Strategy
Part of How to optimise category pages for ecommerce SEO
How to optimise category pages for ecommerce SEO
Category pages often carry the broadest search demand on an online store. Learn how to name them, handle faceted URLs and link them for UK shoppers.
What to take away
- Category pages catch a shopper's first search, so they earn impressions that product pages seldom see.
- Use British English naming and the exact words customers type, including plurals.
- Set one rule per facet typeindex, canonicalise or block.
- Give every category you want ranked a short block of unique copy.
- Link categories to each other, to products, and to the guides that answer the next question.
Why category pages carry the search demand
Someone searching for waterproof walking boots wants a list, not one pair. Answer that query with a single product page and the visitor must hunt for the range. A strong category page shows the products, the filters and the price band in one view.
Category pages also sit at the centre of your site architecture. They collect links from the homepage, the menu and blog posts, then pass authority down to the products beneath them.
The ONS retail industry release tracks Great Britain's retail sales, including the online share, which helps when deciding which categories deserve the most attention.
Once a shopper narrows to one item, the job changes. Our guide to product page SEO techniques explains how to close the sale from a category click.
Name categories the way UK shoppers search
British search wording differs from American. Shoppers here look for trainers, jumpers, trousers and wellies. A category called Trainers will out-earn one called Sneakers, because the label matches the query word for word.
Plurals matter too. Most category queries are plural: running shoes, dog beds, garden chairs. Use the plural in the H1 and the title tag, then keep the singular as a synonym in the body copy.
Check your own data first. Site search logs and Search Console queries show the phrases shoppers use, which a national keyword tool tends to smooth over.
Faceted navigation: what to index and what to block
Filters multiply URLs fast. Colour, size, brand and price combinations can produce thousands of addresses that Google crawls but rarely ranks. Treat each facet type separately rather than applying one blanket rule.
Facet URL handling rules
Colour facet?
Index with unique copy and self-canonical
Check size facet
| Facet example | Typical demand | Recommended handling |
|---|---|---|
| /walking-boots/black | Colour-led searches | Index with unique copy and a self-canonical |
| /walking-boots?size=9 | Very low | Block in robots.txt, or noindex with follow |
| /walking-boots?sort=price | None | Block, or canonicalise to the clean category URL |
| /walking-boots/regatta | Brand-led searches | Index only where stock depth justifies it |
| /walking-boots?price=50-100 | Occasional price queries | Decide once and apply the rule sitewide |
Keep analytics honest too. Facet URLs can carry personal data when they include an email or postcode parameter. The ICO's UK GDPR guidance sets out the lawful basis and consent rules for the cookies and analytics you run on those pages.
Category page content that ranks
Thin category pages struggle. A bare product grid gives Google little to work with, so add a block of original copy near the top of the page or just below the grid.
Cover the details a grid cannot: sizing, materials, fit and delivery. That text earns long-tail queries and answers the questions that trigger returns.
Do not lift supplier descriptions or manufacturer photographs without checking rights. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 governs reuse of text and images, so ask for written permission.
Internal linking for categories
Internal links are the cheapest lever on a category page. Work through this sequence whenever you add a collection.
- Link every child category from its parent, and return upwards with a breadcrumb trail.
- Cross-link sibling categories that share a shopper, such as boots and insoles.
- Point two or three relevant guides at the category with descriptive anchor text.
- Link from the category to your best-selling products so equity reaches the pages that convert.
- Vary anchor text naturally instead of repeating an exact-match phrase sitewide.
- Check that links resolve to canonical URLs, not filtered or tracked variants.
Platform defaults shape how much of this you control. On Shopify, collections are the category layer, so the Shopify SEO audit checklist covers handles, duplicate collection URLs and theme-level fixes.
Common questions
How many category pages should an online store have?
Enough to cover the product types people actually search for, without two pages chasing the same query. Start with your top-level ranges, then split out a subcategory when demand is real and stock runs deep.
Should I noindex filtered URLs?
Only the ones with no search demand behind them. Colour and product-type facets often deserve an indexed page with unique copy, while size, sort and multi-select combinations rarely do.
How much copy does a category page need?
Two or three original sentences are often enough, plus answers to the questions your returns data keeps raising. Length matters less than being the only page with that text.
Do category pages or product pages rank better?
They answer different queries. Category pages win broad product-type searches and product pages win brand and model searches, so link them together rather than choosing between them.
