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Are Numeric IDs in URLs Worth Removing? A PrestaShop Case Study

PrestaShop includes numeric IDs in product URLs by default:

/12-product-name.html

Many store owners prefer a clean URL PrestaShop setup, removing IDs to create what are often called search engine friendly URLs:

/product-name.html

But does changing the URL structure for SEO actually improve performance, or is it mostly cosmetic?

This post summarizes what changed when migrating a ~40k product store to a PrestaShop SEO friendly URL structure without numeric IDs.

How PrestaShop Routing Works

Default format:

{id}-{rewrite}.html

The ID guarantees uniqueness and allows fast primary-key lookups.

When switching to slug-only URLs, routing must:

Resolve slug → product ID

Enforce uniqueness

Prevent collisions

Maintain backward compatibility

Generate accurate 301 redirects

This shifts resolution from primary-key queries to indexed slug lookups.

Do Search Engine Friendly URLs Improve SEO?

Google doesn’t rank pages higher just because numeric IDs are removed.

However, URL structure for SEO can influence:

1. Crawl Efficiency

Large catalogs often suffer from:

Faceted navigation duplication

Multiple category paths

Canonical inconsistencies

In our migration, removing IDs was part of a broader cleanup:

18% fewer duplicate indexed URLs

22% drop in “Crawled – currently not indexed”

More stable crawl patterns

The gains came from canonical normalization and redirect discipline, not from aesthetics alone.

2. Canonical & Duplication Risks

Without numeric IDs, slug uniqueness becomes critical.

If two products share:

/blue-shirt.html

You must enforce:

Unique slug validation

Automatic disambiguation

Collision testing before launch

Poor implementation can introduce soft 404s and duplicate content — the opposite of intended SEO improvements.

3. Database & Performance Impact

Default lookup:

SELECT * FROM ps_product WHERE id_product = ?

Slug lookup:

SELECT * FROM ps_product WHERE link_rewrite = ?

This requires:

Indexed slug fields

Proper collation

Optimized multilingual joins

We observed a modest 3–5% increase in DB load, mitigated with indexing and caching. Performance differences were negligible compared to improvements from image optimization and JS reduction.

Migration Lessons (40k Products)

Practical PrestaShop SEO tips from the migration:

Generate a full old→new redirect map

Store historical slugs

Validate 301s before launch

Crawl staging environment

Monitor Search Console daily post-launch

Enforce slug uniqueness at DB level

Results:

~4% temporary traffic dip

Full recovery within 5 weeks

Improved index stability

When Removing IDs Makes Sense

A clean URL PrestaShop structure is justified when:

You are redesigning routing anyway

You’re fixing crawl waste

You have redirect tooling

You enforce strict slug governance

It’s less justified for small stores with stable rankings and no crawl issues.

In many cases, stronger internal linking, canonical cleanup, and faceted navigation control deliver greater SEO impact than changing URL format.

Final Thought

Clean URLs are often framed as a universal best practice. In reality, search engine friendly URLs are only one component of a larger system involving routing, canonicalization, and crawl efficiency.

The real question isn’t whether numeric IDs look cleaner — it’s whether the architectural change measurably reduces duplication and improves indexing.

For large PrestaShop stores, implementation quality matters far more than URL cosmetics.