SEO settings
Two settings that make a filtered view something a browser and a search engine can actually work with.
In short
The SEO section of Global Settings holds two toggles. Filter With URL writes the visitor's selections into the page address, so a filtered view can be bookmarked, shared and returned to. Schema adds structured data describing the results list. Both apply to the filter you're editing.
Filter With URL
Filtering happens without reloading the page, which is what makes it feel quick - but it also means the address bar would otherwise never change. Whatever a visitor has narrowed down to exists only in that browser tab.
Switch this on and the active filters are written into the URL. That turns a filtered view into a real address: someone can bookmark the exact set of results they were looking at, send that link to a friend, or come back to it later and see the same thing. It also means a link into a filtered view works when someone else opens it, rather than dropping them at the unfiltered page.
Tip
This is the one to turn on first. A shop page filtered to a size and colour, or an archive filtered to a topic and a year, is exactly the kind of link people send each other, and without it every one of those links lands on the unfiltered page instead.
Schema
Schema adds structured data describing the results list - a machine-readable summary of what's on the page, sitting alongside the visible markup. Search engines read it to understand that the page is a list of items rather than a wall of text, which is what lets a listing be represented properly in results.
Two toggles, both applying to this filter.
Note
Both settings belong to the filter you're editing, not to the site. A filter built for your shop can have them on while another used in a sidebar widget doesn't - set them per filter as it suits.
FAQ
Why doesn't the URL change when I filter?
Filter With URL is off. Switch it on in the SEO section of Global Settings.
Can visitors share a filtered view?
Yes, once Filter With URL is on - the selections are in the address, so the link opens the same filtered results.
What does Schema add?
Structured data describing the results list, which search engines read to understand what the page contains.
Are these site-wide?
No - both are per filter, set in that filter's Global Settings.
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