Google released a comprehensive document outlining best practices for faceted navigation, addressing one of the most significant challenges in SEO and website crawling. Originally published as a blog post, the new documentation focuses on managing the SEO complexities that arise from faceted navigation systems.
The Challenge of Faceted Navigation
While faceted navigation enhances user experience by enabling refined search capabilities, it poses significant SEO challenges. The primary concern lies in its ability to generate nearly infinite URLs, leading to two critical issues:
- Overcrawling: Search engines expend resources crawling numerous URLs that provide limited value to search users
- Delayed Content Discovery: The extensive crawling of faceted navigation URLs significantly slows down the discovery of new, important content
Understanding URL Complexity
Each filter combination in faceted navigation creates a distinct URL. For instance:
https://example.com/items.shtm?products=fish&color=radioactive_green&size=tiny
When parameters like product, color, or size change, new URLs are generated, potentially creating an endless array of crawlable pages.
Strategic Solutions
Google presents two primary approaches to address this challenge:
URL Blocking Strategy
For non-essential indexed URLs, website owners can:
- Implement robots.txt to prevent crawling
- Utilize URL fragments (#) for filters, which search engines typically ignore
URL Optimization Method
When crawling is necessary, Google recommends:
- Using standard & separators for URL parameters
- Maintaining consistent filter order in URL paths
- Implementing 404 status codes for empty filter combinations
- Avoiding redirects to generic "not found" pages unless absolutely necessary
Additional Technical Considerations
The documentation also highlights supplementary optimization techniques:
- Implementing rel="canonical" to consolidate ranking signals
- Applying rel="nofollow" consistently across all relevant internal and external links
- Considering server resource management, as faceted navigation crawling impacts both server performance and content discovery speed
