Facets, variants and URLs

Facets, variants and URLs

Decide which catalogue URLs deserve a durable search presence and which exist mainly to help browsing.

Separate navigation from indexability

Filters are useful to shoppers even when every combination is not a standalone search page. Assess demand, inventory stability and distinct value before treating a filtered result as a landing page.

Write a consistent URL policy

Define how product variants, sorting and tracking parameters behave. Check actual response codes, internal links and canonical signals. A canonical declaration is a signal, not permission to create an unlimited crawl space.

Test more than one product

Review a simple product, multiple variants, an empty filter result and a discontinued item. Confirm the user can still navigate and the intended destination remains clear. Keep exceptions documented rather than patching them one URL at a time.

Put it into practice

Use these prompts for your working brief.

  • Indexable combination criteria
  • Consistent preferred URLs
  • Parameter behavior
  • Empty and discontinued states
  • Regression sample

Source and further reading

Check the implementation against the platform’s current guidance.

Related services and resources

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FlorVancouver Commerce Search
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