Shopify / bigger websize / product variant

My ecommerce store offers only 6 products, each with multiple variations categorized by attributes like size, color, material and so on.

From an SEO perspective, this setup doesn't seem very efficient due to the overall small size of the website. As far as I know, ecommerce websites tend to perform better when they have a larger number of different landing pages.

Currently, none of the auto generated variation URLs (e.g., "?variant=817481875") are indexed by search engines.

How do you recommend solve this issue to expand the website?

Should I try to get all the variation URLs indexed? Or would it be better to focus on keyword research and create optimized category pages? These categories will target specific search intents but still include only the same 6 products.

Focus on creating Keyword-optimized collection or category pages around search intent rather than indexing variant URLs, which offer little SEO value.

Rebel Phantom said:

Focus on creating Keyword-optimized collection or category pages around search intent rather than indexing variant URLs, which offer little SEO value.

Click to expand...

Okay, so under new keyword optimized collection URL (e.g., domain.com/basketball_ball/sizes/27), I should create brand new product URLs that align with search intent. For example:

domain.com/basketball_ball/sizes/27/black
domain.com/basketball_ball/sizes/27/red
domain.com/basketball_ball/sizes/27/brown

These size and color specific basketball product pages could be automatically generated from the base category page "domain.com/basketball_ball/", such as domain.com/basketball_ball/=variant2358725872.

Am I understanding correctly that the "=variant" URLs should remain untouched and not to be indexed, while only the SEO optimized URLs like "sizes/27/black") should be created and indexed?

onedaydayone said:

My ecommerce store offers only 6 products, each with multiple variations categorized by attributes like size, color, material and so on.

From an SEO perspective, this setup doesn't seem very efficient due to the overall small size of the website. As far as I know, ecommerce websites tend to perform better when they have a larger number of different landing pages.

Currently, none of the auto generated variation URLs (e.g., "?variant=817481875") are indexed by search engines.

How do you recommend solve this issue to expand the website?

Should I try to get all the variation URLs indexed? Or would it be better to focus on keyword research and create optimized category pages? These categories will target specific search intents but still include only the same 6 products.

Click to expand...

Create unique, keyword-targeted category pages instead of indexing variant URLs. This keeps your SEO clean, improves relevance, and avoids duplicate content or crawl waste.

Bro don’t try to index variant URLs. They’re also weak for SEO. You can make keyword-targeted collection pages. Each page should focus on one search intent, like “black cotton hoodie”, understand this???
Show filtered versions of your 6 products on those pages. It makes your site more bigger. You should also use blogs and internal links to boost SEO. That's simple & just do it!!!

Building out category pages with specific keyword optimization could be more effective. It lets you target long tail keywords and relevant search intents while still focusing on just 6 products

Great question! You're thinking in the right direction by focusing on how to expand your website's SEO potential despite having a small product range.

Here’s what I recommend:​

Do NOT focus on getting variant URLs indexed.
Shopify’s auto-generated variant URLs (like ?variant=xxxx) typically don’t hold SEO value and are often considered duplicate content. Search engines usually ignore them, and trying to force their indexing won’t help your rankings.

Focus on creating SEO-optimized collection/category pages.
Even with the same 6 products, you can structure your site to target different search intents and long-tail keywords by creating:

• Collection pages based on product features (e.g., "Red Leather Wallets," "Eco-Friendly Cotton Shirts").
• Landing pages for specific use cases (e.g., "Best Travel-Friendly Wallets").

Create unique content per category/landing page.
Include detailed descriptions, buying guides, FAQs, and customer reviews to make each page valuable and unique for search engines.

Consider adding related blog content.
Target informational keywords that link internally to your products and category pages. This will boost topical authority and help your store appear larger to Google.

Optimize for Internal Linking.
Make sure all your collection pages, blogs, and home page link to each other properly to spread link equity throughout the site.

Final Tip:​

Instead of focusing on variants, focus on expanding user search paths with smart keyword research, long-tail variations, and intent-specific landing pages. This will grow your website’s footprint in a sustainable and Google-friendly way.

John CH said:

Bro don’t try to index variant URLs. They’re also weak for SEO. You can make keyword-targeted collection pages. Each page should focus on one search intent, like “black cotton hoodie”, understand this???
Show filtered versions of your 6 products on those pages. It makes your site more bigger. You should also use blogs and internal links to boost SEO. That's simple & just do it!!!

Click to expand...

I understand the logic creating keyword based categories, but how should the products within these categories be presented? Should I include all variant URLs that align with the users intent?