With 20 products the structure does not matter. With 200 — it is the difference between a store where everything is found and one people flee. Here is the order.
The three concepts (the big confusion)
- Category = WHAT the product is. Furniture → Chairs. Hierarchical, like folders. This is the skeleton of the store and the menu.
- Attribute = WHAT KIND it is. Colour: black · Size: XL · Material: leather. Repeating data you filter by.
- Tag = a free word for linking (summer collection). Do not overdo it — 5 tags per product help nobody.
Category rules
- Each product in ONE main category (plus a subcategory if needed)
- Two levels max — a third loses both buyer and Google
- Names the way people search: Sneakers, not Footwear for sporting activities
- Every category deserves 2-3 sentences of description — it is a page that can rank
Attributes that work
Products → Attributes: create them once (Colour, Size), tick Enable archives if you want pages per value. Then add values on each product. Rule: if a buyer would want to filter by it — it is an attribute, not a tag.
Filters
With attributes in place, filters work by themselves (widgets or a plugin). In a store with 200+ products, filtering by price and size is where a visitor becomes a buyer. Without filters they scroll ten pages and leave.
The detail that matters
Do not rename categories after indexing without a 301 redirect — the old address will 404, and it may already have Google traffic. If you must — call us, the redirect is one line.