Shopify Redirects: What Are They And How You Leverage Them

Shopify redirects should be used wisely because they impact how customers find and engage with your product pages. Rather than landing on a 404 page, users will automatically be redirected to relevant topics, enabling them to complete their purchase.

Unfortunately, many merchants struggle to set up and manage these links correctly. That’s why we created this guide to walk you through a deep understanding of Shopify redirects. Let’s step forward!

1. Shopify Redirects Overview

1.1. What Are Shopify Redirects

Shopify URL redirects are methods of guiding visitors from one page to another. This technique is usually applied when a page has been updated or is temporarily unavailable, ensuring users always find helpful content. 

In eCommerce, besides a well-structured Shopify store setup, redirect URLs have become key parts of enhancing SEO performance and guaranteeing an effortless browsing experience for potential customers. 

1.2. Types Of Redirects

Here are the two main types of URL redirects:

• 301 Permanent Redirect: This means the resource (page) was moved permanently to a new address. You should transfer all content and SEO assets from the original link to the new one.
• 302 Temporary Redirect: In contrast, a 302 redirect indicates a temporary change, showing that the resource is temporarily located elsewhere. Since this is temporary, you should not transfer any SEO value from the original page.

‼️ Important note: Shopify just approves 301 redirects working. It allows non-technical merchants to manage their online stores smoothly without confusion. 

2. Why Shopify Redirects Matter For Your Store

Alongside a well pre-built Shopify dropshipping store, redirects in Shopify become essential in elevating user experience and strengthening SEO performance. Here is a breakdown of why they’re indispensable for steady business growth. 

2.1. Maintain SEO rankings

Shopify redirects make a significant impact on maintaining SEO rankings. By directing visitors to relevant pages, redirects can minimize potential losses in traffic and reduce bounce rates. Both are key roles in Google’s algorithm when evaluating any website. 

2.2. Enhance user experience

Redirects forward the visitors of a specific URL to another page of your website without encountering errors or delays. This smooth navigation keeps the customer experience intuitive and ultimately leads to better conversion outcomes.

2.3. Manage changes in product or page URLs

Redirects in Shopify allow merchants to deal effectively with changes in page URLs by automatically directing users and search engines to the updated locations. Not only does this setup help to avoid traffic loss, but it also maintains seamless user experiences and preserves the SEO value of your online store.

3. How To Create Shopify Redirect

Shopify store URL redirects have become a fundamental part of any eCommerce site. They help merchants control the flow of traffic and offer a seamless browsing experience. So, how do you create redirects in Shopify? Our next section has everything you need. 

3.1. Attention before creating URL redirect

Here are some key takeaways you should acknowledge before creating Shopify redirects:

• URLs starting with “/apps, /application, /cart, /carts, /orders, /services, /shop” are invalid.
• You cannot redirect fixed paths like: /products, /collections, /collections/all.
• Redirects are only available for broken URLs (e.g., 404 errors), not valid pages.
• Users can create a maximum of 100,000 redirects.
• Redirects are not supported on customer account menus.

3.2. Creating Shopify redirects manually

Creating redirects in Shopify manually is a straightforward approach, which is particularly useful when implementing a few redirects. Before diving into details, make sure you know  how to launch Shopify store, and then follow the four simple steps below to add Shopify manually:

Step 1: In the Shopify Admin dashboard, you go to “Content” > “Menus“
Step 2: Click “URL Redirect“

Step 3: Click “Create URL redirect“

Step 4: After clicking Create URL redirect, you’ll:

• Enter the old URL in the Redirect from box 
• Enter the new URL in the Redirect to box

‼️Note: You can create a URL redirect using either a relative URL (e.g., /collection/shirts) for internal links in your Shopify site or a full URL (e.g., http://www.example.com/collection/shirts) for external ones. Redirects take effect immediately.

Step 5: Click “Save redirect“

3.3. Adding bulk-imported Shopify redirects list 

When dealing with hundreds of Redirects, leveraging the bulk import feature in Shopify stands out as the most time-consuming solution. Let’s dive into the 6 easy steps:

Step 1: Download the Shopify redirect sample file and fill it with your redirects

Step 2: Navigate to “Content” > Click “Menus” > Click “URL redirects“

Step 3: Click “Import“

Step 4: Click “Add file” > select your file > click “Upload file“

Step 5: Review the redirects > click “Import redirects“

Step 6: Click “Save redirect“

‼️Reminder: A Shopify 1 dollar for 3 month deal allows you to start using Shopify without spending much upfront. This offer could be a good fit for small and inexperienced business owners. 

4. How To Manage Shopify Redirect

Mishandling Shopify redirects can generate broken links, decreased search rankings, and a confusing customer browsing experience. These issues will significantly damage your online presence and conversion rates. 

To avoid these pitfalls, here are three best practices for entrepreneurs who are not tech-savvy. 

4.1. Filter Shopify redirects

If your store has hundreds of different product pages, scrolling down repeatedly to find an exact Shopify redirect link becomes a nightmare. Meanwhile, you can take full advantage of Shopify’s URL redirect filtering feature to manage URLs with a few simple steps:

Step 1: Go to “Content” > click “Menus” 

Step 2: Click “URL redirects” > Click “Date added”

Step 3: Choose your desired filter from the drop-down menu

Step 4: To Save Filter: click “⭐ Save filters” > name it > click “Save filters” again

4.2. Edit Shopify redirects

If you need to modify your URL redirects on Shopify due to unexpected circumstances, you can easily make adjustments at any time. Here are two simple steps: 

• Step 1: Go to “Content” > click “Menus” > click “URL redirects” and select the one you want to edit

• Step 2: Update the fields as needed, then click “Save redirect“

4.3. Delete Shopify redirects

If there are unsuitable URL redirects on your Shopify store, it’s necessary to delete them rather than simply edit them. This is because making a redirect to the old URL from the new URL will cause a loop that can damage your brand’s user experience and SEO performance. 

So, how can you remove incorrect URL redirects Shopify without any errors? Let’s explore now:

• Step 1: Go to Shopify admin > “Content” > “Menus“
• Step 2: Click “URL redirects“
• Step 3: Select the filter by ticking the box
• Step 4: Click “Delete selected redirects“

5. Shopify Redirects Best Practices

According to Blacklink Manager’s report, properly implemented Shopify 301 redirects can transfer 90–99% of SEO authority, including search signals and rankings, from the old URL to the new one. This prevents the domain authority’s loss and helps maintain your search engine rankings. 

How do you leverage these redirects smartly and significantly strengthen your online presence? Find out the answers below: 

• Review out-of-date content: If your website has an irrelevant or outdated content page, use a 301 redirect to point users to the most recently updated version. This way, users and search engines can reach out to helpful content without encountering dead links. 

• Stay out of redirect chains and loops: What matters most is understanding how to set up redirects in a simple way. When URL redirects Shopify chains occur, they can slow load times, reduce link equity, and confuse search engines. Similarly, redirect loops also lead to similar negative impacts on the customer journey. That is why redirecting the old URL directly to the final destination is crucial in keeping your SEO performance healthy. 

• Fix 404 pages: Walking through dead-end pages causes much frustration. They always disrupt the customer journey, increase bounce rates, and affect sales revenue. That is why merchants should identify and resolve 404 errors as quickly as possible. SEO tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog are recommended.

• Avoid redirecting all URLs to the homepage: Redirecting multiple pages to your homepage can frustrate users looking for specific content and may hurt your site’s relevance in search engines. Instead, redirect each page to the most relevant page possible, ensuring users find what they’re looking for and maintaining your site’s SEO value.

• Maintain Shopify redirects for a long period: Any changes to redirects should be retained and reviewed after one year, based on Google’s guidelines. This gives Google enough time to reprocess the pages multiple times and fully register the change. It also allows time to update all internal and external links pointing to the old URL. So, keeping redirects longer acts as a leading element for safety. 

6. Conclusion

In short, Shopify URL redirects are fundamental aspects that help merchants boost their online presence, creating intuitive customer journeys and avoiding traffic loss. Whether you’re restructuring your online store or renewing product pages, proper redirects empower visitors and search engines to navigate your store with no bother. 

For those seeking a tailored Shopify store setup service that can create and manage Shopify redirects correctly, eComstart stands out as your front-runner vendor. Don’t forget to follow and reach out to us to scale your way!

7. FAQs