How to Create Shopify Redirects

Why Redirects Matter

When you delete a product, change a URL, or migrate to Shopify from another platform, the old URLs still exist in Google's index, in customer bookmarks, and in links from other websites. Without proper redirects, these become broken links that hurt your SEO and frustrate customers.

A redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has moved to a new location. This preserves the SEO value (link equity) from the old URL and sends visitors to the correct page instead of an error.

Properly implemented redirects solve all of these problems. They ensure that every URL pointing to your store leads somewhere useful, whether it's from Google, social media, email campaigns, or external websites.

Types of Redirects

There are several types of redirects, but two are most relevant for Shopify stores. Understanding the difference is crucial for SEO.

Shopify creates 301 redirects by default, which is correct for most situations. If you need a 302 redirect, you'll need to implement it at the theme level using Liquid code.

Creating Redirects in Shopify

Shopify makes it straightforward to create redirects through the admin panel. Here's the step-by-step process for creating individual redirects.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. 1
   Navigate to URL Redirects

   In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Navigation → View URL redirects (at the top of the page).

2. 2
   Click "Create URL redirect"

   This opens the redirect creation form where you'll enter the old and new URLs.

3. 3
   Enter the "Redirect from" path

   Enter only the path, not the full URL. For example, use /products/old-product not https://yourstore.com/products/old-product.

4. 4
   Enter the "Redirect to" path

   Enter the destination path. This can be a product, collection, page, or even an external URL.

5. 5
   Save the redirect

   Click "Save redirect". It takes effect immediately. Test it by visiting the old URL.

Important URL Format Rules

• •Always start paths with a forward slash: /products/example
• •Don't include your domain name in the paths
• •Paths are case-sensitive, so /Products/Example is different from /products/example
• •You can redirect to external URLs by using the full URL as the destination

Bulk Redirects

When migrating to Shopify or restructuring your store, you may need to create hundreds or even thousands of redirects. Doing this one at a time would be incredibly tedious. Fortunately, Shopify supports bulk redirect imports via CSV.

Creating Your CSV File

Your CSV file needs two columns: "Redirect from" and "Redirect to". Here's an example:

Redirect from,Redirect to
/old-product-url,/products/new-product-url
/category/summer,/collections/summer-collection
/about-us.html,/pages/about
/articles/old-post,/blogs/news/new-post

Importing the CSV

1. 1
   Go to URL Redirects

   Online Store → Navigation → View URL redirects

2. 2
   Click "Import"

   Select your CSV file from your computer.

3. 3
   Review and confirm

   Shopify will show you a preview. Check for any errors before confirming the import.

Common Redirect Scenarios

Here are the most common situations where you'll need to create redirects, along with the recommended approach for each.

Redirect Best Practices

Follow these best practices to ensure your redirects work effectively and don't cause SEO problems.

Do's

• ✓Redirect to relevant pages: A redirect from a deleted blue dress should go to similar dresses, not your homepage.
• ✓Create redirects before deleting: Set up the redirect first, then delete the old page.
• ✓Test your redirects: After creating redirects, verify they work by visiting the old URL.
• ✓Keep a redirect log: Document all redirects for future reference.
• ✓Include query parameters if needed: If your old URLs had parameters, include them in your redirects.

Don'ts

• ×Avoid redirect chains: A → B → C wastes crawl budget and slows down users. Redirect A directly to C.
• ×Don't create redirect loops: A → B → A will cause errors and broken pages.
• ×Don't redirect everything to the homepage: This provides poor user experience and minimal SEO benefit.
• ×Don't keep unnecessary redirects forever: After a year or two, most old URLs have lost their value. Clean up periodically.

Troubleshooting Redirects

Sometimes redirects don't work as expected. Here are common issues and how to resolve them.

Next Steps

With your redirects in place, here's how to maintain them and continue improving your store's SEO health.

1. 1
   Monitor for 404 errors

   Use Google Search Console's Coverage report to identify pages returning 404 errors that need redirects.

2. 2
   Audit redirect chains quarterly

   Use a tool like Screaming Frog to identify redirect chains and consolidate them.

3. 3
   Clean up old redirects

   After 1-2 years, assess whether old redirects are still receiving traffic. Remove those that aren't.