In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to implement friendly URL PrestaShop, improving SEO and navigation with step-by-step instructions.
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When you run an online store, especially on a powerful eCommerce platform like PrestaShop, making sure your URLs are optimized for SEO and user-friendly is essential. One of the most effective ways to do this is by setting up friendly URL PrestaShop. Over the years, I’ve encountered countless challenges with URL optimization. However, after trying several methods and tools, I’ve learned the importance of creating clean, keyword-rich, and user-friendly URLs that boost your SEO rankings and improve the user experience.
Why Implement Friendly URLs?
Before diving into the setup process, it’s important to understand why friendly URL PrestaShop is critical for your store’s success.
Improved SEO Rankings: Search engines like Google use the URL structure as one of the ranking factors. A clear and concise URL tells search engines what your page is about, which can significantly improve your SEO.
Better User Experience: Clean URLs are easier to read and more user-friendly. When users can easily identify the content of the page from the URL, they’re more likely to click through, reducing bounce rates and improving engagement.
Increased Trust and Shareability: A simple, descriptive URL increases trust. Visitors feel more confident clicking on URLs they can read and understand, and they’re more likely to share them with others.
Step 1: Access the SEO and URLs Settings in PrestaShop
To start using friendly URL PrestaShop, you’ll first need to access your PrestaShop back office. Here’s how you can do it:
Log in to your PrestaShop admin panel.
Navigate to Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO.
Under the Set Shop URL section, you will see options for configuring your URLs. This is where you’ll begin enabling and customizing friendly URLs for your store.
Step 2: Enable Friendly URL in PrestaShop
Enabling friendly URL PrestaShop is an easy process. Follow these simple steps:
In the Traffic & SEO settings, look for the Friendly URL setting.
Toggle the option to Yes.
Click Save to apply the changes.
Step 3: Clean Up the URL Structure
Once friendly URL PrestaShop is enabled, you can begin to clean up your URLs. The goal here is to create short, descriptive URLs that include important keywords while avoiding unnecessary parameters or characters.
Here’s how to do it:
Category and Product URLs: PrestaShop will automatically generate URLs based on the product or category names, but sometimes it’s helpful to customize them. For example, if you sell leather jackets, instead of a generic URL like www.yourstore.com/product-id=12345, you could have something like www.yourstore.com/leather-jackets.
Use Hyphens Instead of Underscores: Always separate words with hyphens, not underscores. Google treats hyphens as word separators, making it easier for search engines to read your URLs.
Avoid Special Characters: Special characters like &, %, #, and others can confuse both search engines and users. Stick to simple letters and numbers.
Optimize for Keywords: Make sure the URLs include relevant keywords. For example, if you sell “men’s shoes,” the URL could look like www.yourstore.com/mens-shoes. Keep it short, simple, and keyword-rich.
Step 4: Rewriting and Customizing URLs
To make your URLs even more SEO-friendly, you may want to rewrite or customize them manually. This can help improve the visibility of specific products or categories.
In PrestaShop, you can customize URLs for individual products or categories by following these steps:
Navigate to the product or category you want to edit.
In the SEO section, you’ll see a field for the URL. Here, you can rewrite the URL to something more user-friendly.
Step 5: Handling URL Redirections
Once you’ve started using friendly URL PrestaShop, it’s important to manage any changes to your URLs properly. Changing a URL can break existing links and negatively affect SEO if not handled correctly.
Luckily, PrestaShop has a built-in URL redirection feature to ensure that users and search engines are redirected to the correct pages. Here’s how to use it:
301 Redirects: A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from an old URL to a new one. It’s important to set up these redirects when you change a URL so that you don’t lose any SEO value.
To set up a 301 redirect in PrestaShop, go to Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO and use the “Redirection URL” field to specify the old and new URLs.
Check for Broken Links: Regularly check for any broken links on your site. You can use tools like Google Search Console or third-party plugins to identify these issues and ensure all redirects are working properly.
