Magento Open Source SEO audit: the issues built into Magento Open Source — and how to fix them

Audit your XML sitemap and internal linking so that every product and category page is discoverable and crawlable by Google — not hidden behind JavaScript, pagination, or missing links.

1. 1Follow the same steps as Adobe Commerce (Magento) above — the admin paths and sitemap configuration are identical in Magento Open Source.
2. 2Run bin/magento indexer:reindex after making visibility or category changes to ensure the sitemap and flat tables are up to date.
3. 3Check pub/robots.txt via Admin › Content › Design › Configuration to confirm crawl paths are open.

<!-- CORRECT: Standard crawlable link -->
<a href="/products/blue-running-shoes">Blue Running Shoes</a>

<!-- WRONG: JavaScript-only — Googlebot cannot follow this -->
<span onclick="navigate('/products/blue-running-shoes')">Blue Running Shoes</span>

Reduce Interaction to Next Paint (INP) to under 200 ms by breaking up long JavaScript tasks, deferring non-critical third-party scripts, and lightening event handlers so the page feels fast and responsive after every tap or click.

1. 1Follow all Adobe Commerce (Magento) steps above — the admin paths and configuration options are identical.
2. 2Additionally, use the free Yireo Webp2 or Hyva theme (if applicable) — the Hyva theme replaces Magento's heavy RequireJS/KnockoutJS stack with lightweight Alpine.js + Tailwind CSS, which dramatically reduces INP on many stores.
3. 3Run `bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy` and `bin/magento cache:flush` after any JS configuration change.

Point the rel=canonical on every faceted/filter URL to its clean parent category URL (or add noindex), so Google treats filtered pages as a single authoritative page instead of thousands of duplicates.

1. 1Same steps as Adobe Commerce (Magento) above — go to Stores → Configuration → Catalog → Catalog → Search Engine Optimization and set 'Use Canonical Link Meta Tag for Categories' to 'Yes'.
2. 2For community extensions that add faceted/layered navigation, check the extension's configuration for SEO options including canonical and noindex settings.
3. 3After configuration, flush the cache via System → Cache Management and verify by inspecting a filtered URL's page source.

<head>
  <!-- Canonical points to the CLEAN category URL, not the filtered variant -->
  <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/womens-pants">
</head>

Add descriptive alt text to every product and content image so search engines and screen readers can understand what the image shows.

1. 1FOR PRODUCT IMAGES: Admin > Catalog > Products > open product > Images and Videos section > hover over image > gear icon > fill 'Alt Text' field > Save.
2. 2FOR CMS CONTENT: Admin > Content > Pages or Blocks > open item > WYSIWYG editor > click image > Insert Image icon > fill 'Image Description' (alt) field.
3. 3FOR BULK IMPORT: System > Data Transfer > Import > select Products entity type > prepare CSV with additional_image_labels column populated > upload and import.

<!-- BEFORE (missing alt — bad) -->
<img src="/images/red-leather-bag.jpg">

<!-- AFTER (descriptive alt — correct) -->
<img src="/images/red-leather-bag.jpg" alt="Red leather crossbody bag with gold buckle clasp">

<!-- Decorative image (intentionally empty alt — correct) -->
<img src="/images/divider-line.png" alt="">