The rule that solves most of it: a customer should reach any product in three taps. Home → category → product.
If it takes five, you do not have a design problem. You have a structure problem — and it shows up in sales before it shows up anywhere else.
Want an opinion on your structure?
Send us your category list and we will propose a restructure.
How many levels and how many categories
| Catalogue size | Levels | Top-level categories |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 products | 1 | 3 – 5 |
| 50 – 300 | 2 | 5 – 8 |
| 300 – 2,000 | 2–3 | 6 – 10 |
| Over 2,000 | 3 | 8 – 12 |
Never more than three levels. At the fourth, neither customers find things nor search engines crawl them properly.
And one fullness rule: every category needs at least 5–8 products. A category with two products is not a category — it is a page that disappoints.
If you have those, merge them. A catalogue with fewer but fuller categories sells more.
Category or filter? The rule that never fails
The most common confusion, and it has a clean answer:
Category = what the product is. Filter = what it is like.
| Example | Category | Filter |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | Dresses, Trousers | Size, Colour, Price |
| Coffee | Beans, Capsules | Origin, Roast |
| Furniture | Chairs, Tables | Material, Dimensions |
| Cosmetics | Skincare, Make-up | Skin type, Brand |
The test: would somebody search for it on Google? “Midi dresses” yes, so a category. “Dresses in size M” no, so a filter.
There is a middle case too: a combination with real demand (“running shoes”) deserves its own page, with its own copy. The logic is set out in e-shop SEO.
The filters you actually need
Fewer and better, not everything the platform allows.
The four essentials: price, availability, size or dimension where relevant, and sorting by popularity.
What makes them useful:
- A result count beside every option.
- No options with zero products.
- They stay applied when the customer comes back from a product.
- They are visible on mobile, not buried behind an unclear icon — see why in mobile-first.
One technical point that costs quietly: URLs with multiple filters applied should not be indexed. Otherwise you create thousands of near-identical pages competing with each other.
How to name categories
In the customer’s words, not the supplier’s.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| “Apparel items” | “Clothing” |
| “Cleaning solutions” | “Cleaning products” |
| “Premium range” | “Professional tools” |
| “Category A” | What it actually is |
Three rules: short, obvious, the way somebody would say it on the phone. Internal names and supplier codes stay in the system, not in the menu.
A category page is more than a grid
Most category pages are bare product photos. Three things are missing:
- A short 60–100 word introduction at the top, saying what they will find and helping the page rank.
- A choosing guide, where it makes sense: sizes, compatibility, differences.
- Answers to 3–4 common questions at the bottom.
The third works twice over: it reduces phone calls and captures searches no product page ever will.
Want a category page template?
Tell us what you sell and we will send a structure with an example.
Breadcrumbs and internal linking
Breadcrumbs (Home › Clothing › Dresses) do three things at once: they show the customer where they are, they offer a way up rather than a way out of the site, and they appear in search results.
They belong on every product and category page, with structured data.
Add links between related categories too: from “Dresses” to “Belts”, from “Coffee” to “Filters”. They raise average order value more than any checkout upsell.
What to do with out-of-stock products
The most misunderstood area. Do not delete the page.
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Returning soon | Keep it, with a back-in-stock alert |
| Not returning, replacement exists | Redirect to the new product |
| Not returning, no equivalent | Redirect to the category |
| Seasonal | Keep it, marked “returning” |
Deleting without a redirect hands you 404 errors and throws away the value of links you worked to earn.
And for out-of-stock items within a category: at the end of the list, not hidden. A customer who sees them understands the shop is alive.
Frequently asked questions
Can a product sit in two categories?
Yes, but one is primary. Keep a stable URL and breadcrumb, otherwise you create duplicates.
How often should I change the structure?
Rarely, and always with redirects. Every URL change costs something temporarily.
Do I need site search?
Above 100 products, yes. And review what visitors search for — it is free market research.
How does this affect Google Shopping?
Categories feed your product data. The wrong structure means the wrong mapping — see the Google Shopping guide.
How many products per page?
24–48 with pagination. Infinite scroll makes it hard to return to where the customer was.
The first step
Open your e-shop and try to reach three random products, counting taps.
If any takes more than three, start there. And while you are in it, check whether categories have any copy — if not, see product descriptions for the tone.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will look at your catalogue and propose a structure.