What are related collections (and why do they matter)?

When building a user-friendly eCommerce site, especially on platforms like Shopify, the challenge of organising products effectively is both an art and a science. One of our favourite methods for this is related collections.

But what are they, and how do they enhance SEO, user experience (UX) and conversion rate? Let’s take a closer look.

Shopify's flat structure

Shopify excels in simplicity, but it comes with a significant limitation: it has a flat URL structure without native sub-categories. While filters provide some level of product organisation, a major challenge is that these can't be indexed by search engines or integrated effectively with Google Ads.

This creates a gap for store owners who want to implement a robust site taxonomy and improve discoverability without cluttering navigation menus. Enter related collections…

What are related collections?

Related collections are curated links between similar or complementary product groups, presented on a page to guide users through logical pathways. They serve as a middle ground between simple filters and full-fledged faceted navigation systems, requiring less custom development while still enhancing navigation.

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For example, Marks & Spencer uses related collections effectively. Take their Women’s Jeans page: links to related categories such as skinny jeans, straight-leg jeans, or cropped jeans are displayed prominently. These curated links feel intuitive to users, presenting options in a clear, manageable way.

Our customisable related collections module

At Blink, we’ve built a customisable related collections module that makes implementing this feature straightforward and scalable. Our module not only creates a seamless experience for users but also includes:

• Schema markup: Ensuring collections are fully optimised for search engines, improving their visibility and helping products rank better in search results.
• Ease of use: Merchants can customise related collections quickly, selecting which links to show and adding images or descriptive text effortlessly.
• Integration with Macaroni: A key feature of Macaroni is its ability to suggest new collections based on a store’s product catalogue. However, these still need to be discoverable on a store, making related collections an ideal solution.

This module allows Shopify stores to implement related collections without complex development or manual work.

Key benefits

• Improved user experience: 

  Users don’t always enter a site knowing precisely what they want. Related collections allow them to discover adjacent or complementary categories, reducing friction in the browsing experience.

• Improved SEO: 

  Unlike filters, related collections can be crawled and indexed by search engines, improving visibility in organic search results.

• Better conversion rates: 

  By guiding users to more specific or relevant collections, you increase the likelihood of them finding the perfect product — and completing a purchase. CRO studies, such as those from Evidoo, show that better navigation often correlates with higher sales.

• Scalability: 

  Related collections provide a straightforward way to add structure without overhauling navigation menus. This is particularly valuable for stores with large catalogues, where adding every sub-category to the main navigation isn’t practical.

Best practices

• Limit the options: Around eight related collections strike the right balance between choice and simplicity.
• Use visual cues: Add images or concise, descriptive text for each link to make them more engaging.
• Curate thoughtfully: Links should feel logical and genuinely helpful — not just thrown together for SEO purposes.

Why schema matters

One often overlooked advantage of related collections is their potential to enhance structured data. With proper schema markup, your related collections can help search engines understand the relationship between categories on your store. Our custom module takes care of this automatically.

Final thoughts

For Shopify merchants navigating the challenges of flat site architecture, related collections are an extremely valuable feature. They not only enhance the browsing experience but also drive real results by improving search visibility and conversions. With our customisable related collections’ module, implementation is straightforward, with added schema benefits too.