Synthetic teaching example for a website delivery brief. Not a client result, live account test or certification.
Useful filters do not all deserve a search landing page
An ecommerce supplier can make four small menus and unintentionally create a much larger URL space. Before accepting a new collection interface, ask for a finite inventory of the combinations and a separate reason for each search landing page. “The filter exists” is not a business-intent argument.
| Axis | Values | Cumulative combinations |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | 4 | 4 |
| Size | 5 | 20 |
| Material | 6 | 120 |
| Sort order | 8 | 960 |
Use the filled example
Download the finite Node checker and filled input. Run with Node 24 or newer; no account, API or network is used.
node checks.mjs facet-url-budget facet-url-budget.jsonThe checker actually enumerates the Cartesian product of the supplied arrays. It reports generatedCombinations 960 and approvedLandingCandidates 2. Those two candidates, black chairs and linen chairs, are fictional planning choices. They have not been verified as stocked collections, distinct demand or suitable indexed pages. Replace them with reviewed evidence rather than publishing them automatically.
The procurement discussion this number should start
First agree which filters solve a visitor’s shopping task. Next separate stable, useful collections from transient sort orders and empty combinations. Ask how the implementation treats default values, repeated parameters, changed parameter order, pagination and multi-select controls. The 960 figure covers none of those extra dimensions and is not a measured crawl count.
For each proposed landing page, require distinct product availability, useful selection guidance and a continuing owner. A crawl rule, canonical preference and indexability decision do different jobs. Obtain a reviewed implementation plan before applying any of them; do not bulk point valid collections elsewhere simply to lower a warning count.
This resource does not request URLs, change robots.txt, add canonicals or edit an existing shop. It is an original scoping exercise for a new interface, not an automatic recommendation to index 960 pages or block every parameter. Real logs and actual rendered combinations are still required before a technical change.
Primary facts and limits
Google faceted-navigation guidance: Parameter combinations can waste crawling resources and delay discovery of useful URLs.
Sources reviewed 15 October 2026. The supplied input and acceptance rules are original teaching design; check current platform versions and your actual delivery contract before implementation.