Overview
When managing your e-commerce store on the ECI EvolutionX platform, you may notice suffixes like "--41" or "-w" in URLs, such as https://www.yourstore.com/tig-welding-gloves--41 (category) or https://www.yourstore.com/med-lens-cleaning-station-w (product). Some dealers perceive these suffixes as creating an unpolished user experience or improper URL structure. This article explains why these suffixes are a deliberate and essential part of EvolutionX’s design, ensuring a reliable, scalable, and SEO-friendly e-commerce experience.
How Are URLs Generated?
In the ECI EvolutionX platform, URLs are systematically generated to reflect your product and category data:
Product Page URLs: These are created based on the product’s title or short description. For example, the product "MED Lens Cleaning Station W/ 8 oz Solution / 600 Wipes (Item Code: RADLCS080600)" generates a URL like https://www.yourstore.com/med-lens-cleaning-station-w.
Category URLs: These are derived from category names. For example, the category "TIG Welding Gloves" results in a URL like https://www.yourstore.com/tig-welding-gloves--41.
To ensure uniqueness, especially when products or categories share similar names, EvolutionX’s robust URL validation process automatically appends suffixes (e.g., "--41" or "-w") to avoid conflicts and maintain distinct URLs across your store.
Why Do URLs Have Suffixes?
The suffixes serve several critical purposes:
Unique Identification: Suffixes ensure each product or category page has a unique URL, preventing conflicts when names are similar. For example, multiple categories related to welding gloves might share the base URL tig-welding-gloves, so a suffix like "--41" distinguishes a specific category, while "-w" differentiates a product like the lens cleaning station.
SEO Optimization: Unique URLs allow search engines to index each page distinctly, improving discoverability for customers searching for specific products or categories. Over 700 EvolutionX-powered stores use this same URL structure and consistently dominate search engine rankings in their respective markets, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Data Integrity: Suffixes support EvolutionX’s routing logic, ensuring customers are directed to the correct product or category page without errors, even in large catalogs with thousands of items.
Scalability: The URL validation process allows duplicate base URLs (e.g., tig-welding-gloves) to coexist without issues, accommodating extensive or complex product and category inventories. Due to the dynamic nature of the system, reserved URLs are constantly changing, and it’s not possible to provide a static list of them.
Can URLs Be Changed?
Due to the fundamental architecture of the ECI EvolutionX platform, URLs cannot be modified once created. This fixed structure, based on product titles and category names, is essential to maintaining the platform’s stability and operational efficiency across all stores. There is no inherent need to change these URLs, as they are designed to work seamlessly within EvolutionX’s architecture, ensuring a consistent and reliable user experience. Attempting to alter URLs is unnecessary and could complicate your store’s configuration, potentially affecting navigation or search engine performance.
Do Suffixes Affect SEO?
The suffixes, such as "--41" or "-w," have no negative impact on search engine optimization (SEO). They are a standard e-commerce practice to ensure scalability and reliability, particularly for sites with extensive product and category catalogs like yours. By generating URLs from product titles and category names with unique suffixes, EvolutionX enhances search engine indexing, ensuring that products like "MED Lens Cleaning Station W/" or categories like "TIG Welding Gloves" are easily discoverable. The success of over 700 EvolutionX stores in achieving strong search engine rankings further confirms that these suffixes do not hinder visibility or performance.
Benefits for Your Store
The URL structure in EvolutionX provides several advantages:
Enhanced User Navigation: Customers are reliably directed to the intended product or category page, such as the correct welding glove category or lens cleaning station product.
Improved Search Visibility: URLs generated from product titles and category names with unique suffixes help search engines rank your content effectively, driving traffic to your store, as evidenced by the success of hundreds of EvolutionX-powered stores.
Simplified Management: The platform’s URL validation process reduces the risk of errors when adding new products or categories with similar names.
Consistency Across Stores: The standardized URL structure ensures all EvolutionX-powered stores operate smoothly, regardless of catalog size.
Addressing Common Concerns
If you’re concerned about how URLs appear to customers, rest assured that most users focus on product or category details (e.g., name, price, or specifications) rather than the URL structure. The suffixes do not detract from the user experience, as they are a backend feature designed to enhance functionality. For example, a customer browsing https://www.yourstore.com/tig-welding-gloves--41 (category) or https://www.yourstore.com/med-lens-cleaning-station-w (product) will still see clear information, such as the category "Head & Face Protection" or product specifications, without being affected by the suffix.
Next Steps
There’s no need to adjust your URLs, as they are optimized for performance within EvolutionX based on product titles and category names. If you have concerns about your store’s URL structure, product data exports, or other platform features, please contact our support team via intercom from the admin or your store. We’re here to help you maximize the benefits of your EvolutionX-powered e-commerce store.