across hundreds of shops, and categories, the pages with the most potential, often contain little more than a product grid.
That’s why e-commerce SEO starts with architecture and crawl control, not keywords. First we decide which pages should exist and be indexed, then we make sure Google can reach them without getting lost in millions of filter combinations, and only then do we optimise content and structured data.
The goal isn’t traffic, it’s orders. We prioritise categories and products with margin and demand, and measure organic revenue, not just visits.
Areas of work
What we optimise in your shop
Faceted navigation
We decide which filter combinations deserve an indexable page (for example “women’s running shoes”) and which should be kept out of the index or crawl so they don’t waste crawl budget.
Product pages
Titles with the attributes people search for, original descriptions instead of the manufacturer’s, specs in tables, optimised images, FAQs and genuine reviews.
Structured data
Product, Offer, AggregateRating and Review only with genuine customer ratings, BreadcrumbList, and shipping and returns details for rich results.
Merchant Center and free listings
A clean product feed consistent with the website, to appear in the Shopping tab and other Google surfaces, including free listings, and as the basis for Shopping campaigns.
Speed and Core Web Vitals
Images, app and plugin scripts, heavy themes. We work towards LCP ≤ 2.5 s, INP ≤ 200 ms and CLS ≤ 0.1 on category and product templates, the ones that matter most.
A changing catalogue
What to do with out-of-stock or discontinued products
One of the decisions that loses the most traffic when it’s handled badly. This is the rule we apply.
| Situation | What we do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Temporarily out of stock | Keep the page live (200), mark availability as out of stock on the page and in the schema, offer a back-in-stock alert and alternatives. | The page keeps its rankings and links until stock returns. |
| Discontinued with a clear replacement | 301 redirect to the successor or closest product. | Passes the old URL’s signals to a page that satisfies the same search. |
| Discontinued, no replacement, but with traffic or links | Keep an informational page with alternatives, or 301 to the category if it’s genuinely equivalent. | Avoids a poor experience and captures residual demand. |
| Discontinued with no value | Return 404 or 410 and remove it from sitemaps and internal links. | Redirecting everything to the home page is often treated as a soft 404 and adds nothing. |
Platforms
What’s specific to each platform
Shopify
Fixed URL structure (/products/, /collections/, /pages/), products also reachable under collection paths, canonicals to check, robots.txt editable through a template, apps that add scripts and weight, and Shopify Markets for international versions.
WooCommerce
Configurable product and category URL bases, attribute filter URLs, theme pagination, conflicts between SEO, caching and filter plugins, and hosting that often limits speed.
Custom and headless
More freedom and more risk: JavaScript rendering, parameter handling, pagination, canonicals and hreflang depend entirely on development. We write technical specifications and validate every release.
Process
How we work on an online shop
001
Technical and catalogue audit
We crawl the entire shop to see how many URLs it really generates, how many are indexed and how many should be. We review facets, parameters, pagination, canonicals, duplication between variants and the state of structured data.
We cross-reference crawl data with Search Console and sales data to see which pages generate revenue and which only consume crawl.
Activities
Outputs
- Audit with issues prioritised by revenue impact
002
Architecture and indexation rules
We define the target category tree, which filters generate indexable pages and which canonical, noindex and robots rules apply to each URL type. Pagination stays crawlable: each page with its own canonical and normal links, since Google no longer uses rel=prev/next as a signal.
If URLs need restructuring, we plan the redirects as a migration.
Activities
Outputs
- Architecture and indexation specification
003
Category and product optimisation
We optimise the highest-potential categories first: titles, headings, useful introductory copy (a short buying guide, not filler), links to subcategories and key filters. Then product templates and priority products with original descriptions.
We implement or fix schema and align the Merchant Center feed with the website.
Activities
Outputs
- Optimised categories and products
- Valid structured data
004
Supporting content and measurement
Buying guides, comparisons and informational content that answer pre-purchase questions and link to categories. We measure organic revenue and orders by category in GA4, plus impressions and clicks in Search Console and the Shopping tab.
Every quarter we review which categories to grow and which products or facets to remove from the index.
Activities
Outputs
- Monthly organic revenue report
- Quarterly review
Structured data
Product schema: accurate, consistent and honest
Product markup tells Google the price, availability, brand, GTIN and ratings of each product, and makes it eligible for rich results. For it to work, the markup must match what’s visible on the page and in the Merchant Center feed: mismatched prices are a common cause of disapproved products.
Ratings are only marked up if they come from real customers and are shown on the page. We don’t mark up invented reviews, reviews imported without checks or cherry-picked ones. EU consumer law also requires shops to say whether and how reviews are verified.
FAQ
E-commerce SEO: common questions
Should I write an original description for every product?
For products with demand and margin, yes: the manufacturer’s description appears in many other shops and doesn’t set you apart. For catalogues of thousands of SKUs, we prioritise, combining original copy on key products with data-enriched templates for the rest.
Do I need to index every filter combination?
No, and you shouldn’t. Only combinations that match searches with demand (for example product type plus colour or brand) deserve an indexable page with its own content. The rest should be controlled so they don’t consume crawl or create duplicates.
What are Google’s free listings?
Google lets you show products in the Shopping tab and on other surfaces without paying per click, based on your Merchant Center feed or your website’s structured data. It’s an organic channel worth setting up properly, and it’s also the basis for paid Shopping campaigns.
Is Shopify bad for SEO?
No. It has well-known limitations, such as the fixed URL structure or duplicate product paths, but they’re manageable. What usually hurts a Shopify store most is a build-up of apps that add scripts and slow the site down.
Do you also run Google Shopping ads?
Yes, through our Google Ads service. A quality feed benefits both free listings and campaigns, and coordinating the two channels avoids paying for searches you already win organically.
How do you measure results?
With GA4 e-commerce reporting (organic revenue, orders and conversion rate by category), Search Console for impressions and clicks, and Merchant Center for product listing performance.
Related
Related services and industries
E-commerce & retail
SEO for online shops and retailers: category architecture, product pages, faceted navigation, structured data and free Google Shopping listings.
Programmatic SEO
Data-driven programmatic SEO: templates, quality controls and indexation management to scale hundreds of pages without thin content or spam risk.
Web development & CRO
SEO-first web development and CRO: architecture built on search research, Core Web Vitals, WCAG accessibility and A/B testing to turn visits into customers.
Is your catalogue working for you?
We crawl your shop, review how categories and products are indexed and send you a plan prioritised by impact on sales.