Product URLs are SEO-friendly with slugs, not IDs

URLs like /products/clk123abc456 give search engines and humans zero keyword signal, cost rankings on long-tail product queries, and make every shared link look like spam. Competitors using slug-based URLs rank above you for the same inventory. Swapping product platforms or re-seeding the database also breaks every external link because IDs shift, whereas stable slugs survive migrations and preserve the findability equity you already earned.

Add a unique slug column to the product model in prisma/schema.prisma, backfill it from product names, then move the route to src/app/products/[slug]/page.tsx and look up by slug:

model Product {
  id   String @id @default(cuid())
  slug String @unique
}

export default async function ProductPage({ params }) {
  const product = await prisma.product.findUnique({ where: { slug: params.slug } })
}

• ID: ecommerce-catalog.search-discovery.seo-friendly-urls

• Severity: low

• What to look for: Count all product page routes in the codebase. Enumerate the URL pattern used: src/app/products/[id]/page.tsx (ID-based) vs src/app/products/[slug]/page.tsx (slug-based). Check the product schema for a slug field with a unique constraint. If using Next.js, check generateStaticParams or dynamic route parameter names.

• Pass criteria: Product page routes use descriptive slugs (e.g., /products/[slug]/page.tsx) and the product schema has a slug field with @unique constraint. At least 90% of products in seed data have meaningful slugs (not UUIDs or numeric IDs). Report: "URL pattern: [pattern], X of Y products have meaningful slugs."

• Fail criteria: Product URLs use only numeric IDs or UUIDs (e.g., /products/[id]/page.tsx with id being a UUID), or the product schema has no slug field.

• Skip (N/A) when: Products are accessed via API only, not through human-readable URLs — confirmed by absence of product page routes in src/app/.

• Cross-reference: For URL structure and crawlability, the SEO Fundamentals audit covers URL patterns, redirects, and canonical tags.

• Cross-reference: For slug generation and uniqueness, the Database Design & Operations audit covers unique constraint patterns.

• Cross-reference: For slug-based routing performance, the Performance Core audit covers static generation and ISR patterns.

• Detail on fail: "Product page at src/app/products/[id]/page.tsx uses UUID-based URLs: /products/clk123abc456"

• Remediation: Add a slug field to prisma/schema.prisma and use it in routes:

  model Product {
    id String @id @default(cuid())
    slug String @unique
  }
  

  In src/app/products/[slug]/page.tsx:

  export default async function ProductPage({ params }) {
    const product = await prisma.product.findUnique({
      where: { slug: params.slug },
    })
  }