Why Redirects Determine Migration Success
URL redirects are the bridge between your old site and new site. They tell search engines and users where content moved. Without proper redirects, you lose organic traffic, break external links, and frustrate customers who bookmarked pages.
Redirect planning should start early in migration projects, not as an afterthought before launch.
Building Your Redirect Inventory
Before creating redirects, document every URL that needs one.
Sources of URLs to redirect
- Search Console: Export pages with impressions and clicks. These URLs rank and should not break.
- Analytics: Export URLs with organic traffic. Cross-reference with Search Console.
- Sitemap: Your current XML sitemap lists all pages you intended to be indexed.
- Backlink tools: Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz show external links pointing to your site. These pages have authority worth preserving.
- Internal crawl: Run a crawl with Screaming Frog or similar to capture all discoverable URLs.
Consolidating the list
Merge these sources into a single spreadsheet. Remove duplicates. You now have your comprehensive URL inventory.
Prioritizing URLs
Not all URLs require equal attention:
- High priority: Pages with significant traffic, rankings, or backlinks
- Medium priority: Pages with some traffic or a few backlinks
- Low priority: Old pages with no traffic, no backlinks, outdated content
Low-priority pages can often 404 without impact, though consolidating them to relevant pages is better for user experience.
Mapping Old URLs to New URLs
For each old URL, determine the correct destination on the new Shopify site.
Direct equivalents
Most pages have direct equivalents:
- Old product URL → New Shopify product URL
- Old category URL → New Shopify collection URL
- Old blog post → New Shopify blog post
- Old page → New Shopify page
The handle may change. Document the mapping explicitly.
Consolidated pages
Sometimes multiple old pages should redirect to a single new page. If you had 5 pages for variations of a topic, consolidating to one comprehensive page is appropriate. Redirect all old URLs to the new consolidated page.
Deleted content
If content is removed entirely, redirect to the most relevant existing page rather than 404. A discontinued product should redirect to its collection or a related product, not disappear.
Category structure changes
If your category structure changes significantly, map old categories to new collections thoughtfully. A category that splits into multiple collections should redirect to the most relevant one, or to a parent-level page if appropriate.
Shopify URL Patterns
Shopify enforces specific URL structures. Your redirects must account for these patterns.
Standard Shopify URLs
- Products: /products/{handle}
- Collections: /collections/{handle}
- Pages: /pages/{handle}
- Blog posts: /blogs/{blog-handle}/{post-handle}
- Collection-filtered products: /collections/{collection}/products/{product}
Common mapping scenarios
If your old site used /shop/category/product-name, all product URLs need redirects to /products/{handle}.
If your old site had /blog/2024/01/post-title with date-based URLs, redirect to /blogs/{blog-handle}/{post-handle}.
Account for trailing slashes. /products/widget and /products/widget/ should both work.
Implementing Redirects in Shopify
Shopify offers multiple methods for managing redirects.
Native URL redirects
In Shopify Admin, navigate to Online Store → Navigation → URL Redirects. You can add redirects individually or import via CSV.
For bulk imports, the CSV format is simple: two columns for old path and new path.
Redirect apps
For large redirect lists or complex patterns, apps offer additional functionality:
- Wildcard redirects for pattern matching
- Bulk management interfaces
- Redirect analytics
- Automatic 404 detection and redirect suggestions
Evaluate whether native functionality suffices or an app is warranted.
Avoiding redirect chains
A redirect chain occurs when URL A redirects to URL B, which redirects to URL C. Each hop loses some SEO value and slows page loading.
Audit existing redirects on your old site. If page A already redirects to page B, your migration redirect should go directly from A to the final destination, not through B.
Testing Redirects
Test redirects before and after launch.
Pre-launch testing
On your staging or preview site:
- Sample test high-priority URLs manually
- Run automated checks with tools like Screaming Frog
- Verify redirect targets are correct, not just that redirects exist
- Check for redirect chains and loops
Post-launch monitoring
After launch:
- Monitor 404 errors in Search Console
- Check analytics for landing pages that suddenly have no traffic
- Watch for crawl errors in Search Console
- Respond quickly to redirect issues reported by users
Common Redirect Mistakes
Avoid these patterns that cause SEO loss.
Redirecting everything to homepage
Lazy migrations redirect all old URLs to the homepage. This destroys rankings because the homepage is not relevant to the original content. Search engines treat this as a soft 404.
Using 302 instead of 301
302 redirects indicate temporary moves. They do not pass ranking signals like 301s. Use 301 for permanent migrations.
Forgetting parameter URLs
Old URLs with query parameters (?color=red&size=m) may have backlinks or rankings. Plan how to handle these. Shopify redirects can match paths but not query strings natively.
Removing redirects too soon
Some teams delete redirects after a few months. Search engines and external sites take years to update their links. Keep redirects active indefinitely.
Incomplete inventory
Only redirecting pages you remembered misses URLs you forgot. The inventory process described above prevents this.
Working with LiftKit Digital
LiftKit Digital treats redirects as a first-class migration workstream. We build comprehensive redirect maps, implement them correctly, and monitor post-launch to catch issues quickly.
For detailed migration planning including redirect strategy, see Shopify migration. To discuss your migration project, get in touch.