If you’re running an online store on Demandware (now called Salesforce Commerce Cloud), you probably already know how powerful the platform is for managing large-scale eCommerce operations. It’s trusted by global brands because it can handle complex product catalogs, multiple regions, and high-volume traffic with ease.
But here’s the catch: having a strong eCommerce platform doesn’t guarantee visibility in search engines. Without proper SEO, even the most beautifully designed Demandware store can struggle to attract organic traffic. And in eCommerce, traffic means sales.
So why is SEO so critical for Demandware sites? Because most customers start their buying journey with a Google search. If your products don’t show up when they search, you’re leaving money on the table.
However, optimizing a Demandware site comes with its own set of challenges:
- Duplicate content from product variants and faceted navigation.
- Dynamic, messy URLs that aren’t very search-friendly.
- Limited control over some SEO elements due to how Demandware handles templates and code.
That might sound like a lot, but don’t worry. The good news is that these issues can be fixed with the right approach.
This guide will walk you through practical, step-by-step ways to optimize your Demandware store for search engines so your site can rank higher, attract more visitors, and convert better.
Understanding SEO Challenges in Demandware
Demandware (Salesforce Commerce Cloud) is built for enterprise-level eCommerce, which makes it flexible for business operations but sometimes restrictive for SEO. Before jumping into fixes, let’s quickly understand the most common challenges you’ll face:
1. Limited Access to Code-Level Customization
Unlike open-source platforms like Magento or WooCommerce, Demandware is a hosted, closed system. This means you don’t always have full freedom to tweak the backend code the way you want. Certain SEO updates—like adding custom schema markup or changing how canonical tags are implemented—may require developer involvement or workarounds within Business Manager.
2. Dynamic URL Structures That Create Duplicate Content
Demandware often generates URLs with unnecessary parameters, especially when it comes to faceted navigation (filters like size, color, price). For example:
/mens/shoes/running
vs./on/demandware.store/Sites-Site/default/Category-Show?cgid=mens-shoes&sz=24&start=0
These long, dynamic URLs can confuse search engines and result in duplicate content issues, which waste your crawl budget and hurt rankings.
3. Page Speed Issues
Because Demandware sites are feature-rich, they sometimes come with heavy JavaScript, large CSS files, or bulky design elements. All of this slows down load time, which directly impacts Core Web Vitals and SEO. Google has made it clear: faster sites rank better and convert more visitors.
4. Canonical Tags and Metadata Limitations
By default, Demandware doesn’t always handle canonical tags and metadata perfectly. If left unchecked, multiple product variants (different sizes, colors) may all compete against each other in search results. Similarly, generic or duplicate meta titles can hurt your click-through rate. Customizing these at scale often needs developer help or careful use of templates.
5. SEO Requires Collaboration
One of the biggest realities with Demandware SEO is that SEOs and developers must work hand in hand. While you can control some aspects (like meta tags, URL rules, or sitemaps) inside Business Manager, other critical fixes (structured data, speed optimizations, advanced canonical setups) usually require development support.
Practical Steps for SEO in Demandware
Now that you know the common challenges, let’s move into step-by-step solutions. These are practical actions you can take (with your team or developer) to make Demandware more SEO-friendly.
Step 1: Optimize URL Structures
Search engines love clean, keyword-rich URLs because they’re easier to crawl and more user-friendly. By default, Demandware generates long and messy URLs with parameters like ?cgid=category-id.
- What to do:
- Use Business Manager → Merchant Tools → SEO URL Rules to configure cleaner URL patterns.
- Remove unnecessary session IDs or tracking parameters.
- Stick to a hierarchy structure:
domain.com/category/subcategory/product-name.
- Example:
www.example.com/mens/shoes/running-
www.example.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Site/default/Category-Show?cgid=mens-shoes-running
Clean URLs not only look better but also improve click-through rates when they appear in Google.
Step 2: Fix Duplicate Content Issues
Demandware often creates duplicate versions of product pages when users filter by size, color, or price. Google may index these duplicates, wasting crawl budget.
- What to do:
- Apply canonical tags pointing to the main product page.
- Configure unique URLs for each product detail page.
- Use Business Manager → SEO → Canonical URL settings to define a preferred URL structure.
- Example:
Ifred-running-shoesandblue-running-shoesare variants, set canonical tags pointing to the main product page/running-shoes.
This ensures Google indexes the main product instead of spreading ranking signals across duplicates.
Step 3: Metadata Optimization
Default Demandware metadata can be too generic. Without proper optimization, category and product pages won’t rank well.
- What to do:
- Create custom title tags and meta descriptions for every key page.
- Use dynamic templates for scale:
- Title:
Buy [Product Name] Online | [Brand Name] - Meta:
Shop [Product Name] from [Brand]. Available in [Color/Size]. Free shipping on orders above $50.
- Title:
- In Business Manager, use bulk editing to update metadata across categories and products efficiently.
This helps improve rankings and click-through rate (CTR) on search results.
Step 4: Structured Data Markup (Schema)
Structured data helps Google understand your products and display rich results like price, reviews, and stock status.
- What to do:
- Add Product schema with attributes like
name,image,price,availability, andreviewRating. - Implement Breadcrumb schema for better navigation in SERPs.
- Validate with Google Rich Results Test before going live.
- Add Product schema with attributes like
- Example:
Seeing stars ⭐, price, and stock availability under your product in Google results can significantly increase clicks.
Step 5: Optimize Site Speed & Core Web Vitals
Demandware sites often slow down due to heavy scripts and design complexity. Google prioritizes fast-loading, mobile-friendly sites.
- What to do:
- Minimize and combine JavaScript and CSS files.
- Use Demandware’s built-in CDN for faster delivery.
- Compress and lazy-load product images.
- Regularly check Google PageSpeed Insights and fix reported issues.
- Practical Tip: Aim for LCP under 2.5 seconds and CLS under 0.1 to meet Google’s Core Web Vitals standards.
Step 6: Internal Linking Strategy
Smart internal linking guides both users and search engines. Demandware allows you to build this into categories and templates.
- What to do:
- Add links from category pages to best-selling products.
- Use breadcrumb navigation so every page links back to its parent category.
- Enable “related products” and “recently viewed” widgets for deeper linking.
This helps distribute authority across your site and makes it easier for Google to crawl all pages.
Step 7: Mobile SEO Optimization
Most Demandware stores get the majority of traffic from mobile. If your mobile site is slow or broken, rankings will suffer.
- What to do:
- Use responsive templates that adapt to all screen sizes.
- Test mobile usability in Google Search Console.
- Do a quick manual check: open your product pages on a smartphone, check if images load quickly and CTAs are visible.
A smooth mobile experience directly impacts both SEO and conversions.
Step 8: Sitemap & Robots.txt Configuration
Sitemaps and robots.txt files guide search engines to crawl the right pages and ignore useless ones.
- What to do:
- Generate XML sitemaps automatically in Business Manager.
- Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console.
- Block unnecessary URLs in
robots.txt(like session IDs, cart pages, or filtered faceted URLs).
This ensures search engines focus only on your most valuable pages.
Step 9: Multilingual & International SEO (if applicable)
Demandware is often used by global brands. If you serve multiple regions, international SEO is a must.
- What to do:
- Use hreflang tags to indicate language and country versions.
- Structure your site with subdirectories (
/us/,/uk/) or subdomains (us.example.com). - Avoid automatic redirects based on IP—let users and Google choose the right version.
This prevents duplicate content across countries and improves visibility in local searches.
Step 10: Analytics & SEO Tracking
SEO is never “done.” You need proper tracking to measure what’s working.
- What to do:
- Install Google Tag Manager to manage tracking scripts easily.
- Set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track product impressions, clicks, and conversions.
- Use Google Search Console to monitor keyword rankings, indexation, and crawl errors.
Data-driven insights will guide your next SEO improvements.
By following these 10 steps, you’ll cover the core SEO foundations for Demandware: clean URLs, duplicate fixes, speed, mobile, metadata, and international setup.
Advanced SEO Tips for Demandware
Once you’ve nailed the basics—clean URLs, structured data, metadata, and site speed—it’s time to move into advanced optimizations. These strategies will help you scale SEO across thousands of products, manage crawl efficiency, and unlock more flexibility within Demandware.
1. Leverage Demandware Cartridges for SEO
Demandware supports cartridges, which are like plugins or modules that extend functionality. Several third-party cartridges are built specifically for SEO tasks, saving you time and manual work.
- Examples of SEO cartridges:
- XML sitemap automation tools.
- Advanced redirect management systems.
- Plugins for structured data and canonical handling.
- Why it matters: Instead of relying solely on developers, you can use these cartridges to automate recurring SEO tasks and reduce errors.
Pro Tip: Always test cartridges on a staging environment before deploying to your live store.
2. Automate Meta and Canonical Rules for Scalability
If you manage thousands of SKUs, updating metadata manually is impossible. Automation ensures consistency and scalability.
- How to do it:
- Set up dynamic templates for meta titles and descriptions at the category and product level.
- Example:
Buy [Product Name] Online | [Brand] Official Store
- Example:
- Configure automatic canonical rules in Business Manager to ensure filters and product variants point to the correct parent page.
- Set up dynamic templates for meta titles and descriptions at the category and product level.
- Why it matters: Automation saves time while still keeping metadata keyword-rich and unique enough to avoid duplicate issues.
3. Monitor Crawl Budget — Optimize Faceted Navigation and Filters
Faceted navigation (filtering by size, color, brand, etc.) is great for users, but it can overwhelm search engines with millions of low-value URLs. This wastes your crawl budget.
- What to do:
- Block non-essential filter URLs via robots.txt or the
noindextag. - Allow only the most valuable filters (e.g., “mens running shoes”) to be indexed.
- Use Search Console’s crawl stats to monitor how Google is crawling your site.
- Block non-essential filter URLs via robots.txt or the
- Why it matters: A controlled crawl budget ensures Google spends time on your most valuable product and category pages, not endless filter combinations.
4. Integrate Headless Commerce for Flexibility
One of the biggest limitations with Demandware is restricted code-level customization. A headless commerce approach solves this by decoupling the frontend (what users see) from the backend (Demandware).
- What it allows:
- Full control over frontend SEO elements (URLs, schema, speed optimizations).
- Faster performance using modern frameworks like React or Vue.
- Greater freedom to experiment with SEO-friendly page layouts.
- Example: Brands like Puma and Adidas use headless commerce to scale globally while keeping SEO flexibility.
Pro Tip: Going headless is a big investment, so it’s best suited for large brands with global operations.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even though Demandware (Salesforce Commerce Cloud) comes with some built-in SEO features, relying on defaults isn’t enough. Many eCommerce brands make the same mistakes, which quietly hold back their rankings and organic traffic. Here are the big ones to watch out for:
1. Relying Only on Demandware’s Default SEO Setup
Out of the box, Demandware does give you sitemaps, canonical options, and metadata fields. But the default setup is too generic. If you don’t customize these, you’ll end up with duplicate content, messy URLs, and generic titles that don’t help you rank.
Fix: Always review the defaults and adjust them to your SEO strategy instead of leaving them as-is.
2. Not Customizing Product URLs
Long, parameter-heavy URLs are a common issue in Demandware. If you don’t fix this, search engines may not properly index your product pages—and users are less likely to click on them in search results.
Fix: Use SEO-friendly URL rules in Business Manager to make URLs short, clean, and keyword-focused.
3. Ignoring Duplicate Product Variants
Product variants (like different sizes, colors, or styles) often create multiple pages with nearly identical content. If you don’t consolidate them, Google sees this as duplicate content, which weakens your ranking signals.
Fix: Use canonical tags or combine variants under one main product page with dropdown options.
4. Overlooking Structured Data
Many brands miss out on structured data, even though it’s a powerful way to enhance search visibility. Without schema markup, your products may just show as plain blue links in Google, while competitors display price, stock, and ratings.
Fix: Implement Product schema and Breadcrumb schema across your store, and validate it regularly with Google’s Rich Results Test.
SEO + Developer Collaboration
When it comes to Demandware, SEO isn’t just about keywords and content—it’s deeply tied to how the platform is structured. That’s why SEOs and developers need to work hand in hand.
Unlike open-source platforms where marketers can often tweak code directly, Demandware has stricter controls. Many SEO fixes—like structured data, canonical tags, or advanced URL handling—require backend changes in templates or Business Manager.
Why SEOs and Demandware Developers Must Work Together
- SEOs understand how search engines crawl, index, and rank pages.
- Developers understand how to implement those SEO requirements inside Demandware’s framework.
- Without collaboration, SEO recommendations often stay on paper, never making it to the live site.
Real Example: Fixing Canonical Tags
Imagine you have multiple product variants—red shoes, blue shoes, green shoes—all creating separate URLs.
- The SEO’s job: Identify the issue and recommend a canonical pointing to the main product page.
- The developer’s job: Update templates in Business Manager so the correct canonical tag automatically applies to all variants.
- The result: Google consolidates signals to one page, boosting rankings instead of splitting them.
Practical Workflow for Demandware SEO Projects
- SEOs Define Requirements
- Conduct an audit and document issues (e.g., duplicate content, slow LCP, missing schema).
- Provide clear, actionable recommendations.
- Developers Implement in Business Manager / Templates
- Make technical changes in templates, cartridges, or configurations.
- Automate rules where possible (e.g., dynamic canonical tags).
- QA + Test on Staging
- SEOs check changes on a staging environment.
- Validate fixes with tools like Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, or Rich Results Test.
- Once approved, deploy to live.
Conclusion
SEO on Demandware (Salesforce Commerce Cloud) comes with its fair share of challenges but it’s far from impossible. With the right strategy and collaboration between SEOs and developers, you can turn those limitations into opportunities.
The key areas to focus on are:
- Clean, keyword-rich URLs that search engines and users understand.
- Duplicate content fixes through smart use of canonicals and structured navigation.
- Metadata optimization at scale, using templates and dynamic rules.
- Structured data (schema) to unlock rich snippets in search results.
- Site speed and Core Web Vitals, which directly impact rankings and conversions.
Think of SEO not as a one-time setup, but as an ongoing process. Platforms evolve, search engines update their algorithms, and user behavior keeps changing. The Demandware stores that win are the ones that adapt continuously.
If you consistently apply these steps, monitor performance, and refine your approach, your Demandware store can absolutely compete with eCommerce giants and capture more organic traffic.
