Optimizing your eCommerce store for search engines is crucial in today’s competitive market, and one of the most effective ways to improve SEO is through the use of PrestaShop friendly URLs. These URLs are clean, concise, and keyword-rich, making it easier for both users and search engines to understand the content of your pages. By following the right strategies, you can leverage this feature to boost your SEO, drive more traffic, and enhance user experience.
In this guide, we’ll outline 10 proven ways to optimize PrestaShop friendly URLs and take your online store’s visibility to the next level.
1. Enable PrestaShop Friendly URLs
The first step in URL optimization is to enable PrestaShop friendly URL functionality. Friendly URLs remove unnecessary parameters and make your URLs cleaner and easier to read.
To enable it:
- Go to Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO in your PrestaShop back office.
- Scroll to Set up URLs and toggle the Friendly URL option to “Yes.”
- Save your settings.
By doing this, your URLs will automatically become more SEO-friendly, improving your site’s crawlability and user experience.
2. Use Keywords in URLs
Incorporating relevant keywords into your URLs is one of the most straightforward yet powerful SEO techniques. Search engines use keywords in URLs to understand the page content and determine its relevance to search queries.
For example, if you’re selling red running shoes, a URL like “www.mystore.com/red-running-shoes” gives both users and search engines a clear idea of the product. Including your target keywords, especially in high-priority pages like product categories or popular items, can significantly improve your rankings.
3. Keep URLs Short and Descriptive
A clean URL that is short and descriptive is better for SEO and user experience. Avoid overly long URLs with too many words, numbers, or special characters. A PrestaShop friendly URL should convey the essence of the page content in a few clear words.
For instance, a URL like “www.mystore.com/blue-t-shirt” is preferable to something like “www.mystore.com/product-category-id-123-blue-t-shirt-new”.
4. Use Hyphens Instead of Underscores
When creating SEO-friendly URLs, it’s important to use hyphens (“-”) instead of underscores (“_”). Search engines like Google treat hyphens as spaces between words, making it easier to read. URLs with hyphens are not only better for SEO but also more user-friendly.
For example, “www.mystore.com/blue-t-shirt” is more readable and SEO-friendly than “www.mystore.com/blue_t_shirt”.
5. Avoid Special Characters and Numbers
A key part of optimizing SEO URL PrestaShop settings is to avoid special characters, numbers, or complex parameters in your URLs. Characters like “&”, “%”, and “?” can confuse both search engines and users, making your URLs less effective for SEO.
A clean URL structure like “www.mystore.com/men-leather-shoes” is far superior to “www.mystore.com/index.php?id_product=456&controller=product”.
6. Remove Product IDs
One of the common issues in PrestaShop URL structures is the presence of product IDs, which don’t add any SEO value. You can remove these product IDs from URLs through the back office, making your URLs cleaner and more user-friendly.
To do this:
- Go to Shop Parameters > SEO & URLs.
- Enable Friendly URL and make sure the Disable Apache’s MultiViews option is set to “Yes.”
This will ensure that product and category IDs are excluded from your URLs, enhancing their SEO potential.
7. Ensure URLs are Unique
Duplicate URLs can create SEO issues, as search engines may struggle to decide which version of a page to prioritize. This can lead to diluted rankings or even penalties for duplicate content. To avoid this, ensure each URL in your PrestaShop store is unique and properly structured.
Make sure that every product and category page has its own distinct URL, avoiding overlap or duplication between different parts of your site.
8. Add Canonical URLs for Duplicate Content
Even with your best efforts, some pages might end up with similar or duplicate content, especially if you have products in multiple categories. Using canonical tags can help search engines understand which version of a page is the “main” one.
You can configure canonical URL settings in PrestaShop to indicate which page should take priority in search results. This prevents SEO issues caused by duplicate content and ensures that search engines give credit to the most relevant page.
9. Monitor Broken Links and Redirects
As you optimize your URLs, it’s important to ensure that none of your old URLs are leading to broken links or dead pages. Use 301 redirects to guide users and search engines from outdated URLs to new ones without losing any SEO value.
You can manage these redirects from your PrestaShop back office by going to Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO > Redirect to Canonical URL and ensuring the proper settings are in place. This keeps your URLs optimized while maintaining your site’s SEO integrity.
10. Regularly Audit Your URLs
To maintain your SEO rankings, it’s essential to regularly audit your URLs for any issues that might impact performance. Tools like Google Search Console can help you monitor for crawl errors, broken links, or URL issues that might need attention.
By conducting regular audits, you can ensure that your PrestaShop friendly URLs remain optimized, helping your store rank higher and attract more traffic.
Conclusion
Optimizing your PrestaShop friendly URL structure is one of the simplest yet most impactful ways to improve your SEO performance. By focusing on clean, keyword-rich URLs, removing unnecessary elements like product IDs, and avoiding duplicate content, you can make your store more appealing to search engines and users alike.
Implementing these 10 proven ways to optimize your URLs will not only help improve your rankings but also create a better user experience, driving more traffic and conversions for your PrestaShop store.
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