How Do I Migrate To Shopify Without Losing SEO?

What’s better? A regular online store that may or may not have any visibility, credibility, and reach – or – a Shopify store that is popular amongst e-commerce store owners and buyers and has built-in tools to boost its credibility? Of course, the answer is the latter – Shopify! No, Shopify didn’t sponsor this blog post and no, we’re not exaggerating. Shopify is “THE” best possible solution for all e-commerce store owners for several solid reasons that we’re gonna discuss today. So, if you’re planning to move your regular online store to Shopify without losing SEO and current traffic, keep reading because you’ll get all the answers within the next 10 minutes!

What Is Shopify?

Long story short – Shopify is a huge platform designed especially for e-commerce store owners who want to build, manage, and promote their online business. Shopify’s value lies in the unlimited features and the reliable & secure environment it offers. 

Why Should You Migrate Your eCommerce Store To Shopify?

For those who have a simple online store, migrating to Shopify is like upgrading their store to the top level to reach its maximum potential. Let’s dive deep into why you should migrate your e-commerce store to Shopify.

  • No Hidden Costs

Shopify does not have any hidden operational costs. Everything you need to pay is right there in front of you, so you don’t have to worry about any hidden charges that might hit you unexpectedly. The pricing plans are completely transparent and cover all the features of Shopify including security, hosting, and customer support. 

  • An Easy To Use Platform

If you’re looking for a very straightforward and user-friendly platform for e-commerce store owners, Shopify is always the answer. It offers customizable templates that help you set up your store in minutes! It also includes integrated tools for product management, payment management, and marketing, along with 24/7 customer support and documentation. It’s an all-in-one platform that makes it easy for anyone to set up, run, and grow an online store.

  • A Reliable Platform

When it comes to reliability and growth in e-commerce, Shopify takes the trophy. The more you work on your Shopify store, the better you realize how it helps your business grow in terms of traffic, sales, and growth. Shopify makes sure your store stays online, stable, and always working so you can always rely on it.

  • Plenty of Free Mobile Friendly Themes

This one’s a bonus: not every similar service provides easy and quick access to plenty of free mobile-friendly themes, but Shopify does, giving you the flexibility to customize your store without extra costs. Plus, these themes are designed to ensure your customers have a great shopping experience on any device.

  • Third-Party Apps Integration

Shopify allows the integration of third-party apps for analysis, marketing, customer support, and much more. You can simply get these apps from its marketplace. Once these apps are installed, you will easily be able to operate your online store more efficiently.

  • Good For SEO

Shopify helps your online store get a top rank on popular search engines such as Google. It means your store gets unique meta tags, automatic sitemap building, and clean, SEO-friendly code. This makes it easier for your buyers to find your products by using relevant keywords on Google, Bing, etc.

  • Robust Security

Shopify keeps your online store safe and secure with SSL encryption, which safeguards customer data during store visits and transactions. It also meets industry standards for payment security and prevents unauthorized access, so your customers don’t feel threatened or unsafe.

How Do I Migrate To Shopify Without Losing SEO?

As mentioned earlier, a Shopify store is always a huge upgrade from a normal online store. Migrating your online store to Shopify is like boosting your e-commerce business by at least 10 times. However, keeping your search engine ranking strong even after migration is the most important step! Let’s move to the first set of steps, which is “pre-migration.” 

Pre-Migration

Before you begin the migration process, you need to take a few important steps to make sure you don’t mess up your store’s ranking. Keep reading!:

steps to migrate to shopify without losing seo - inventio

1. Create a Backup of Your Old Store

What if you personally don’t like or prefer your new Shopify store? In that case, you’ll need a backup so you always have this option to revert things back to normal. Store backup gathers all the product information, customer information, and all the content available in your store. This backup will come in handy if anything goes wrong during the migration process.

2. Set Up a New Shopify Store

Choose the pricing plan that you think is appropriate for your business and start the creation of your Shopify store. Choose a free theme and customize your store in a way that represents the true image of your brand.

3. Apply Hreflang Tags

If your store has to have multiple languages and serves multiple regions, then it’s best to set up Hreflang tags to tell search engines the relationship between different languages and regional variations of your pages. This way, the search engines will always show the correct language or regional version of your store to visitors or buyers.

4. Install Essential SEO Apps for Shopify

Shopify gives you a pool of advanced SEO tools such as meta tag optimization, XML sitemap generation, and schema markup implementation. Using these tools will give you an edge and boost your store’s rankings on SERPs.

5. Check Canonicals & Internal Links

Duplicate content is a serious mess and it will always de-rank on search engines. To avoid it, just make sure you set up canonical tags perfectly so you don’t have to face duplicate content issues. Also, you need to review and optimize internal linking structures so the search engines can index and understand all of the pages on your site.

Post-Migration

Now comes the main part; once you have migrated from your old and regular online store to Shopify store, you need to do these 4 very important things for maximum results.

1. Set Up Google Search Console & Google Analytics

After setting up Shopify, connect Google Search Console and Analytics. These free tools show how people find your store (traffic sources) and what they click on (user behavior). They even warn you of any SEO issues after migration!

2. Submit A Request For “Change of Address”

If you’ve already migrated to Shopify, you should also request that it update your address in Google Search Console. This ensures that Google changes its records with the new Shopify store’s website address as well as maintains a strong search ranking!

3. Perform Regular SEO Audits

It is beyond a doubt that regular SEO audits are more than necessary because they reveal the entire picture of your Shopify store SEO. Being able to observe the SEO audits themselves, you will be able to identify weaknesses, and then use such tools as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or third-party SEO applications for SEO maintenance and utility.

4. Keep Your Old Store Active for At Least 45 Days

When a web address is changed, the traffic gets disturbed which severely affects the website’s performance. To avoid this, keep your old website live for at least 45 days after moving to Shopify. This way, anyone searching for your old site will still find your new store!

Final Thoughts

Your old online store is just a reference. The real game is in the new Shopify store! If you want to see a huge positive boost in your online eCommerce store, then shifting to Shopify will provide exactly that! However, achieving this without affecting previous traffic and SEO metrics requires a series of important steps including pre-migration and post-migration. Once they are taken care of, all you need to do is watch your Shopify store bringing you growth opportunities.

Also Read: When To Switch From Etsy To Shopify?

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