301 redirect
Permanent redirect passing most ranking signals from an old URL to a new one.
On Shopify: Essential after migration. Broken maps are the main cause of post-launch traffic drops. Related guide
Reference · Shopify SEO terms
The Shopify SEO Glossary
Plain-English definitions of Shopify SEO terms you will hear on audits, agency calls, and in app settings. Bookmark this page or jump to a letter. For deeper fixes, see our guides and free checklist.
3
A
Alt text
Descriptive text on images for accessibility and search. Google uses it to understand image content when the file name alone is unclear.
On Shopify: Set on product gallery images and collection banners in the theme editor or bulk editors.
AEO / GEO (AI search optimisation)
Answer engine optimisation and generative engine optimisation: structuring product entities, schema, and category authority so AI systems and Google AI Overviews can cite your store accurately.
On Shopify: Structure product entities, category hubs, and schema so AI Overviews can cite your store. Use our AEO readiness checklist to self-diagnose. Related guide
B
Backlink
A link from another site to yours. Quality and relevance matter more than volume for ecommerce brands.
On Shopify: Press, trade directories, and supplier pages often matter more than generic guest posts for UK stores.
Breadcrumb
Navigation trail showing where a page sits in the site hierarchy, often Home > Collection > Product.
On Shopify: Enable in theme settings and match JSON-LD breadcrumb schema to visible links.
C
Canonical tag
An HTML hint telling search engines which URL is the preferred version when duplicates exist.
On Shopify: Critical on filtered collection URLs and products reachable via multiple paths. Related guide
Collection page
A category hub listing related products. In Shopify, collections are primary SEO landing pages for commercial intent.
On Shopify: See /shopify-seo/collection-page-seo/ for hub copy and indexation work. Related guide
Core Web Vitals
Google metrics for loading (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS) on real user data.
On Shopify: Apps and theme sections often fail mobile PDPs while the homepage looks fine. Related guide
Crawl budget
How much time Google spends crawling your site. Wasted on low-value URLs means important pages get crawled less often.
On Shopify: Filter URL bloat and tag pages are common crawl budget drains on Shopify. Related guide
Crawl depth
How many clicks a URL is from the homepage. Deep orphan products get crawled and ranked less reliably.
On Shopify: Link best sellers from collection hubs and the homepage navigation.
D
Domain authority
Third-party score estimating ranking strength. Useful for benchmarking, not a Google metric.
On Shopify: New Shopify stores should focus on indexation and product entities before chasing DA alone.
Doorway page
Thin pages created mainly to rank for queries without useful content. Google treats these as spam.
On Shopify: Auto-generated tag or filter pages with no unique copy often behave like doorways.
Duplicate content
Substantially similar content reachable at multiple URLs. Search engines may split signals or pick the wrong URL.
On Shopify: Common on collection filters, product tags, and copied supplier descriptions. Related guide
E
E-E-A-T
Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Google quality signals for content that affects purchases.
On Shopify: Unique product detail, reviews, policies, and brand story on Shopify templates support E-E-A-T.
H
Hreflang
Tags linking language or regional versions of a page so Google shows the correct market URL.
On Shopify: Shopify Markets and multi-store setups need hreflang validated after launch. Related guide
H1 tag
Primary heading on a page. Should match page intent and appear once on most templates.
On Shopify: Themes sometimes hide H1 in logos or duplicate it in sections. Check mobile PDPs.
I
Internal linking
Links between your own pages. Distributes authority and helps Google discover URLs.
On Shopify: Collection hubs, featured products, and blog guides should link to money SKUs.
K
Keyword cannibalisation
Multiple pages on your site competing for the same query, confusing which URL should rank.
On Shopify: Happens when several collections or tag pages target identical head terms.
L
Long-tail keyword
Specific, lower-volume queries, often three or more words, with clearer purchase intent.
On Shopify: Specialty Shopify catalogues win on long-tail before broad head terms. Related guide
M
Meta description
HTML summary shown in search results. Not a direct ranking factor but affects click-through rate.
On Shopify: Set per product and collection in Shopify admin or via SEO apps with template rules.
Mobile-first indexing
Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking.
On Shopify: Test PageSpeed and layout on mobile product templates, not desktop admin previews.
N
Noindex
Directive telling search engines not to include a URL in the index.
On Shopify: Use on cart, account, search results, and non-commercial filter combinations.
O
Orphan page
A URL with no internal links pointing to it. Hard for users and crawlers to find.
On Shopify: Hidden products or old collections dropped from navigation often become orphans.
P
Page speed
How fast pages load and become usable. Affects conversion and Core Web Vitals.
On Shopify: App bloat on PDPs is the most common speed issue we see on UK Shopify stores. Related guide
R
robots.txt
File telling crawlers which paths they may request. Does not guarantee deindexation alone.
On Shopify: Shopify generates one automatically. Do not block /collections/ or /products/ by mistake.
S
Schema markup
Structured data (usually JSON-LD) describing entities like Product, Organization, or FAQ to search engines.
On Shopify: Duplicate Product schema from apps breaks rich results. One clean graph per URL. Related guide
Search intent
What the searcher wants: information, comparison, or purchase. Pages must match intent to rank.
On Shopify: Collection pages should match commercial intent; blog posts match research intent.
SERP
Search engine results page: organic links, ads, rich results, and AI summaries.
On Shopify: Product schema and reviews influence how Shopify PDPs appear in SERPs.
Structured data
Same as schema markup: machine-readable page metadata for Google and AI systems.
On Shopify: Validate after every theme or app update on sample PDPs. Related guide
T
Thin content
Pages with little unique value: empty collections, duplicate supplier copy, or stub tags.
On Shopify: Fix at template level with collection intros and unique attributes on best sellers.
Title tag
HTML page title shown in browser tabs and usually as the blue link in search results.
On Shopify: Shopify themes often repeat store name on every title until templates are customised. Related guide
X
XML sitemap
File listing URLs you want discovered. Submitted in Google Search Console.
On Shopify: Shopify auto-generates sitemap.xml. Submit the correct domain property after migration.