According to RankIQ, about 5,000 monthly searches are performed on Google for “301 redirect Shopify.”
Shopify is among the most popular e-commerce platforms with around 1.75 million active stores using the platform in 2022. Shopify also makes it easy to work with 301 redirects.
301 redirects
A 301 redirect is HTML code to permanently redirect a URL – a page on one website – to another. “301” refers to the “Moved Permanently” HTTP status code.
These permanent redirects help maintain backlinks — and therefore organic search rankings — and direct visitors to the right page.
As such, 301 redirects are essential for ecommerce stores as they help ensure buyers and search engines alike find the most up-to-date page for any product, blog post, or feature.
For example, Atlas Resell Management, which sells used dental equipment, recently migrated to Shopify from a Drupal Commerce store. The new site required hundreds of 301 redirects, all managed in Shopify.
Atlas Resell Management migrated from Drupal Commerce to Shopify. The process involved hundreds of 301 redirects.
In this article, I will address the practical task of working with 301 redirects in Shopify. This complements our coverage of:
301 redirects in Shopify
To create a 301 redirect in Shopify, go to the admin panel, click Online Store, then click Navigation.
On the Shopify admin page, URL redirects are in the Navigation section.
From there, find the “Show URL Redirects” link in the top-right corner. When the page opens, the green Create URL Redirect button is clearly visible.
The Shopify interface is clear at every step of the 301 redirect creation process.
On the actual 301 redirect page, enter the “From” path (the old page or product URL) and the “To” path (the new page or product). Then click “Save” to create the redirect. I will call this the “custom redirect page” in the following sections.
Enter the old URL (“redirect from”) and the new one (“redirect to”).
Repeat this process for each redirect. However, note that Shopify restricts redirects that contain the following /Apps, /Application, /Car, /cart, /Assignments, /Businessor /Services. There are also restrictions on fixed Shopify paths: /Products, /Collections, /collections/all.
Bulk upload of 301 redirects
Shopify’s redirect form, while simple, is impractical for many redirects at once. Atlas Resell, above, had to create hundreds of 301s when migrating from Drupal.
The good news is that Shopify allows bulk uploads. A company can upload its 301 redirects as a comma-separated value file with two self-explanatory columns:
- forwarding from
- Forward to
The import link is on the same pages as the green “Create URL Redirect” bottom mentioned above.
The import link is initially on the same screen as the green button to create a URL redirect.
After creating a single 301 URL redirect, the page format will change and an “Import” link will appear at the top right of the page, showing a table of all redirects.
After creating a URL redirect, the import link will appear at the top right of the page, which will display a table of all the store’s redirects.
Shopify presents a simple tool in a modal to upload the CSV file, and a business can upload hundreds of redirects at once.
This modal allows a store admin to upload a properly formatted CSV file with 301 redirects.
Manage 301 redirects in Shopify
After setting up 301 redirects for a Shopify store, a store admin occasionally needs to manage them, e.g. e.g.:
- Find a specific URL redirect,
- edit redirect,
- delete the forwarding,
- Export a list of redirects.
To find a specific redirect, search for it on the URL redirects page. Search results can be filtered by creation date – handy for finding old redirects – and can be saved.
Shopify allows searching and filtering URL redirects.
To edit a specific 301 redirect, click on the URL from the table on the main URL redirect page – this is the custom redirect page described above. Shopify then opens the original redirect form. Make the change and save.
On the same custom redirect page, a single click clears the URL redirect. (Shopify helpfully asks for confirmation before deleting.)
The “Clear Redirect” button outlined in red is located at the bottom of every single URL redirect page.
Finally, sometimes it’s necessary to export a list of URL redirects from Shopify. The export link is on the main URL redirection page next to the “Import” link described above.
Redirects and Shopify
301 redirects are an important part of managing any website. Shopify makes setting up redirects easy, and the platform’s bulk upload feature is a lifesaver when it comes to larger projects.