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Most people think the hard part of a WooCommerce to Shopify migration is moving the products, but apps and CSV files can do that without much trouble. The bigger problem is the URLs. Almost every page address on your store will change, and Google needs to know where the old pages went.
In this post, we explain how to move from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing rankings; in order, we would do it. We also cover Shopify migration costs, since people ask about that a lot.
Why can rankings drop after the move?
WooCommerce lets you choose your own URL style. Shopify doesn’t. Products always sit under /products/, collections under /collections/, pages under /pages/ and blog posts under /blogs/. You can’t remove these.
| Page type: | Usual WooCommerce URL: | Shopify URL: |
| Product | /product/blue-sneakers/ | /products/blue-sneakers |
| Category | /product-category/shoes/ | /collections/shoes |
| Shop page | /shop/ | /collections/all |
| Blog post | /my-post/ | /blogs/news/my-post |
This is fine for SEO on its own. The issue is that your old URLs already have rankings and backlinks. After launch, they will show a 404 page unless you redirect them. Categories need a bit more thought too. WooCommerce categories are frequently nested, such as /shop/womens/dresses/, while Shopify collections are not, so they won’t correspond to each other one-to-one.
Take a copy of everything first.
- Do this while the old store is still alive.
- Crawl the site and export all the URLs: products, categories, tags, blog posts and old pages.
- In Google Search Console, export the pages that got clicks in the last 12 to 16 months. This is the list of pages that you need to save.
- See what pages have the highest number of backlinks using any SEO tool you have.
- Save title tags, meta descriptions, H1, and image alt text. This information is usually saved in plugins such as Yoast or Rank Math, but it won’t transfer automatically.
- Make a list of what each plugin does. If one was adding schema or showing reviews, you need something on Shopify to do the same thing.
To give you an idea of the size: a store with 500 products, 40 categories and 60 blog posts has about 600 URLs already, and that is before tag pages and old landing pages. It helps to know the number early.
Our WooCommerce to Shopify redirect checklist:
The idea is simple. Every old URL should go to one new URL.
- Assign every product to the corresponding product on Shopify. Try to make sure that handles (the final part of the URL) will be similar; for example, /product/blue-sneakers/ will become /products/blue-sneakers/.
- Assign every category to the closest collection, not to the homepage.
- Don’t forget blog posts and pages like About, Contact and shipping policy.
- Send /shop/ to /collections/all.
- Create a list of all redirects with two columns named “Redirect from” and “Redirect to” and import them in the URL Redirects section of Content > Menus in Shopify.
- Don’t count on your app to migrate products and redirects together. Some tools do part of it, and some don’t do it at all, so look at what you actually got.
- After launch, test some old URLs, with and without the slash at the end.
At 360 Digital Idea, we like the redirect list to be made by the same people who Build the store. That way, the category decisions are made once and not passed between two teams.
How to move from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing rankings?
Here is the order we would follow.
- Build the store with the password page on, so search engines don’t see it half done.
- Import products, collections, customers and content. Compare the counts with WooCommerce, then check a few by hand. Pick a variable product, one with special characters in the description, and a customer with two addresses.
- Add the titles, meta descriptions and alt text again.
- Rebuild what the plugins were doing, like reviews, schema, filters and subscriptions.
- Import the redirect file on the day you point the domain.
- Remove the password page, check that the sitemap works at /sitemap.xml and submit it in Search Console.
- Watch the store for four to eight weeks. Look at 404 errors, the page indexing report and your top pages from the first list.
This is how we would migrate products and redirects, as one job and not two separate ones. Keep the redirects for at least a year, which is what Google suggests for site moves.
Shopify migration SEO: other things to check:
Redirects take all attention, but there are a few other factors that influence your traffic.
- Titles and description: If this field is blank, it gets automatically filled with a default one by Shopify themes. This might not be what you used before.
- Internal links: Update the links on your blog articles and menus with the new URL so that customers are not constantly redirected.
- Structured data: The product schema is typically added in most themes, but it is a good idea to test a few pages using Google’s Rich Results Test if there were previously any review stars on the site.
- The old site: don’t leave the WooCommerce version live where Google can still crawl it. You will have a duplicate store.
- Tracking: Make sure that your GA4 and ad pixels work on the new checkout.
This part of Shopify migration SEO is boring work, but small misses add up.
Common mistakes:
- Redirecting everything to the homepage. It is quick, but visitors end up on the wrong page, and Google usually doesn’t see it as a good match.
- Changing URLs during the move. If you change slugs at the same time, you have more to map and more that can go wrong.
- Forgetting the blog. People focus on products and leave out the posts that bring in traffic.
- Redirect chains. Shopify asks if you want a redirect when you change a handle, so edits after launch can end up with redirects pointing to other redirects.
- Too many options. Shopify now allows up to 2,048 variants per product (since October 2025), but there are still only three options. If a product has size, colour, material and length, you have to split it or use an options app.
- Forgetting customers. Passwords can’t be moved, so customers will have to reset them. Send an email before launch.
- Launching just before a big sale. Pick a quieter week, so there is time to fix things.
Shopify migration cost:
Moving the data is the cheaper part. Most of the money goes to SEO work, replacing plugins and design. Guides from 2026 give a wide range, so take these as rough numbers in US dollars.
| Route: | Rough cost: | Good for: |
| Migration app and your own time | $50 to $500 | Small, clean catalogues |
| Freelancer or small agency | $2,000 to $7,500 | Most growing stores |
| Full agency | $8,000 and up, sometimes much more | Large catalogues, custom work |
Quotes are different mostly because they cover different work. Some include redirects, design and plugin replacement, and some only move the data. Ask what is included in the price.
Shopify’s own plans in 2026 are Basic at $39 a month, Grow at $105, Advanced at $399, and the higher plan at $2,300. If you are paying per year, then the first three plans become $29, $79, and $299 per month. You should be aware of the additional cost of apps, and that is why you should check Shopify’s pricing page before deciding. Typically, a WooCommerce-to-Shopify migration can take anything from two to eight weeks.
We offer Shopify migration services as part of our Shopify development work. We also do e-commerce SEO, so the store build and the Shopify migration SEO can be handled by one team.
Final thoughts
And if there is one thing to learn from how to migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify and not lose your ranking, then it is definitely the URL list. Create the WooCommerce to Shopify redirect checklist before building the site, test it after launch, and check it on Search Console for the next couple of months. Traffic fluctuations in the first weeks may be considered normal even in case of perfect migration.
If you want someone to look at your plan, you can reach out to us at 360 Digital Idea. We can go through your URL list and tell you where we think the risk is.
FAQs
Q1. Will my rankings drop after a WooCommerce to Shopify migration?
A small drop is common in the first few weeks, since Google needs time to read the redirects. If all the important URLs are redirected and the metadata is carried over, most stores recover. Nobody can guarantee that this will never occur.
Q2. So what should be included in the WooCommerce to Shopify redirect checklist?
Products, categories, blog posts, pages and the /shop/ page, each sent to its closest match. Also add a test of some old URLs after launch and a check for redirect chains.
Q3. Can I keep my old URLs on Shopify?
Not fully. The /products/, /collections/ and /pages/ parts are fixed. You can keep the handles the same, which makes the mapping easier.
Q4. How much is the Shopify migration cost for a small store?
A small, clean catalogue can cost a few hundred dollars with an app or a few thousand with a freelancer who also does the redirects and design. Shopify’s monthly plan and apps come on top of that.
Q5. Do I need the Change of Address tool in Search Console?
No, not if your domain stays the same. Keep your existing property and submit the new sitemap.
Q6. Can an app migrate products and redirects for me automatically?
It can move products, customers and orders. Redirects and SEO settings often need manual work, and customer passwords can’t be moved at all.
Q7. How long should I keep the redirects?
At least a year. Many people just leave them in place since they don’t cost anything.
Q8. What happens to my blog posts?
They go into a Shopify blog, usually /blogs/news/post-name, so each old post URL needs its own redirect.
