The article answers the questions:
What is faceted navigation?
How to implement faceted navigation according to SEO?
When is it worth implementing faceted navigation?
Contents:
What is faceted navigation and should every store have it?
Product Filtering – How to Do It Right?
What to watch out for when creating faceted navigation?
Is faceted navigation worth it?
What is faceted navigation and should every store have it?
In the case of e-commerce, faceted navigation allows users to search for products by their features (attributes). It significantly facilitates searching and shortens the path to products, thanks to their grouping. An uk companies email list element of this type of navigation are filtering systems, with the help of which potential customers can decide to display (or exclude from listings) certain product attributes. Filtering systems consist of sets of filters that are based on product features.
Examples of sets may include:
color,
size,
form,
price,
material,
state etc.
Thanks to well-organized filtering, we have a positive impact on the user experience, and as a result, we are able to increase conversion. The customer is more willing to buy because they have found the product they are interested in with little effort. It is worth emphasizing that the place where the filter options are displayed to the user is also important. A good and - as it seems - the most common place where users can find filters is the category sidebar.
Is it always worth implementing faceted navigation? Of course, it depends. In the case of e-commerce stores, whose assortment can be counted in hundreds or thousands of products, navigation based on product features seems mandatory. On the other hand, stores with a much smaller number of products may be problematic in terms of creating filter sets. For such navigation to be effective, at least several such sets and a larger number of products are needed. In a word - not in every store will the implementation of faceted navigation be important for the user, precisely because of too small groups of products with similar features.
While e-commerce stores generally do well with the technical implementation of faceted navigation, their SEO optimization is a mixed bag. So how can we implement product filtering in a way that maximizes visibility and – equally importantly – doesn’t harm the store?
Product Filtering – How to Do It Right?
Depending on the CMS you choose, filtering systems will work differently. First, you should verify whether it is possible to configure filtering systems in your CMS, especially in terms of filter indexing. Below is a discussion of the individual elements that will allow you to properly index filters, which will benefit SEO . Let us emphasize that if your CMS does not have the technical capabilities to implement such a filter configuration, it may be necessary to purchase a plugin or seek help from programmers.
Filter Indexing
Thanks to the possibility of filter indexing, we will be able to use the potential of product features to the maximum. Before deciding to index selected filters, we should perform a keyword analysis, thanks to which we will find out whether we can match the features of products in our store to user queries.