Shopify migration SEO checklist
Use this before and after go-live. Tick what you have verified. If more than three items fail in week one, treat it as a migration SEO problem, not a normal dip.
Before go-live
Coming from Magento or Adobe Commerce? Use this alongside our Magento to Shopify migration SEO guide, which maps the URL patterns and the paths Shopify cannot redirect from.
Full export of old URLs that drove organic revenue (analytics + GSC, last 12 months) 301 redirect map documented for every top product, collection, and blog URL Staging domain blocked from indexing (noindex + auth) Canonical tags tested on PDP, collection, and blog templates Product and collection schema validated on sample URLs XML sitemap plan for new Shopify URLs Robots.txt reviewed on production domain
Launch week
All legacy URLs return 301 (not 302) to the correct live page No redirect chains longer than one hop on money URLs Homepage, top collections, and top 20 products return 200 Custom titles and meta descriptions present on money templates Google Search Console property verified on primary domain New sitemap submitted in GSC Coverage report checked daily for spike in excluded or error URLs
Weeks 2 to 4
Old domain URLs dropping out of index (or correctly redirecting) Impressions stabilising or recovering on priority URLs No duplicate indexing of myshopify.com and primary domain Faceted or filter URLs not creating duplicate collection pages Core Web Vitals acceptable on mobile PDP template Internal links updated in content, menus, and footer Orders from organic landing pages tracked in analytics
When to call for help
Organic revenue down 30%+ for more than 4 weeks post-launch Top product URLs 404 or soft-404 in GSC Both old and new URLs indexed for the same product Brand search fine but category and product terms collapsed Migration was more than 8 weeks ago but traffic never recovered
Is this checklist a substitute for a migration SEO audit?
No. It helps you self-diagnose. If three or more launch-week checks fail, book a call and we will map redirects and indexation against your revenue URLs.
Can I print this checklist?
Yes. Use the print button on this page or save it as PDF from your browser.
Ask for a free store audit
Migration recovery often starts with template speed and metadata on your highest-traffic URLs.
Send us your store address and within two working days we will tell you where it ranks, what is technically broken (load times included, measured on a phone) and what we would fix first. Ask for the free audit.
Shopify SEO services
The guides explain the problem. These pages are the work.
- Shopify SEOThe full service
- Shopify migration SEOKeep rankings through a replatform
- Collection page SEOWhere the search volume is
- Product page SEOTitles, schema, descriptions
- PricesFrom £497 a month, published in full
- All Shopify SEO guidesCosts, audits, checklists, problems
- Shopify SEO problems, diagnosedTraffic drops, lost rankings, duplicate collections
Ready when you are
Tell us what you are trying to rank for and we will look at the site and the search results before we reply. You get a straight answer, including if SEO is not the right spend for you yet.