Is Shopify SEO Useless? 😭

I'm currently working on a new migration for a large retailer moving from a custom solution to Shopify Plus. And their SEO consultants have taken a liking to me. Let me explain 😅

Imagine you've spent the last 7 years investing in a perfectly optimized solution to gain as much organic traffic as possible. You've put in a tremendous amount of effort and resources to ensure you're doing everything by the book, and you're truly seeing the results of your hard work.

How would you feel if you suddenly saw all that effort "go to waste" because of an executive decision you weren't even involved in? I'm no SEO genius, but as a Shopify Expert who guided the client through the decision to move to Shopify Plus, I have a few ideas on how to handle this complex situation.

Connect, engage, and be present.

Before I even began tackling this massively risky scenario, I had to position myself to at least have some chance of success. To be completely transparent, this phase involves a certain amount of luck, but for the purposes of our conversation, let's assume we can create our own luck to some degree.

During this period, knowing I'd have to deal with unhappy SEO experts, I did my best to connect on LinkedIn with all the key players who could theoretically explain why Shopify is so bad for SEO, as many specialists claim. Quite funny enough, I connected with a popular consultant who shared with me via direct messages how unhappy he was that one of his clients had migrated to Shopify. I was extremely curious at that point.

I was hoping we could meet for coffee someday and discuss his concerns. My prayers were answered much faster than I expected. Within a few hours, I received a meeting invitation on my calendar organized by my client so we could talk with their SEO providers. You can imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the same gentleman I had just connected with on LinkedIn moments before.

Listen and take notes

As philosophers noted long ago, we have two ears and one mouth for a very good reason. Don't be defensive. Instead, be prepared to empathize with everyone's concerns and assume you can learn something new from every conversation. Not only do you not want to be unpopular, but you also want to be a little smarter than you were yesterday. Analyzing complex problems with the best minds from various fields is a rare educational opportunity. Don't take them for granted — appreciate them. Beyond all that apparent kumbaya, do your best to create action items from these conversations. Verify that everyone is on the same page and get their buy-in on how to address the specific challenge ahead of us.

Shopify URL Structure

Oh no, my kryptonite ☠️ Shopify doesn't allow you to change its URL structure to whatever you want. You can change handles — the last part of the link — but not the rest. What does that mean? If you sell airplane models, you can't simply create a URL for their category like topgunshop.com/airplane-models, nor can you have a product URL like topgunshop.com/toms-favourite-airplane or topgunshop.com/shop/toms-favourite-airplane. Instead, there are some rules that apply universally to any store built on Shopify:

• domain.com/collections/cool-category → takes you to a collection page with the handle "cool-category"
• domain.com/products/cool-stuff → takes you to a product page with the handle "cool-stuff"
• domain.com/blogs/cool-blog → takes you to a blog directory page with the handle "cool-blog"
• domain.com/blogs/cool-blog/great-article → takes you to an article with the handle "great-article" belonging to the blog with the handle "cool-blog"
• domain.com/cart → yes, takes you to the shopping cart. My point is that you can't change it to "basket" out of the box, for example.

Most brands don't make a big deal out of this. But we're talking specifically about high-level SEO professionals who take these things seriously. Their prediction is:

If we have to move to a different URL structure, even if we do it one hundred percent correctly (which almost never truly happens), the brand will temporarily lose up to 50% of its organic traffic for a period that could last anywhere from a few weeks to 6 months.

That's uncomfortable. At least it sounds terrible. Fortunately, we have a few options we can offer the client to consider. If we decide to implement a headless architecture (where the frontend is fully decoupled from the Shopify backend), we can actually keep all the URLs however we want. However, this decision comes with its own drawbacks:

• Much more expensive implementation
• Unable to use the Shopify theme editor
• More complex use of apps that affect your frontend (custom integrations required)

As you can see, this seemingly simple SEO requirement brings an interesting business decision to the table: how much money will I lose in the worst-case scenario? Is it a significant enough number to warrant choosing a headless solution?

I won't answer that question right now — the final decision will be up to the client. On my end, I'm hoping Shopify will soon resolve this limitation so we can all have a much easier life.

Filtering

Here are just some of the SEO requirements that were presented:

1. The filtering functionality should work even with JavaScript disabled.
2. Important filter combinations should have separate sitemaps.
3. Filtering should be optimized to limit indexation based on keyword analysis.
4. Disable multi-select options in filters for indexation in robots.txt and mark them as "no-follow" for links.
5. Disallow combinations of more than 3 parameter values for indexation in robots.txt and mark them as "no-follow" for links.
6. Filter options must be accessible to search engine robots.
7. Ensure that filters generate unique URLs with unique content (titles, meta descriptions, headings, excerpts).

Unfortunately, this won't be super straightforward to achieve on Shopify out of the box. Shopify has its own solution that covers most basic search and filtering functionality, but for more complex needs we can rely on the Shopify App Store. We'll need to carefully research some of the most popular solutions to determine whether we can rely on them to implement these requirements. I'm not overly optimistic, though.

Should we despair? Not that either 💪 Shopify is flexible and powerful enough to give us the tools to build whatever we need. That's the magic of this platform. Many may still believe that Shopify is a closed box with fixed features and capabilities. To some extent, yes — it has its advantages and disadvantages like any solution. But Shopify is primarily a toolbox built by developers for developers to create anything they need on top of it. And that's exactly what we'll do.

What SEO features does Shopify provide?

In addition to its search-engine-friendly nature, Shopify provides a range of built-in SEO capabilities, including:

1. Automatic sitemaps and XML sitemaps
2. Ability to customize your store's URL structure
3. URL optimization
4. Meta tag support
5. Canonical tag implementation
6. SSL certification
7. Structured data support
8. Mobile-friendliness
9. Automatic robots.txt file generation (a text file that controls web robots)
10. 301 redirects

You can also check out the support resources in Shopify's documentation on SEO.

In Conclusion

To summarize, migrating a large retailer to Shopify Plus with SEO in mind presents certain challenges. Staying connected with SEO experts, understanding the impact of URL structure, and meeting specific SEO requirements such as filters and unique URLs can be complex. While addressing these requirements may be involved, Shopify offers the necessary flexibility for custom solutions.

So, is Shopify SEO useless? It depends on how well you can navigate these challenges. With a strategic approach and a focus on business goals, Shopify can genuinely deliver effective SEO results.

A reminder: SEO isn't everything

When tackling SEO challenges during a migration to Shopify, it's important to recognize the countless advantages this platform offers. Beyond SEO, Shopify represents a comprehensive set of benefits that can significantly boost your retail success:

• E-Commerce Powerhouse: Shopify is a major player in the e-commerce space, providing a robust and scalable platform for online business. Your growth knows no limits.
• User-Friendly Interface: Shopify's intuitive interface empowers your team to manage the store efficiently. Add products, update content, and process orders without complications.
• App Ecosystem: Access a diverse range of apps and integrations that extend your store's functionality. These tools can enhance marketing, streamline operations, and improve customer experiences.
• Security and Reliability: Your customers can trust Shopify's top-tier security and reliable performance, ensuring a safe and smooth shopping experience.
• Cross-sell and Upsell Potential: Leverage Shopify's wealth of tools and data to implement cross-selling strategies that increase average order value (AOV) and customer lifetime value (LTV).
• Avoiding Vendor Lock-in: Embrace the flexibility to escape the vendor lock-in traps often associated with local custom solutions. Shopify gives you control and independence.
• E-Commerce and Technology Innovation: Join those at the forefront of e-commerce and technology innovation. Shopify continuously evolves to keep you competitive in an ever-changing digital landscape.

In summary, while SEO remains crucial, Shopify equips you with a comprehensive toolkit for holistic success. Leverage these capabilities, use data-driven insights, and position your retail business as a leader in e-commerce and technology.