Moving existing businesses to top eCommerce platforms like Shopify has become increasingly common among merchants. However, aside from the transfer of essential data (like products, orders, and customer info), there's one crucial area that often gets overlooked: Shopify SEO migration.
Why is this so important, and how can you make sure it's done right? We're here to break it down for you! This article will cover everything you need to know, including:
- A quick overview of Shopify SEO migration
- Potential risks you may encounter
- Shopify SEO migration checklist
- Troubleshooting common problems
- Seamless migration with LitExtension
Without further ado, let's get started!
Shopify SEO Migration: A Quick Overview
In recent years, more and more businesses are considering moving to Shopify, and it's easy to see why! The platform prides itself on its smooth, easy-to-use interface, along with a massive app store (over 13,000 apps) and the ability to handle extremely high-traffic sessions.
During this critical move, there's one crucial piece you can't overlook: search engine optimization (SEO).
Simply put, Shopify SEO migration means transferring all the SEO work you've done on your existing site over to Shopify. This process usually covers all the key elements, such as meta tags, URLs, product descriptions, structured data, and more. The goal is to ensure your new Shopify site not only maintains but also improves its performance in search engine rankings, especially as your business keeps expanding.
The Risk of Shopify SEO Migration
At this point, you're probably thinking to yourself, “I'm just moving my business – and its stats and ranking – exactly as it is to Shopify. What's the big deal?”
The truth is that things are not as simple as copying and pasting! Without a solid plan, Shopify import orders, products, customers, and SEO settings can really backfire on you. Let's take a look at the three most common pitfalls you need to be aware of:
Losing traffic
Your website has been ranking well for months or even years, pulling in a steady flow of visitors, and then suddenly… crickets. That's because your URL structures change, and the proper redirects aren't set up! Search engines rely on those URLs to understand and rank your site, after all, so if they're altered without a roadmap, it's like throwing a wrench in the works.
And that's not all. Search engines also take time to re-crawl your newly migrated Shopify site. During this process, your organic traffic might nosedive – simply because Google has not yet figured out your site's new layout.
Lower conversation rate
Even if your traffic is not severely affected after the Shopify SEO migration, the risk of a lower conversion rate still looms large!
You've probably put a lot of thought into how your site looks and functions, so any changes — intentional or not — could affect how smoothly visitors move from browsing to buying. Conversion rates can be incredibly sensitive to factors like layout shifts, changed themes, or even something as simple as moving a call-to-action button out of its sweet spot.
Bad customer experience
And then there's the customer experience — something that can totally make or break your business. A Shopify SEO migration might turn that experience upside down if it's not done carefully; think incomplete product descriptions, missing product images, or pages that take forever to load. Customers' frustration levels will skyrocket due to these issues, and they might not stick around to give you a second chance.
It gets even worse for returning customers. Let's say someone has bookmarked their favorite product page a few months ago, only to click the link after the migration and land on an error page. Needless to say, this is a major disappointment that likely drives them away — sometimes for good.
Given so many significant (and very likely) risks, it's crucial to create a solid SEO migration strategy when moving your business to Shopify. In the next part of this article, we're going to break it down and show you exactly how to get it right.
Shopify Migration Checklist: 10 Effective Practices
Ready to lock in your SEO rankings? This section will break down simple but powerful practices that can help you dodge all the severe SEO risks we just covered above. You won't want to miss our Shopify SEO checklist for website migration — keep scrolling!
Before and during Shopify SEO migration
Since the Shopify web migration itself is a huge leap, you'll need to have everything locked and loaded well BEFORE you even begin. But no stress; we've got some actionable tips to make sure you're fully prepared from the very start.
Audit existing pages
Website migration, in a way, is quite similar to moving to another city. You wouldn't pack up and leave without knowing what's valuable! Likewise, auditing existing pages helps you understand what is working SEO-wise so you can keep that momentum post-migration.
Specifically, once you identify your top-performing pages (the ones that drive traffic and rank well), the next step is to examine them closely. For instance, is there something specific about them that pushes them to the top of search results (such as detailed, keyword-rich content)? If so, make sure you keep these elements intact so the pages can make it through the migration without losing ranking power.
Define your SEO migration strategy
Needless to say, a well-thought-out migration strategy keeps everything organized and dramatically reduces the chance of SEO hiccups. Without a clear plan, you will end up lost!
To map out the process, spend some time defining the scope of your Shopify migration. Ask yourself, “Am I just switching platforms, or am I doing a full redesign?”
- If you're simply migrating data to Shopify, the task is a bit more straightforward. All you have to do is to ensure all URLs, content, and metadata transition smoothly.
- However, if you're revamping the site (changing layouts, structures, or URLs), things become more complex. Extra caution is an absolute must to avoid disrupting your current SEO.
Next, set clear phases for the migration. Don't try to do it all at once; you should break it down into smaller chunks so that every step will get the attention it needs. Otherwise, rushing through the migration will likely cause you to miss numerous key details, which inevitably end up hurting your SEO performance.
Seamlessly migrate your store to Shopify!
LitExtension can safely transfer your products, customers, and orders to unlock more growth on Shopify.
Back up your old website and metrics
Now, imagine you're halfway through migrating to Shopify, but something goes wrong and, suddenly, you've lost your entire site. That's a nightmare none of us wants! Fortunately, a complete backup ensures that no matter what happens, you can restore everything and keep your SEO intact.
So, what exactly do you need to do? First, backup your entire website's content (blog posts, product pages, images), files, database, and even custom settings. Sure, most web hosts offer an easy backup option, but don't assume it's done properly. Double-check to confirm you have everything at your fingertips!
After that, move on to save your SEO metrics like keyword rankings, backlinks, and organic traffic. (Quality tools like SEMrush or Google Analytics can help you with this). All these data serve as a benchmark for comparing your performance before and after the migration. That way, if you see a traffic dip or ranking loss post-migration, this backup lets you pinpoint where the issue might be and take quick action to fix it.
Map redirects one to one
File and content aside, do not forget your 301 redirects. Their role is to inform search engines that your old page has permanently carried over the SEO values to the new URL. Failure to set them up properly will lead both search engines and your visitors to “Page Not Found” addresses, which is a big no for SEO.
From our own experience, the best way to handle this is by creating a URL map:
- Start by listing every URL from your old site in a spreadsheet.
- Then, to each old URL, put the corresponding Shopify URL where that content will live after the migration.
For example, if your old product page was example.com/product-123, make sure it maps to shop.example.com/product-123. This one-to-one mapping ensures that search engines will still find your pages and keep their rankings steady.
Once done with the map, you can now implement the redirects accordingly. Remember to test them thoroughly after they go live so that no broken links will linger around.
After Shopify SEO migration
Here's an important reminder: just because all the prep work is over doesn't mean you're off the hook. After the migration, remember to set up regular check-ins (say, once a month) to ensure your SEO rankings stay strong and aren't quietly slipping away:
Submit your sitemap
The sitemap, as its name suggests, shows Google exactly where to go and what's important on your site. If you do not submit it after your Shopify SEO migration, Google might miss out on key pages or waste time crawling dead ones. Needless to say, you're basically waving goodbye to potential SEO gains.
Fortunately, we have some great news. Shopify takes care of generating the sitemap for you; it's automatically created and located at yourstore.com/sitemap.xml.
All you need to do now is to head over to Google Search Console, go to the “Sitemaps” section, and submit your sitemap URL! Keep an eye on Search Console afterward to catch any crawl issues or blocked URLs – so you can fix them before they hurt your rankings.
Track and fix 404 errors
Although we have prepared 301 redirects before the Shopify SEO migration, there's still a chance that some URLs might break during the process.
In that case, Google Search Console is your go-to tool; simply head to the “Coverage” section (where you will see a list of URLs returning 404s) and create redirects for them. Shopify makes this task quite a breeze directly from the admin panel, so there's no need to stress out!
Monitor duplicate content
Another non-negotiable task post-migration is to keep an eye on duplicate content. The reason is simple: Duplicates confuse Google. It doesn't know which page to rank, and that can cause both pages (or more!) to drop in their rankings!
Tools like Siteliner or Screaming Frog can easily help you scan your Shopify site and flag those duplicates in an instant. But what if, for some reason, you can't avoid having similar content? No stress; that's where canonical URLs come into play.
These canonical tags basically inform search engines, “This is the main page; rank this one.” As a result, Google will stay focused on the more important page between the two while you're free from unwanted penalties.
Check analytics
As we already mentioned in the pre-migration section, analytics serve as the website's heartbeat. You need to make sure that traffic is holding steady, bounce rates are normal, and conversions aren't dropping off! If something's gone wrong, analytics will give you a heads-up so you can fix it fast.
In most cases, comparing pre- and post-migration data is the fastest way to confirm your SEO is still on track. Plus, don't forget to keep tabs on your best-performing pages and see how they are doing now. Are they still pulling in the same high numbers? If not, you need to figure out why immediately.
Keep monitoring your SEO performance
Once you have pinpointed the ongoing problems (either using tools or by checking the analytics discussed above), you have to fix them early to prevent any long-term drops in your rankings.
And even if things look fine now, don't stop monitoring! After all, search engines will likely take some more time to adjust to the changes. You should revisit the stats every few weeks to catch any issues early before they snowball.
Bonus: Make your site mobile and fast
Lastly, remember that 72% of eCommerce sales are conducted via mobile, so slow websites on mobile devices will naturally drive your visitors away! Not to mention, there's also Google mobile-first indexing that evaluates your site based on its mobile version. Put those two together, and boom — your SEO rankings drop.
So, how can we prevent it from happening? The easiest way is to compress your images (using apps like TinyPNG or Crush.pics) so they stay crisp and load faster. Another trick is to enable lazy loading, which means images and videos only appear when they're needed (as visitors scroll) instead of loading all at once.
And you can also use third-party Shopify plugins for speed optimization, such as Booster or Plug in Speed! Nevertheless, make sure you do your research so these quick fixes do not end up causing more harm than good.
Troubleshooting Common Problems
Our Shopify migration SEO checklist has you covered with all the must-do tasks before and after your migration. But if you’re still hitting bumps along the way, no worries! We have compiled some extra solutions to help you get things back on track:
Problem | Solution |
Lost or changed content | Update new pages to match the old content to regain rankings (though recovery may take time). |
Metadata issues | Placeholder tags like 'Home' or 'Page 2' hurt SEO, so update them with optimized ones as soon as possible to restore rankings. |
Indexing settings | - Ensure 'noindex' tags on the staging site are switched to 'index' on the live site. - Check the robots.txt file and HTML tags to allow search engines to crawl and index your site again. |
Speed issues | - Audit the site using Google Lighthouse for speed issues caused by large files or excessive third-party code. - Consult your hosting provider if needed. |
Migrate Your Store Without Losing SEO with LitExtension
As you can see, migrating your business can feel like a lot to handle, and it's totally understandable if the process seems overwhelming.
But here's the good news — you don't have to do it alone! Let LitExtension be your trusted partner here with our Shopify migration service. We offer two migration packages: the Basic package (where you follow simple steps to manage the process yourself) and the All-in-One package (where our team does all the heavy lifting for you to ensure minimal downtime).
Also, we understand how crucial your SEO is, and the last thing you want is to lose traffic due to broken links or messed-up rankings. Therefore, aside from the two packages above, we offer another real game-changer for your business: the SEO URL migration service. Our team will preserve your exact URLs during the Shopify SEO migration so that you don't have to worry about any SEO headaches!
Why not turn to SEO Shopify migration services with LitExtension?
Here's what we do for you:
- Analyze your existing URL structure using a comprehensive SEO migration checklist
- Pinpointing any potential SEO risks before they become an issue
- Creating custom code that translates your old URLs into their new platform equivalents
- Tailoring the entire migration process to fit your specific business needs.
Still unsure? Don't worry; we offer a free demo so you can see exactly how it all works before you commit. No guesswork, just results!
Shopify SEO Migration: FAQs
Does Shopify automatically do SEO?
Sort of! Shopify takes care of a few SEO basics right off the bat. For example, it adds canonical tags to your pages to stop duplicate content from clogging up search results. The platform also generates a sitemap.xml for you automatically, which includes links to your products, pages, main product images, blog posts, and collections.
Is Shopify any good for SEO?
Definitely! Shopify’s clean coding and organized structure make it a solid choice for SEO. Plus, it comes with built-in features and 365 SEO apps that give you a good head start on optimizing your store.
Where do I change my SEO on Shopify?
Head to your Shopify admin, then go to "Online Store" > "Pages." After that, select the page you want to modify, scroll down to the "Search engine listing preview" section, and hit "Edit website SEO." From there, you can update your SEO settings to make the page even more search-friendly.
Final Words
That's a wrap on our Shopify SEO migration checklist! Of course, you might run into some extra hurdles (depending on the complexity of your store), but these steps are the solid foundation to keep your site running smoothly.
And what if you'd rather skip the headaches altogether and make sure your migration goes off without a hitch? Let LitExtension take care of everything for you! With over 12 years of experience and 300,000+ successful migrations in 100 countries, our team knows exactly how to make your Shopify migration seamless and stress-free. Leave it to us, and you'll be up and running in no time!
For more information, check out our Shopify guides and join our Facebook Community.
