{"id":25613,"date":"2026-09-05T02:46:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/designing-a-url-structure-for-ecommerce-websites\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T02:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:46:33","slug":"designing-a-url-structure-for-ecommerce-websites","status":"publish","type":"ar_kb","link":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/designing-a-url-structure-for-ecommerce-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing a URL structure for ecommerce websites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n      Well-designed URLs can help Google more efficiently locate and retrieve web pages on your<br \/>\n      ecommerce site. If you control the structure of your URLs (for example, you are building your<br \/>\n      own site from scratch), then this guide can help you decide on your URL structure to avoid<br \/>\n      indexing problems seen by Google on ecommerce sites.\n    <\/p>\n<aside class=\"note\">\n      If you&#8217;re using an ecommerce platform, you can most likely skip this section, as the platform<br \/>\n      has most likely already considered these issues for you.<br \/>\n    <\/aside>\n<h2 id=\"why-url-structure-matters\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      Why URL structure matters<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<p>\n      A good URL design structure helps Google crawl and index your site, while a poor URL structure can lead to the following issues:\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>\n          <b>Content can be missed<\/b> if Googlebot incorrectly thinks two URLs will return the same<br \/>\n          content as only one URL may be retrieved by the crawler (the other is discarded as a<br \/>\n          duplicate). This can happen if fragment identifiers (like <code>#fragment<\/code>) are<br \/>\n          used to show different content. Google does not use fragment identifiers in indexing.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <b>Example:<\/b> <code>\/product\/t-shirt#black<\/code> and <code>\/product\/t-shirt#white<\/code><br \/>\n          are considered to be the same page by Google.\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\n          <b>The same content may be retrieved multiple times<\/b> by the crawler if Google thinks two URLs<br \/>\n          are different but result in the same page being returned. This can slow down<br \/>\n          the crawling of your site and put additional load on your web server for no benefit.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <b>Example:<\/b> <code>\/product\/black-t-shirt<\/code> and <code>\/product?sku=1234<\/code> may return<br \/>\n          the same product page, but Google cannot determine this by looking at the URL alone.\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\n          <b>The crawler may think your site contains an infinite number of pages<\/b> if your URLs<br \/>\n          include a continually changing value such as a timestamp. As a result, Google may take<br \/>\n          longer to find all the useful content on your site.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <b>Example:<\/b> <code>\/about?now=12:34am<\/code> and <code>\/about?now=12:35am<\/code> may be<br \/>\n          treated as different URLs by Google even though both URLs display the same page.\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n      See <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/how-search-works\/\">How Google Search Works<\/a><br \/>\n      and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search\/howsearchworks\/crawling-indexing\/\" class=\"external-link\">How Google&#8217;s Site Crawlers Index Your Site<\/a><br \/>\n      for more information on how Google crawls and indexes your site.\n    <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"good-url-structure-design-best-practices\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      Good URL structure design best practices<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<p>\n      To optimize how Google crawls and indexes your website, follow these best practices on how to<br \/>\n      structure your URLs.\n    <\/p>\n<h3 id=\"general-url-recommendations\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      General URL recommendations<br \/>\n    <\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        Minimize the number of alternative URLs that return the same content to avoid Google making<br \/>\n        more requests to your site than needed. Google may not realize that two URLs return the same<br \/>\n        page until after both are retrieved.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        If upper and lower case text in a URL is treated the same by the web server, convert all<br \/>\n        text to the same case so it is easier for Google to determine that URLs reference the same<br \/>\n        page.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        Make sure each page in paginated results has a unique URL. We see the most URL mistakes in<br \/>\n        pagination URL structures.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\n          Add descriptive words in URL paths. The words in URLs may help Google better understand the page.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-yes\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/product\/black-t-shirt-with-a-white-collar<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-no\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Not recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/product\/3243<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"url-query-parameter-recommendations\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      URL query parameter recommendations<br \/>\n    <\/h3>\n<p>\n      Follow these recommendations when using query parameters to help Google successfully crawl and<br \/>\n      index your site.\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>\n          Use <code>?key=value<\/code> URL parameters rather than <code>?value<\/code>, where possible.<br \/>\n          URL parameters allow Google Search to understand your site&#8217;s structure and crawl and index more efficiently.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-yes\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/photo-frames?page=2<\/code>, <code>\/t-shirt?color=green<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-no\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Not recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/photo-frames?2<\/code>, <code>\/t-shirt?green<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\n          Avoid using the same parameters twice. Googlebot may ignore one of the values otherwise.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-yes\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>?type=candy,sweet<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-no\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Not recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>?type=candy&amp;type=sweet<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\n          Avoid internally linking to temporary parameters, such as session-IDs, tracking codes,<br \/>\n          user-relative values (<code>location=nearby<\/code>, <code>time=last-week<\/code>), and<br \/>\n          the current time. This can result in URLs that have a short life or duplicate URLs<br \/>\n          for the same page. To get the best results from Google Search, use long-term, persistent<br \/>\n          URLs.\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-yes\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/t-shirt?location=UK<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<p>\n          <span class=\"compare-no\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><b>Not recommended<\/b>:<br \/>\n          <code>\/t-shirt?location=nearby<\/code>, <code>\/t-shirt?current-time=12:02<\/code>, <code>\/t-shirt?session=123123123<\/code>\n        <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"how-google-understands-urls-for-product-variants\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      How Google understands URLs for product variants<br \/>\n    <\/h3>\n<p>\n      A common consideration on ecommerce sites is how to structure URLs when a product is available<br \/>\n      in multiple sizes or colors. Each combination of product attributes is referred to as a<br \/>\n      <i>product variant<\/i>. To help Google understand your product variants, make sure that each<br \/>\n      variant can be identified by a separate URL. We recommend the following URL structures for variant URLs:\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        A path segment, such as <code>\/t-shirt\/green<\/code>\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        A query parameter, such as <code>\/t-shirt?color=green<\/code>\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/product-variant-structured-data-productgroup-product\/\">product variant structured data documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n      If you use optional query parameters to identify variants, use the URL with the query<br \/>\n      parameter omitted as the <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/specify-canonical\/\">canonical URL<\/a>. This can help Google better understand the<br \/>\n      relationship between product variants.\n    <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/kb-gorsel\/g-3429a0675925.png\" loading=\"lazy\"\n         alt=\"A canonical blue T-shirt without color query parameter and a non-canonical green T-shirt with color query parameter specified\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"using-urls-in-your-content\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      Using URLs in your content<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<p>\n      To help Google Search and Google Shopping correctly identify your products and the<br \/>\n      relationship between product variants, follow these best practices when using URLs in your<br \/>\n      content.\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        Use the same URL in internal links, sitemap files, and<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/specify-canonical\/\"><code>&lt;link rel=\"canonical\"&gt;<\/code> tags<\/a>.<br \/>\n        For example, if linking to the first page in a paginated sequence using a query<br \/>\n        parameter where the default page is page one, either include or exclude <code>?page=1<\/code><br \/>\n        on the URL throughout your site consistently.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        Use a self-referencing<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/specify-canonical\/\"><code>&lt;link rel=\"canonical\"&gt;<\/code> tag<\/a><br \/>\n        (one where the URL in the tag points to the current page) on all indexable pages and include those URLs in a<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/build-submit-sitemap\/\">sitemap<\/a><br \/>\n        file.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        For products with unique URLs per variant, include the canonical product URL on all variant<br \/>\n        pages using a <code>&lt;link rel=\"canonical\"&gt;<\/code> tag. For more information, see<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/merchants\/answer\/9340054\" class=\"external-link\">the <code>canonical_link<\/code> property of Google Merchant Center<\/a>.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        Include links directly on the pages using <code>&lt;a href&gt;<\/code> tags;<br \/>\n        don&#8217;t use JavaScript to navigate between pages. Googlebot might not detect navigation from<br \/>\n        JavaScript code. For more information about how Google processes JavaScript, see<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/javascript-seo-basics\/\">Understand the JavaScript SEO basics<\/a>.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        Include meaningful text between <code>&lt;a href&gt;<\/code> and <code>&lt;\/a&gt;<\/code> tags where possible, such as<br \/>\n        the title of the product being linked to. Don&#8217;t use generic phrases such as &#8220;click here&#8221;.\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        Avoid linking to, or at least indexing, pages without useful content. If a category has no items, use a<br \/>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/robots-meta-tag\/#noindex\"><code>noindex<\/code> <span>robots<\/span> <code>meta<\/code> tag<\/a>.<br \/>\n        If your site detects that a category has become empty and automatically removes the category<br \/>\n        from on-site search and browse, consider returning a <code>404 (not found)<\/code> HTTP status code for the page.\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"additional-resources\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      Additional resources<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<p>\n      Want to learn more? Check out the following resources:\n    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/help-google-understand-your-ecommerce-website-structure\/\">Help Google understand your site structure<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/specify-canonical\/\">Avoid creating duplicate content<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/pagination-incremental-page-loading-and-their-impact-on-google-search\/\">Pagination, incremental page loading, and their impact on Search<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/managing-crawling-of-faceted-navigation-urls\/\">Managing crawling of faceted navigation URLs<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how you can design a URL structure for your ecommerce website and best practices to help Google efficiently locate and retrieve your web pages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":145,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ar_kb_kategori":[702],"ar_kb_etiket":[],"class_list":["post-25613","ar_kb","type-ar_kb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ar_kb_kategori-ecommerce-site-specific-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb\/25613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ar_kb"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb\/25613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ar_kb_kategori","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb_kategori?post=25613"},{"taxonomy":"ar_kb_etiket","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ar_kb_etiket?post=25613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}