SEO

This article explains How to use the SEO component in various models in Hygraph. The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) component is made up of multiple sub-components. Each model in Hygraph that is directly linked to a webpage (Product, Category, Blog, etc.) has an SEO component.

URL Identifier

This is a required field. The part of the URL placed after the domain name and locale (i.e. the slug). For example: hilife-kids-multivitamin. It has to be unique, meaning that it cannot be the same as the URL Identifier of another page within the same domain (blog, brand, category, product, etc.). It cannot contain special characters (?, $, %, #, @, etc.).

Content managers are required to fill the value of the URL Identifier field, as it will be part of the URL which is what will be displayed on the website, and how the URL link will look to the customer. It is important that the default locale field has a value, it serves as a fallback in certain scenarios.

URL Path

The URL path is autogenerated based on the URL identifier and relation with parent or child entities. The URL path is the part of the URL that can be found right after the domain & localization. E.g. a VEX product with URL path "foo-bar" for the English shop, can be found at https://vitaminexpress.org/en/foo-bar.

Once an entry is published, the full URL path will automatically be filled with a value based on the URL Identifier. In theory this means that if an Hygraph user Saves & Publishes the entry, then reloads the page, the URL path should automatically be filled. The URL path can be found twice on an entry: in the SEO component, and right above it at root level of the Hygraph entry.

We need it on the SEO component to build our webpages. The reason it's also there at root level, is because it allows content managers to easily spot and search by the full URL path in the Product List view.

URL path rules differ per tenant: some shops use slashes in the path, others do not. The values between the slashes also depend on the tenant. Some examples:

• The URL path for products for VEX and Bärbel equals the urlIdentifier
• The URL path for a blog type for Bärbel includes its parent blog types
  • Example: a blog type "pflanzenkunde" has a parent blog type "ratgeber".
    • URL path: ratgeber/pflanzenkunde
  • Note: see field "Blog Types" on a blog. The first linked blog type determines the URL path
• The URL path for a blog for Bärbel includes its parent Blog Types
  • Example: a blog "safran" is part of the above blog type "pflanzenkunde"
    • URL path: ratgeber/pflanzenkunde/safran
  • Note: see field "Blog Type Parent" on a Blog Type
• The URL path for a category for Bärbel includes its parent categories
  • Example: a category "koerperpflege" is a subcategory of "naturkosmetik"
    • URL path: naturkosmetik/koerperpflege
  • The category structure is determined in commercetools. In Hygraph do not see this. To determine the URL path, we communicate with commercetools, then set the value in Hygraph.

SEO Title

Meta title for this page in search engines. Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title tag.

SEO Description

Meta description for this page in search engines. Google generally truncates snippets to ~155-160 characters.

No Index

Use this field to not show this page, media, or resource in search results. By default this should be on False. Only when you are creating a temporary page, for instance for campaign, should this be set to true.

No follow

Use this field to allow search engines to index this page, but not index other pages this page links to. By default this should be on False. Only when you are creating a temporary page, for instance for campaign, should this be set to true.

Canonical URL

Optional. Only use in case of duplicate page content. A canonical URL is the URL of the page that Google thinks is most representative from a set of duplicate pages on your site.

Keywords

Use this fields for Keywords that are not allowed to be displayed on the page, but a user might use in the search bar to find this category on the website. Add keywords by clicking + Add to list and remove them by clicking the three dots on an existing one and the clicking remove.

Exclude from search

This field is required. Exclude this page from Algolia search results and recommendations. This is useful for pages that are not meant to be indexed, such as a certain tryout product. By default this should be on False. Only when you are creating a temporary page, for instance for campaign, should this be set to true. This flag is honoured for blogs, products, categories, Pages, Content pages, and Authors.

Open Graph Image

Please provide an image with the size 1200 x 630px. Fallback to main image of the page if existing.

Changing URL Identifier after go-live changes the live URL. Plan redirects if needed. Tenant, storefront, and locale still sit on the parent entry, not on SEO. See Page revalidation after you publish SEO changes, and Save, Publish & Schedule.