In short
- PrestaShop lets you fill in a title tag, a meta description and a simplified URL for each category: now you just have to do it.
- Simplified URLs must be enabled in the store's traffic and SEO settings.
- The faceted navigation module can generate many URLs: only combinations with demand should be indexable.
- On a large catalogue, bulk importing tags saves days of manual entry in the back office.
PrestaShop powers a large share of French online stores, from small shops to catalogues with tens of thousands of products. Its flexibility is an asset, provided you get a few SEO-critical settings right.
Simplified URLs
First check: simplified URLs (friendly URLs) must be enabled in the store's traffic and SEO settings. Without them, URLs contain technical parameters, which are less readable for visitors and for Google. Each category can then receive a custom simplified URL.
Careful: changing the URLs of an existing store requires 301 redirects to avoid losing the rankings you have earned. See our guide to redesign and migration.
Category tags
For each category, PrestaShop offers title tag, meta description and simplified URL fields. Left empty, they are replaced by the category name and description, which produces titles that are too short and descriptions poorly suited to search results.
These are the fields to fill in for every strategic category, following the method in our title tag guide and our meta description guide.
The category description
The category description is displayed, depending on the theme, at the top of the product list. Some themes or modules allow a second block of text below the products, better suited to content that helps shoppers choose. See what works for a category's SEO text.
Faceted navigation
PrestaShop's faceted navigation module generates URLs for every combination of filters. Without care, it can produce thousands of nearly identical indexable URLs. The rule is the same as on any platform: only combinations that match real demand should be indexable, with their own tags; the rest should be kept out of the index or the crawl. See our guide to facets.
Bulk import
Entering the tags of 500 categories in the back office, one by one, takes several days. Tools such as Store Commander make it possible to edit tags in bulk from a file.
unblind analyzes each of your categories, writes its tags and text around its main query, with its quality checks, then produces an export in StoreCommander format, ready to import into your PrestaShop store. Excel and JSON exports are also available.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you edit a category title tag in PrestaShop?
In the back office, under the Catalog menu, then Categories: when editing a category, you find the title tag, meta description and simplified URL fields. Left empty, they are replaced by the category name and description.
How do you avoid duplicates in PrestaShop?
Enable simplified URLs, check that every category and product has a consistent canonical tag, and control the indexing of URLs generated by filters and sorting.