How to Stay Compliant with SEO Best Practices During URL Restructuring

July 7, 2025

URL restructuring is a common practice in Shopify stores — whether you’re optimizing for SEO, rebranding collections, or cleaning up legacy content. But without proper redirect management, it can wreak havoc on your search engine rankings and traffic.

In this guide, we’ll explore the key SEO principles to follow during a Shopify URL change and how the Swift Redirects app can help automate compliance and protect your organic visibility.

Why URL Restructuring Can Be Risky

When you change URLs for products, collections, or blog posts without proper redirects, search engines may:

Drop your pages from search results
Lose accumulated backlink authority
Index duplicate content
Display outdated URLs with 404 errors

That’s why SEO compliance is critical. You must inform search engines and guide users correctly — which starts with the right redirect strategy.

301 vs 302 Redirects: What’s the Difference?

301 Redirect (Permanent): Tells search engines that the original URL has moved permanently. SEO value (link juice) is passed to the new page.

302 Redirect (Temporary): Used when a move is short-term (e.g., during maintenance or A/B testing). It does not pass full SEO authority to the new page.

Redirect Type	Use Case	Passes SEO Value?
301 (Permanent)	URL restructuring, product deletions, canonical consolidation	✅ Yes
302 (Temporary)	Testing, maintenance pages, temporary promotions	❌ No

For most Shopify URL restructures, 301 redirects are the correct choice.

Use Canonical Tags for Duplicate or Rewritten Pages

Canonical tags tell search engines which version of a URL is the “master” when similar content exists at multiple URLs.

Example: If both /collections/bags and /collections/all-bags show the same products, you can set a canonical tag pointing to the preferred version.

While Shopify automatically applies canonical tags for product variants and pagination, be mindful when duplicating content or creating multiple URLs for seasonal campaigns or collections.

How Swift Redirects Helps Maintain SEO During URL Changes

Swift Redirects is a purpose-built Shopify 404 redirect app that helps merchants manage redirects efficiently and stay compliant with SEO best practices.

1. Bulk 301 Redirect Import

If you’re restructuring dozens (or hundreds) of URLs, use the CSV import tool to create bulk redirects with permanent status (301).

Export existing URLs
Update the “Redirect From” and “Redirect To” columns
Upload the file to SM Quick Redirects

2. Real-Time 404 Monitoring

The app automatically logs broken link attempts in real time, allowing you to:

See which URLs are still being visited post-restructure
Manually or automatically redirect them to the new location
Prevent visitors from landing on dead pages

3. Pattern-Based Redirects

Use wildcard or regex redirects to simplify complex restructures.

Example:

/collections/summer-* → /collections/archive-summer

This reduces manual work and ensures your redirect strategy scales with your catalog.

4. Email Alerts and Redirect Stats

Stay informed with email alerts about new 404s and track how your redirects are performing:

Total redirect hits
Top broken links
Most-redirected destinations

Shopify Native Redirects vs Swift Redirects

While Shopify’s built-in URL redirect tool allows basic 301 redirects, it lacks automation and bulk management capabilities.

Feature	Shopify Native	Swift Redirects
Manual Redirects	✅	✅
Bulk CSV Import	✅	✅
404 Monitoring	❌	✅
Email Alerts	❌	✅
Pattern / Regex Support	❌	✅

Best Practices Checklist for SEO-Friendly URL Restructuring

Always use 301 redirects for permanent changes
Keep canonical tags consistent and intentional
Monitor 404 traffic daily during the restructure period
Use wildcard or pattern redirects for scalable rule application
Set up email alerts for immediate 404 notifications
Test redirects before and after deployment

Real-World Results from Swift Redirects Users

Shopify merchants using Swift Redirects during replatforming or restructure projects have reported:

90%+ reduction in crawl errors within 72 hours
40% decrease in bounce rate on redirected pages
Sustained organic traffic with no ranking dips

"After a massive collection restructure, we used Swift Redirects to handle over 500 changes in one go. SEO remained steady, and we caught every broken link with the live monitor." – Shopify Plus Merchant

Final Thoughts: Don’t Let URL Changes Break Your SEO

Shopify URL restructuring can unlock better navigation, performance, and branding — but only when done right. SEO compliance isn’t just about redirection; it’s about preserving your authority, usability, and visibility.

With Swift Redirects, you can automate your compliance workflow, detect issues early, and handle URL changes with confidence — whether you’re migrating, merging, or simply optimizing.

Ready to restructure smarter? Install SM Quick Redirects and take control of your Shopify redirects with SEO in mind.