Site-wide SEO settings

The SEO tab lists every page with a switch for whether it appears in search results. Most pages should. The deliberate exceptions are thank-you pages, hold pages, and anything meant only for people who already have a link.

Hidden pages stay reachable at their address; they are simply not offered to search engines, and the list marks them so they are not forgotten.

Writing titles page by page is the ideal; the title pattern is the safety net for everything else. It builds a title from each page's own name: {page} | {site} by default. Pages with a written title always win over the pattern.

The default share image is what appears when a page with no image of its own is shared in a message. A tidy logo or photograph here makes every link look deliberate.

Business details come first on the SEO tab: your type of business, a short description, address, opening hours and contact details, and a price range from £ for inexpensive to ££££ for the top end, or not set where it does not apply. Search engines use them for local results, so fill in only what is true and current.

SEO checks look at every page of the draft for the ordinary mistakes: missing titles, duplicate descriptions, headings, images without descriptions, broken links and thin pages. Links to your shop and catalogue count as real pages of the website: the listing, categories, products with their own page, collections with a page, offers, search, the basket and the checkout. Findings are grouped into things to fix, improvements and tips; a site does not need every tip before it is published.

Service area pages build local pages from a pattern you write once, and Google and Bing verification codes, under Search engines, confirm the site belongs to you.

When the website has products, the SEO tab lists them with their categories under Products and categories, with a search box and the issues found for each, such as a missing description. Edit search details opens a panel for one product or category: its own title and description in search results, a preview of how it may look, and Hide from search engines.

A hidden product or category stays on the website for anyone with the link; it is simply not offered to search engines. Right-click a row, or use its menu, to edit the search details, open the product or category, or open it on the website. The shop guides cover everything else about products.