Online Store includes a “Page Settings” section on each page, allowing for the configuration of key technical and SEO elements. This article outlines each setting and provides recommended best practices for effective page optimization.
Title
The title defines the name and appears in several areas across your website. It also displays on your website's navigation menu (if enabled) and serves as the Title Tag for search engines and social media.
It's best to keep page titles short—ideally one or two words. For example, use "Furniture Styles” or simply “Styles” for a page on furniture design. Short titles are clearer and more user-friendly.
Handle
The handle is the part of the URL that identifies a specific page on your site—also known as the slug. It follows the root domain in the URL.
For example, in www.ricoconsign.com/features, the handle is "features."
This is what comes directly after the base URL. If this page is nested under a parent page, the handle will appear directly after the parent page's handle. For instance: https://www.ricoconsign.com/store-types/consignment-stores. In this example, "store-types" is the parent page handle, and "consignment-stores" is the child page handle.
Handle Best Practices
Use lowercase letters only to make handles and URLs easier to read.
Do not use periods (.) or slashes(/) —these are reserved characters in web development and can break your page.
Keep it short and relevant. Remove unnecessary words. For example, instead of "Understanding Kids and Youth Sizes," use "youth-sizing."
Separate words with dashes. Do not use spaces or underscores.
Parent Page
The parent page is the page under which a new page is nested. For most online retail sites, customer-facing pages have the Home page as their parent.
You might change this if the new page belongs within a custom section. For example, a page titled Paint Types could have individual pages underneath like Acrylic Paints and Enamel Paints.
When you select a parent, that page's handle will follow afterwards in the URL—for example: storesample.com/paint-types/acrylic
Show Page in Nav
This toggle controls whether the page appears in your website’s primary navigation menu.
When to Use It
In most cases, this should be enabled, especially for main pages linked directly from the homepage.
However, if the page is a child (i.e., it has a parent page other than Home), it may not need to appear in the main navigation. If the parent page is included in the navigation and this toggle is enabled, the child page will appear as a dropdown item under the parent.
When to Turn It Off
For marketing campaigns, it’s common to create standalone landing pages—such as for a seasonal sale or promotion. These pages should not appear in the main navigation, so this toggle should be disabled.
This allows you to link directly from digital ads while keeping the page hidden from regular site visitors. It also ensures you can accurately track ad-driven traffic to that page.
Meta Description
With Ricochet, products automatically have a meta description based on the product descriptions. However, custom pages need to have a meta description written.
What is a meta description?
A meta description is a brief summary of a web page's content that appears below the page title in search engine results.
While it doesn’t directly affect search rankings, a well-written meta description can increase click-through rates by helping users understand what the page is about before they click.
Example:
Best Practices:
Keep it under 160 characters.
Make it clear and compelling.
Include keywords relevant to the page's topic.
Write it like an invitation—tell users what they’ll get from visiting the page.