Search engine optimization helps boost a brand’s online visibility. Though it helps an organization expand its audience, there are also factors that can make or break an SEO content.
A faceted navigation system makes the search more refined and specific by simplifying user interfaces that contain large amounts of information.
With millions of daily searches, this navigation system prevents search engines from providing results that are less relevant and important.
Relevance to E-commerce
E-commerce is short for electric or internet commerce, referring to buying and selling products or services via online channels.
How is faceted navigation relevant to e-commerce?
E-commerce sites often deal with extensive search results that can mislead potential customers. Here is where faceted navigation comes into the picture.
If you are an ecommerce site, naturally, you would list down all your products on your webpage. But from a consumer’s point of view, this might be a hassle. A consumer would like to be directed straight to their desired product.
With the help of facets, the consumer can avoid the hassle of going through all the site’s contents and go straight ahead to what they are looking for.
In the long run, this will lead to customer satisfaction and retention.
Filters or Facets?
You may be now thinking that facets are somewhat similar to filters. Well, let uss walk through facets and filters and see how they differ.
Both filters and facets exist on page.
A web page usually contains information on different topics. As a page visitor, you would probably choose to narrow down your searches.
Let’s say you visit a certain webpage in hopes to buy cowboy boots for a birthday party you are invited to, and upon landing on a webpage, you drown on the list of products the webpage has to offer. Instead of cowboy boots, you are welcomed by dresses and hats.
Both filters and facets can help you.
Filters narrow down your searches without changing between search queries. Filters are general and broad, while facets are always specific to your search queries. If you know what you want to see on a webpage, you can select multiple facets at once and voila! Here come your refined results.
Going back to the example, you can use facets to simplify your search to cowboy boots, size, color and even design.
Challenges and How to Fix Them
Since everything has pros and cons, faceted navigation can also cause problems for SEOs. If not careful, faceted navigation can cause duplicate pages or contents. To fix this, SEO writers can block pages they think should not be indexed or displayed.
Faceted navigation is tricky and can serve as a double-edged sword if not executed properly. It is best to have experts work on the webpage to ensure better results. At the end of the day, you would like to have a webpage that is easy to navigate and customer-friendly.