For eCommerce websites, it can be confusing to know how many pages should be used for multiple products in the same family. Our search engine optimization Waterloo experts dive into the subject and explain when and when not to use multiple pages.
This is actually more of a common question than you may think. Many sellers have single products offered in different sizes or colours and are unsure of how to categorize them. Today we will discuss the issue using t-shirts as an example of a product.
Single Product
Experts advise using a single product page when selling a single product. For example, shoppers do not need individual pages such as material, size, and colour. If your shop only carries one t-shirt and no others, it will only have one product page but will have canonical links to point back to it. These links will be applied to all parameters and variants and let search engine optimization know the “preferred” web page version.
Sizes do not generally have enough uniqueness to justify having individual product pages. However, colours may be separated out by having their own page. This can help shoppers, for example, who are only looking for red t-shirts or black crew-neck shirts.
Even if you only carry one product, by separating them out on dedicated pages for specific colours, you can benefit your consumers, and better describe the printing options and styling options. All size options would have a canonical back to the original colour option.
Another point to consider is if this is the only version of the product you will carry. In other words, you will never carry, manufacture, upgrade or release new versions. It is only in this instance that you will want to try and optimize unique pages for variants. If you do go this route, you need to build a solid site structure and make sure your copy is 100% unique for each version. SEO can penalize sites that have the same content on multiple pages.
Category
A unique category page should be used when you have a product that is part of a category and not just a single product. For example, you may have a V-neck and you also carry crew necks and sleeveless in over ten different colour options with plans on expanding the product line.
If you create individual colour pages for each product in the category, you risk a possible cannibalization problem as it creates a large volume of similar content. By creating category pages instead, you can continue expanding your product lines and feed similar product pages in.
Exceptions to the Rule
There will always be exceptions to the rule. However, the general rule of thumb is if there is no need for individual variant pages and no actual benefit to the end-user, use a single page and apply canonical links to the variants.
Our search engine optimization Waterloo team at Unwired Web Solutions takes pride in helping businesses set up their eCommerce sites to increase conversations. Contact us today and learn more about how we can positively impact your website and ensure your products and variations are set up effectively and efficiently.