How to migrate WooCommerce to Shopify without losing SEO

Shopify and WooCommerce structure their URLs differently, so moving platforms changes the address of almost every page in your store. Google has those old addresses in its index, and other websites link to them. If they stop working, you lose both.

The fix is not complicated, but it has to be complete. This guide walks through it in the order I do it on every migration.

Before you move: record what you have

You can't protect rankings you haven't measured. Before anything changes:

1. Export every URL. Use your WordPress sitemap (usually at /sitemap_index.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml) or a crawler to list every product, category, page and post.
2. Export your top pages from Search Console. In the Performance report, export the last 12 months of pages by clicks. These are the URLs that must not break.
3. Note your backlinks. Search Console's Links report shows which pages other sites link to most.
4. Save your titles and descriptions. If you use Yoast or Rank Math, those fields need to move to Shopify too.
5. Benchmark. Write down this month's organic clicks and impressions so you have something to compare against after launch.

The WooCommerce to Shopify URL map

These are the default URL patterns on each platform. Your WooCommerce permalink settings may differ, so check a few real URLs from your own store against this table.

Two things make the map much simpler:

• Keep the same slugs. If blue-mug stays blue-mug, each redirect is a pattern swap, not a lookup. Shopify calls the slug a "handle".
• Map categories to collections one to one where you can, so each old category page has an obvious new home.

Shopify's blog is called "News" by default, which gives /blogs/news/. You can rename the blog before importing posts if you'd rather have /blogs/journal/, for example. Decide before you build the redirect list.

Building and importing the redirects

Shopify has a built-in URL redirects screen in the admin (search the admin for "URL redirects"). It accepts a CSV file with two columns, Redirect from and Redirect to, and every redirect it creates is a permanent 301.

1. Put every old URL from your export into the first column, as a path without the domain (/product/blue-mug/).
2. Fill the second column with the new path (/products/blue-mug).
3. For pages you're not moving, redirect to the closest match, such as the parent collection. Avoid sending everything to the homepage: Google treats that like a missing page.
4. Import the file, then spot-check 20 or so URLs by visiting them.

Here's a redirect template (CSV) with the common patterns filled in, ready to extend with your own URLs.

Shopify only uses a redirect when no live page exists at the old address, so a redirect for /cart does nothing because Shopify already has a cart page there. That's expected.

Move the on-page SEO, not just the products

Redirects send Google to the right page. What's on that page decides whether it keeps its ranking. For every product, collection, page and post, carry over:

• Page titles and meta descriptions. In Shopify these are in each item's "Search engine listing" section.
• The full content. Product descriptions, category text and blog posts should move word for word. Rewriting them during the move makes it hard to tell what caused any ranking change.
• Image alt text. It's easy to lose in an import and matters for image search.
• Headings. Check that each page still has one clear H1, which some Shopify themes handle differently.
• Internal links. Links inside your blog posts and descriptions still point to old WooCommerce URLs. Update them to the new addresses so visitors and Google don't go through a redirect every time.
• Reviews. Import product reviews into a Shopify reviews app so star ratings can keep appearing in search results.

Shopify handles several technical basics for you: it creates your sitemap at /sitemap.xml, adds canonical tags, and points the extra /collections/…/products/… URLs back to the main product URL.

Launch day checks

• Your domain points to Shopify, and HTTPS works on both www and the bare domain.
• The Shopify store's password page is off, so Google can crawl it.
• Your top 50 old URLs from Search Console redirect to the right new pages.
• The new sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console.
• Your homepage, main collections and top products are submitted with URL Inspection, using "Request indexing".
• Analytics and ad tracking are firing, so you can measure what happens next.

If you keep the same domain, you don't need Search Console's Change of Address tool. That's only for moving to a new domain.

The 30-day Search Console routine

The first month is when problems show up and are easiest to fix. This is the routine I follow after every launch:

A dip in the first 2 to 3 weeks is normal while Google recrawls and swaps old URLs for new ones in its index. A drop that keeps getting worse after that usually points to missing redirects or content that changed.

The mistakes that cost the most traffic

• No redirects, or only some. The single biggest cause of lost rankings.
• Redirecting everything to the homepage. Google treats it as a missing page.
• Changing slugs, content and design all at once. If rankings move, you can't tell why. Migrate first, improve after.
• Leaving the Shopify password page on after the domain switch.
• Forgetting blog posts. They often bring a large share of organic traffic and are the first thing skipped.
• Not watching Search Console. 404s found in week 1 are a five-minute fix. Found in month 3, the traffic has already gone.

Questions