Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your store appear in Google, Bing and other search engines, and helps AI assistants understand it. Online store > SEO gathers these settings: your store pages' search titles and descriptions, the robots.txt file, product feeds for ad and shopping platforms, the llms.txt file for AI platforms, and the option to hide your store from search engines.

This page needs the SEO permission. The store pages titles and descriptions, robots.txt, product feeds and llms.txt each depend on your plan; when your plan doesn't include one, its Manage button opens an upgrade dialog. See Subscription and Staff groups.

The SEO page

Under SEO Settings, four cards each open one setting with Manage:

Card	What it controls
Store pages	The titles and descriptions search engines show for the pages Zid builds for your store: the home page, all products, all categories, all brands, blogs and FAQs.
Robots.txt	Which parts of your store search engine crawlers may visit.
Product feeds	Links that send your product catalog to Google, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X and OpenAI.
llms.txt	The summary of your store that AI platforms read.

Store pages titles and descriptions

When your store appears in search results, the title is the clickable headline and the description is the short text under it.

Go to Online store > SEO and select Manage on Store pages.
Choose a page tab: Home, All products, All categories, All brands, Blogs or FAQs. Each tab is marked Custom once you change it, or Default while it uses Zid's text.

Fill in the fields:

The home page title fields in Arabic and English, each with a 70-character counter — Sample data from a demo store.

Field	Rules
SEO title	In Arabic and English, up to 70 characters each. Leave it empty to use the default shown in the field.
Meta description	In Arabic and English, up to 320 characters each. Leave it empty to use the default.

Check Google search preview, which shows how the page may look in results in each language.
Select Save changes.

Each tab also shows the Page URL and your Sitemap address, your store address followed by /sitemap.xml, each with a copy icon. A sitemap lists your store's pages so search engines can find them. Select the copy icon to copy it, for example to submit it in Google Search Console.

The home page title, description and sitemap address — Sample data from a demo store.

Write a title that names your store and what you sell, such as "Riyadh Perfumes | Oud and Arabian Perfumes": put your main keyword first, then what makes your store worth visiting, then your store's name. Start the description with your main keywords too, and write a sentence or two rather than a few words. Search engines may still rewrite titles and descriptions they find too long or unclear, and improvements in search results usually take three months or more to show.

This is how a title and description look in Google's results, here for Zid's own site:

A Google search result with the site name and address, the page title as the blue headline and the description under it — Personal details are covered.

Submit your sitemap to Google

Google Search Console is Google's free tool for following how your store appears in Google search. Submitting your sitemap there helps Google find your new products and pages sooner.

Connect Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager to your store with its app in the App market. Search Console uses one of them to confirm that the store is yours.
In Google Search Console, add a property of the URL prefix type with your store address.
Choose to verify with Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager, whichever you connected. Sign in to Search Console with the same Google account you use for that service.
Open the Sitemaps report, enter sitemap.xml after your store address and submit it.

Google then reads your sitemap regularly. Search Console shows when it last read the file and how many pages it found. For every step with screenshots, see Verify your Zid store in Google Search Console.

Hide your store from search engines

Hiding your store asks search engines to stop listing it. Use it while you prepare your store, or if you sell privately. Customers who have your store's address can still open it.

Select Hide store from Search Engines at the top of the SEO page.
Read the warning in the dialog, then tick I understand this may reduce my store’s visibility and traffic.
Select Hide store.

While your store is hidden, the SEO page shows the alert Search engine indexing is disabled. To list your store again, select Enable Search Visibility in the alert, or Show store from Search Engines at the top of the page.

While hidden, new customers can't find your store through search, which can reduce your visits and sales. After you show your store again, search engines can take some time to list it again.

Robots.txt

The robots.txt file is a public text file, at your store address followed by /robots.txt, that tells search engine crawlers which pages they may visit. Your store comes with a suitable file, so edit it only when you need to keep certain pages out of search engines.

Go to Online store > SEO and select Manage on Robots.txt.
Edit the rules in You can edit the file content here.
Select Publish.

The robots.txt editor with the syntax tips — Sample data from a demo store.

Each line is either a rule in the form Directive: value or a comment that starts with #. The dashboard accepts these directives and needs at least one of them:

Directive	What it does
`User-agent:`	The crawler the rules below it apply to: `*` for all crawlers, or a name such as `Googlebot`.
`Disallow:`	A page or folder the crawler must not visit.
`Allow:`	A page or path the crawler may visit even inside a disallowed folder.
`Sitemap:`	The address of your sitemap.
`Crawl-delay:`	How many seconds a crawler should wait between requests. Not every search engine follows it.
`Noindex:`	A page to keep out of search results. Not every search engine follows it.

For example, these rules let all crawlers visit everything except one page, and point them to your sitemap:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /example-page
Sitemap: https://your-store-address/sitemap.xml

Add a comment above a rule to note what it's for. Crawlers skip lines that start with #:

# Keep old campaign pages out of search
User-agent: *
Disallow: /promo-old

To go back to the original file, select the reset icon (reset to default) next to the editor, then Reset in the Reset to default dialog. Your changes are lost.

Search engines read the new file the next time they crawl your store, which can take from a few hours to several days, so a change doesn't show in search results right away.

A rule such as Disallow: / under User-agent: * blocks your whole store from search engines. Check your rules before you publish.

Robots.txt doesn't keep a page private. Anyone can open the file and see the paths you list, and crawlers are only asked not to visit them. To keep your whole store out of search results, hide your store from search engines instead.

Before you publish a change:

Keep a copy of the current file, so you can put back what worked.
Keep the Sitemap: line, so search engines can find all your pages.
Check your rules in the robots.txt report in Google Search Console after you publish.

If you move to a plan that doesn't include editing robots.txt, your store goes back to the default file. Your last version is kept and returns if you upgrade again.

Product feeds

A product feed is a link to a file that lists your products, with their names, prices, availability, images and links. Shopping and ad platforms read it to show your products in their catalogs, shopping ads and AI shopping results. You create one link for each platform, language and currency, then add it to that platform.

Platform	Where you use the link
Google	Google Merchant Center, for free product listings and Shopping ads.
Meta	A catalog in Meta Commerce Manager, for ads and shops on Facebook and Instagram.
TikTok	A product catalog in your TikTok ads or shop account.
Snapchat	A product catalog in Snapchat Ads Manager, for product ads.
X	A product catalog for ads on X.
OpenAI	OpenAI's product listings, so its AI shopping answers can show your products.

To add a feed to Google step by step, see List your Zid products on Google with Merchant Center. To measure your ads on Meta, TikTok and Snapchat, also connect their pixels, as described in Connect Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and X pixels to your Zid store.

Generate a product feed

Go to Online store > SEO and select Manage on Product feeds.
Under Details, choose the Platform.
Sample data from a demo store.
Choose the Language and Currency of the product information. The lists show your store's languages and currencies.
Sample data from a demo store.
The currency list shows your store's currencies:
Sample data from a demo store.
Select Generate Link.

The new feed appears in Previously generated links, with its Platform, Language, Currency and Product feed link. While it's being prepared, its status is Generating...; if it couldn't be created, it shows Failed.

A ready Snapchat feed in the generated links table, with its language, currency and link, with the link's code covered — Sample data from a demo store.

Shopping platforms reject products that miss details they require, such as an image. Make sure your products have images before you add a feed, then check the platform's list of rejected products and fix them in your dashboard.

Use, refresh or delete a feed

Personal details are covered.

Select the copy icon on a ready feed to copy its link, then paste it as a data feed in the platform's catalog settings.
Select Regenerate to rebuild a feed, for example after it failed.
Select the delete icon to remove a feed you no longer use. Platforms that still use its link stop receiving your products.

llms.txt

The llms.txt file is a public text file, at your store address followed by /llms.txt, that AI assistants and platforms read to understand your store: what you sell, your main pages and your policies. Zid creates it automatically from your store information, so AI tools can answer customers' questions about your store more accurately.

Go to Online store > SEO and select Manage on llms.txt.
Review the file in You can edit the file content here and change what you need. The file can't be empty.
Select Publish.

The card above the editor shows whether the file is Published or Hidden and when it was last updated. Under Public link, select Copy to copy the file's address or Open File to view it.

Action	What it does
Publish	Saves your edits and makes the file public.
Hide	Takes the file offline. It appears when the file is published.
Reset icon	Restores the automatic file built from your latest store information, after you confirm with Reset.

Once you edit and publish the file, it no longer updates by itself when your store information changes. To return to automatic updates, reset the file to default.

Last updated 28 October 2026

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