An online store needs a flow of search traffic to categories and product pages, not only to the home page. We build ecommerce SEO from the catalog structure: from how it connects to real demand, not to the logic of the warehouse.
What ecommerce SEO includes
Four areas: catalog structure, product pages, duplicate cleanup and the technical base. It is a special case of SEO services, run as one project from keyword research to texts and the technical side.
How ecommerce SEO differs from SEO for a service site
A service site has a few dozen key pages. A store has hundreds or thousands, and every category and product page brings traffic for its own queries. The logic for a service site is different, see SEO for service businesses.
SEO for a service site vs. an online store: what differs
| Parameter | Service site | Online store |
|---|---|---|
| Number of key pages | Dozens | Hundreds and thousands |
| Growth point | A few service pages | Catalog structure and product pages |
| Typical technical problem | Depth and completeness of content | Duplicates from filters, sorting and pagination |
Who ecommerce SEO is for
A store with a catalog of any size, on any platform: Bitrix, OpenCart, WordPress, MODX, Webflow, Tilda. The approach to structure, product pages and duplicates does not depend on the platform.
Catalog and filter structure built around demand
Structure decides which pages a user can find at all. Categories should reflect demand, not how products are split in the inventory system.
How we design categories around keywords
We run keyword research and look at how users phrase categories in Google. Where there is demand but no category, we suggest creating one. Where there is almost no demand, we suggest merging the category with a neighbor.
Filters, sorting and faceted navigation
Every combination of filters creates its own URL, and according to Google’s documentation on faceted navigation the robot spends crawl resources on them. The solutions: blocking parameters in robots.txt, canonical tags, a single order of parameters and a 404 for empty combinations.
Product pages: what we check and optimize
A product page works like a landing page: it should answer the search query on its own and lead to an inquiry.
Unique descriptions instead of supplier text
Descriptions copied from a supplier repeat on dozens of sites. We rewrite them with our own structure, more on the page about SEO content for your site.
Product structured data on the product page
According to Google’s documentation on product snippets, the name and an offer with a price are required, and currency, availability and the price validity date are recommended. If that date is in the past, the snippet may not appear, so we keep the markup up to date.
Duplicate pages and catalog pagination
The more ways there are to filter products, the higher the chance that one set is shown at several addresses.
Where duplicates come from: parameters, UTM tags, filters
Duplicates come from ad tracking tags, session identifiers, sorting and filters. For parameters that do not change the content, we point search engines to the main version of the page with canonical tags.
Canonical tags and pagination
A page blocked with Disallow can stay in search results if other pages link to it: to exclude a page, you need noindex. Google treats a redirect and rel=“canonical” as strong signals, but the choice of the canonical page remains a hint for it.
We will check your catalog for free We send you a list of duplicates, slow pages and other technical errors that keep categories from growing in search.
Speed and the technical base of the catalog
Categories with dozens of products and images load more slowly than a landing page. Speed is among the ranking signals but does not guarantee the top spot, so we check it by page type: home page, category, product page.
Indexing, robots.txt and the catalog sitemap
We check which pages are open to indexing, set up a sitemap for large catalogs and watch redirects. We look for duplicates and broken links with Screaming Frog and Search Console.
Trust and usability signals for a store
A site earns better positions by being high quality, safe, easy to use and useful. For a store that means up-to-date prices and availability, clear navigation and no technical errors.
How we promote an online store: stages of work
Stages of ecommerce SEO
- 01
Catalog audit
We check indexing, duplicates, speed and the templates of categories and product pages.
- 02
Keyword research and structure
We arrange categories around real demand.
- 03
Product pages and categories
We put descriptions, headings and Product structured data in order.
- 04
Technical side
We set up canonical tags, robots.txt rules and the sitemap, and fix errors.
- 05
Publishing and control
We check the changes in Search Console.
- 06
Analytics and adjustment
From traffic data we refine the priorities for the next round of fixes.
When to start and what to expect
For the Google-specific requirements behind the plan, see the page on SEO for Google. In our experience, growth becomes noticeable after 3–6 months, and exact timing depends on the state of the catalog and the niche.
If the catalog has not been checked for a long time, start with a technical website audit. Aleksey Borovikov leads the projects personally, and examples of the approach are in the case studies. For an estimate, leave a project brief.
