Duplicate Product Slugs
Definition
A duplicate product slug occurs when two or more products, pages, or posts in a WordPress-powered WooCommerce site have the same URL-friendly identifier, known as a slug.
This can lead to SEO issues, broken links, or product confusion, especially if old slugs are not redirected properly after changes.
Good or Bad
Bad for both user experience and search engine visibility
Search engines may index the wrong version of the page or treat duplicates as low-quality content
Customers may be directed to outdated products or see incorrect URLs
Why It Matters
The slug is part of the product’s URL and should always be unique to avoid routing conflicts.
If two products share a similar name, WordPress will automatically append a number to the slug, which is functional but not ideal for clarity or branding.
Over time, if you delete or rename products, their slugs may linger and cause issues with redirection, indexing, and customer navigation.
Common Mistakes
Not checking for leftover slugs after deleting or renaming products
Renaming products without updating redirects
Overusing generic product names like product or test
Ignoring permalink warnings when publishing new products
How to Improve It
Use descriptive and unique product names that generate distinct slugs
Manage old and unused slugs by regularly reviewing and deleting outdated permalink entries
Redirect old URLs to new ones to preserve SEO value and user access
Use a plugin to detect and clean up old or duplicate slugs
Recommended Plugin
Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks
This plugin allows you to detect and remove leftover or duplicate slugs from deleted or modified posts and products.
It helps maintain clean URLs and prevents WordPress from creating unnecessary numeric suffixes in your permalinks.
Real-World Example
A store sells a product called Smart Watch. After renaming it to Smart Fitness Tracker, a new slug is created. However, the old slug smart-watch remains in the database.
Later, the owner tries to reuse Smart Watch for a different product, but WordPress appends -2 to the URL. The result is confusion for customers and duplicate content in search engines.
Related Terms
- Permalink
- URL Slug
- Redirect
- Product SEO
FAQs
What is a product slug in WooCommerce
It is the URL-friendly version of a product name, used in the page address
Why does WooCommerce add -2 or -3 to some product URLs
This happens when a slug is already taken by another product or an old deleted item that still has its slug stored
How do I fix duplicate slugs in WooCommerce
Use a plugin like Slugs Manager to remove old slugs or manually update and redirect URLs to avoid duplicates
