Moving from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing a single page in Google

Moving house without losing the people who knew where to find you. The method, address by address.

6 min read

To migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing your rankings: inventory every URL, create a 301 redirect to each new address, keep your titles and copy, then monitor Google Search Console in the weeks that follow.

A poorly prepared migration can wipe out, in days, pages that took years to rank. Done well, it goes unnoticed. It all comes down to preparation.

Why almost every URL will change

WooCommerce puts products under /product/ and categories under /product-category/. Shopify uses /products/, /collections/, /pages/ and /blogs/, prefixes that can’t be changed. Without a redirect, each old URL leads to an error, then disappears from Google. With a 301 redirect, Google transfers most of the ranking to the new address.

Before: six steps

  1. Inventory every URL, and find in Search Console the ones with visits and links.
  2. Measure baseline traffic and rankings.
  3. Plan redirects, one line per URL; a discontinued product points to the closest page, never the homepage.
  4. Transfer products, customers and orders. Passwords don’t carry over: warn your customers by email.
  5. Keep the titles, meta descriptions and copy that rank. Improve after, not during.
  6. Test the store behind a password, then a sample of redirects.

Launch day

Point the domain to Shopify, one version only, on HTTPS, with or without “www”. Test key redirects, place a real order, and submit the sitemap (sitemap.xml, generated by Shopify) in Search Console.

After: monitor, fix, keep

For the first weeks, check 404 errors daily and fix any missed URL. A slight temporary dip is normal; a sharp, lasting drop almost always means a missing redirect. In the months that follow, compare with your baseline and leave redirects in place: they protect your links for years.

Five mistakes to avoid

Redirecting everything to the homepage. Forgetting images. Changing domain the same day. Rewriting all the content during the migration. Launching without testing.

Checklist

  • [ ] Full URL inventory
  • [ ] Baseline recorded
  • [ ] 301 redirect plan
  • [ ] Data transferred and checked
  • [ ] Titles and copy carried over
  • [ ] Customer email sent
  • [ ] Redirects tested
  • [ ] Sitemap submitted
  • [ ] Daily error monitoring

FAQ

How long does it take? At Déclic, a migration takes at least 3 weeks. With a custom redesign, plan on 8 to 16 weeks. Our migration service

Will I lose my customer reviews? No, if they’re exported and imported into a compatible app.

Should I go straight to Shopify Plus? Rarely. Shopify or Shopify Plus

A question about your project? Let’s talk it through. Write to us

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