Redirects and broken-link checks before a Shopify launch or redesign

A URL that returned a page last month and returns an error today sends visitors and search engines to a dead end. It happens when you launch on Shopify, redesign, rename products or collections, or delete pages. Most of the damage is avoidable with a list, a handful of redirects and a test.

Step 1: List the URLs that matter

Start from what actually has value.

  • The old site's important addresses: home, key service or product pages, popular articles, anything linked from other sites or from your social profiles and emails.
  • Pages that Search Console shows with clicks or impressions. The performance report lists pages by clicks and impressions.
  • Your sitemap, if the old site had one.

Put each old URL in a spreadsheet with its new address, or "none" if there is no equivalent.

Not every old URL deserves a redirect. Redirect when there is a real equivalent page. Google's Search Console help says a 404 is not necessarily a problem if you removed a page with no replacement (page indexing report). Sending everything to the homepage is not a substitute for a real match.

Step 2: Create redirects in Shopify

In the Shopify admin, go to Content > Menus, choose View URL Redirects, then Create URL redirect. Enter the old address in "Redirect from" and the new one in "Redirect to". Use a relative path for destinations on your own domain and a full URL for others. Redirects take effect immediately (URL redirects). You can also import many at once from a file.

Shopify's help describes these as 301 redirects. Google treats 301 and 308 as permanent redirects and recommends server-side redirects, which signal the new address should be the one shown in search results (redirects and Google Search).

Step 3: Know the limits

From Shopify's help:

  • You can redirect only from broken URLs. If the old address still loads a valid page, the redirect will not work. Test by opening the old URL first.
  • Some paths cannot be redirected, including prefixes such as /cart, /orders, /apps and /services, and fixed paths such as /products, /collections and /collections/all.
  • Collection URLs that use tag filtering cannot be redirected.
  • A URL ending in .html cannot redirect to the same URL without it.
  • Query strings might not behave as expected.
  • 301 redirects are cached by browsers and search engines, so removing one may not stop it working for some visitors straight away.

Two practical points that follow: avoid launching with a URL structure that collides with these rules, and decide your final handles before launch so you redirect as little as possible.

Step 4: Test every redirect

For each old URL:

  • ☐ It lands on the intended new page, not the homepage by default.
  • ☐ It happens in one step. A chain of redirects is slower and easier to break.
  • ☐ The new page loads and has the content a visitor expects.

Test with and without a trailing slash, and with the www form of the address if the old site used it.

Step 5: Check your own links

Links inside your store can break too.

  • ☐ Click every item in the main menu and footer menu.
  • ☐ Open every button and banner link on the homepage.
  • ☐ Check links inside product descriptions, blog posts and policy pages.
  • ☐ Look for placeholder links such as # that go nowhere.

For a store with a few dozen pages, a manual pass is enough. For larger sites, use a crawler and review the report.

Step 6: Watch Search Console after launch

Search Console's page indexing report shows pages Google has found but not indexed, with reasons. "Not found (404)" means Google requested a URL and got a 404. Google says the report shows 404 URLs seen in the past month, and advises fixing only those you link to yourself or list in a sitemap; if a page moved, use a 301 redirect (page indexing report). After fixing a set of issues you can use Validate fix, which can take up to about two weeks.

Expect a tail of old URLs to keep appearing for a while. That is normal, and it fades.

A quick pre-launch redirect checklist

  • ☐ URL inventory made, with an equivalent or "none" for each old address.
  • ☐ Redirects created and tested.
  • ☐ Blocked paths identified and handled another way.
  • ☐ Internal links checked.
  • ☐ Search Console set up and the sitemap submitted.

Related guides

Next step

The Shopify D2C Launch Kit includes a store launch QA checklist in its 22-page guide that covers links and checks before and after launch. It is a planning resource; it will not create redirects for you and promises no rankings or sales.

Shopify's and Google's guidance changes. These points were checked on 25 October 2026; confirm them before relying on them.

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