Advanced URL Structure Optimization in Shopify Plus

Understand Shopify Plus URL Limitations

Before you start optimizing your store’s SEO, there’s something you need to get out of the way — Shopify Plus doesn’t give you complete freedom over URLs.

You might expect to tweak paths however you like — remove unnecessary folders, shorten links, or restructure categories for a clean SEO win. But that’s not how Shopify is built. It uses a predefined URL structure that you can’t fully override, even on Shopify Plus.

So what does that mean for you?

It means you’ll have to work within Shopify’s rules, not against them. And once you understand those rules clearly, you can actually use them to your advantage.

Let’s break this down.

Here's how Shopify locks down URL paths:

You can't remove or rename some default folders. For example:

• Products will always live under /products/
• Collections go under /collections/
• Pages sit at /pages/

That’s not optional — it’s just how the system works.

And if you run a blog? Your articles will be tucked inside a folder structure like /blogs/news/article-name. Again, you can't flatten this path. It might look long, but it’s locked.

Now, this doesn’t mean you’re stuck with ugly or confusing URLs. It just means that you don’t get to decide the folder structure. What you can do, though, is make the parts that are under your control — like product handles and page slugs — count.

So instead of stressing over the /products/ bit, focus on making sure your product handle is clean, readable, and keyword-optimized.

And here’s the mindset shift: rather than fighting Shopify’s structure, start thinking about how to make your content shine within it.

Because once you stop trying to override the system and instead use it smartly, that’s where real optimization starts.

Advanced Strategies for URL Optimization

So, now that you know how Shopify structures URLs by default—and where it limits your control—what can you actually do to take charge of your SEO? That’s where smart strategy comes in.

You’re not changing the structure completely, but you can work around it with a few clever moves. The idea is to guide both users and search engines clearly to your best content. 

Let’s break down some advanced ways you can optimize your URLs, starting with quick wins and moving into deeper tactics.

1. Use Canonical URLs Strategically

Now that you’ve made peace with Shopify’s fixed URL structure, let’s talk about something that can quietly mess with your SEO: duplicate URLs.

Yed, Shopify has this quirk where the same product can show up in multiple URLs. For example, a product might be available at:

• /products/blue-shirt
  and also at
• /collections/summer-sale/products/blue-shirt

It’s the exact same product, just accessed through different paths. But to search engines, those are two separate pages. And that creates confusion.

Take a quick look at the flow below to see how Shopify URLs can point to a single canonical version.

So how do you fix this? You guide Google by using canonical URLs.

A canonical URL tells search engines,

“Hey, I know there are multiple ways to get to this page, but this one right here is the version I want you to index and rank.”

In Shopify’s case, the best practice is to always point to the clean product URL — like /products/blue-shirt — as your canonical. It’s shorter, it’s universal, and it avoids unnecessary subfolders that might not mean much to Google.

Here’s the good part: Shopify already adds canonical tags to product pages by default. But it’s not perfect. In some themes or custom setups, Shopify might accidentally canonize the longer collection-based URL.

So, you need to double-check this. But how?

Peek into your page source or use an SEO tool like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs. If you spot a canonical that’s not the short, direct product URL, you can override it using Liquid.

And remember, this isn’t just about being neat — it's about consolidating ranking signals. If multiple versions of a product URL start competing with each other, you’re watering down your own SEO power.

Clean canonical tags tell search engines exactly where to send the love.

2. Collection and Product URL Cleanup

Let’s talk about something that’s quietly hurting your Shopify SEO—how your product URLs are structured.

You might not have noticed, but Shopify often creates multiple paths for the exact same product. One is the clean version: /products/blue-shirt

The other is the cluttered one that includes the collection: /collections/summer-sale/products/blue-shirt

Now, here’s the issue. Search engines may treat those as two separate URLs, even though the content is identical. This creates confusion and dilutes your ranking strength. So, the first decision you need to make is this: Which version of the product URL should you treat as the "main" one?

The answer is always go with the clean version: /products/your-product-name

This cleaner path is not only easier for users to remember, but it's also more SEO-friendly. Fewer folders, fewer slashes, fewer chances to mess things up.

So, how do you make this work in your store? It starts with being intentional about how you link to products.

When you’re adding internal links—whether in menus, blog posts, homepage features, or even within product descriptions—always link directly to the product page using the clean path. Don’t let Shopify default to linking through the collection unless you absolutely need that context.

This simple habit tells search engines: “This is the one true URL for this product.” That’s powerful. It avoids duplicate content issues, keeps your site structure clean, and gives your product pages the full SEO value they deserve.

And no, you don’t need to change anything in the actual backend. Just be consistent with your internal links and navigation.

You’re not just cleaning up URLs—you’re building a sharper, more authoritative site in Google’s eyes. And that’s the kind of move that pays off in the long run.

3. Optimize for International SEO

If you're selling across multiple countries (or planning to then getting your international SEO right isn't just a nice-to-have. It's a must.

Shopify Plus makes it easy to set up Shopify Markets, and that opens the door to showing the right content, in the right language, with the right currency. But here’s the catch: how your URLs are structured for different regions makes or breaks your international visibility.

The core decision you’ll face is: How should you organize your store URLs for different countries or languages?

You have three main choices:

• Use subdomains like fr.yoursite.com or de.yoursite.com
• Go for country-code TLDs like yoursite.fr, yoursite.de
• Use subfolders like yoursite.com/fr/ or yoursite.com/de/ (though Shopify doesn’t support this natively without apps or workarounds)
  
   

Now, each of these has pros and cons in terms of SEO, complexity, and analytics tracking. But whatever you choose, the real magic comes from how you tell Google what’s what.

That’s where hreflang tags step in.

“Hreflang is your way of saying: Hey Google, I’ve got different versions of this page for different audiences—don’t penalize me, just serve the right one.”

Shopify usually adds basic hreflang tags, but if you’re serious about SEO, you’ll want to audit and customize them, especially if you’re using apps, subdomains, or third-party translations.

Here’s a quick visual to help you see how different regional URLs connect with their hreflang tags in a Shopify Plus setup:

Now here’s the part most people miss: once you go international, you can’t just translate your content and move on. 

You need to geo-target properly. That means setting up each market’s domain or subdomain in Google Search Console. Without that, Google may not even know who your content is really for.

Use these quick tips to strengthen your setup:

Make sure your currency and language match for each regional version.

Localize not just the product titles, but also meta descriptions and image alt texts.

Use consistent internal linking that keeps users within their region’s version.

When done right, this builds trust with both users and search engines. Instead of trying to guess where your content belongs, Google gets a clear signal—and your visitors get a smoother experience.

In short, optimizing your international URL structure is like handing Google a neatly labeled roadmap. No confusion, no overlap, Just a clear path to global reach.

4. Redirects and URL Hygiene

Let’s say you renamed a product or deleted a page recently. What happens to that old link floating around in someone’s browser history, or worse—on another website that linked to you months ago?

If you’re on Shopify, the platform tries to help by automatically creating a redirect. That’s great in theory. But in practice? You can’t trust it to keep everything clean forever. That’s where redirect hygiene comes in.

Think of your redirects like the plumbing of your website. If everything flows where it should, users never even notice. But if there’s a clog—or worse, a loop—you’ll lose traffic, frustrate users, and confuse search engines.

Here’s a quick visual to show what actually happens when someone hits an old product URL—whether it goes right or totally off track.

Now the question is: How do you stay on top of it?

Start by reviewing your existing redirects in Online Store → Navigation → URL Redirects. You’ll probably find a mix of old product URLs, page changes, and some entries that don’t even make sense anymore. Some of them may still be useful. Others may be just digital dust.

Next, clean up the mess. Remove any circular redirects—where one URL points to another, which then points back again. These are bad for SEO and a nightmare for user experience. Also, look out for stacked redirects, where one URL leads to another, then another, and then finally to the right page. That chain slows everything down.

Then there’s this underrated move: create manual redirects for any campaign URLs you’ve retired, any seasonal pages you’ve deleted, or even old blog posts that no longer fit your content plan. Don’t just let them 404.

“Every 404 page is a missed opportunity to guide your visitor—and search engines—where they actually need to go.”

Redirects aren’t just about fixing problems. They’re about preserving your site’s authority, keeping users engaged, and making sure every single link someone clicks has a purpose.

5. Use Descriptive, Keyword-Optimized Handles

Handles might sound like some background tech thing you can ignore, but in Shopify, they're front and center in how your URLs are built.

Every time you create a product, collection, or page in Shopify, the platform generates a handle—basically the slug that forms part of the URL. For example, a product titled “Men’s Blue Cotton Shirt” might get a handle like:

/products/mens-blue-cotton-shirt

Now, here’s where you come in. Shopify lets you customize these handles. And you should. Why? Because this is your chance to speak directly to both Google and your customers in a clean, readable format.

Let’s say you’re selling a shirt. 

• /products/sku1234-bluecotton
• /products/mens-blue-cotton-shirt

Check this out—here’s a quick visual to show the difference between a messy handle and one that’s spot-on for SEO.

What sounds better? Obviously, the second one wins every time.

Here's a quick set of pointers to make your handles effective:

• Keep them short and descriptive.
• Use hyphens to separate words (never underscores or spaces).
• Stick to lowercase letters only—Shopify does this by default, and it keeps things uniform.
• Include primary keywords, but skip filler words like "and", "the", or "of".
• Make sure it still looks good when read by a human (not just a bot).

These small tweaks in handles make a real difference in how Google reads your pages. They also make your URLs clearer for users who might be copying and pasting links or sharing them.

But remember—don’t change handles on live products unless you're prepared to set up proper 301 redirects. Otherwise, you risk losing valuable link equity and messing with your SEO momentum.

6. Blog URL Optimization

You might be publishing great content, but if your blog URLs look messy or generic, you're leaving SEO potential on the table. Shopify structures blogs like this by default:
/blogs/news/article-title

Sound familiar? That /news/ part? Yeah it doesn’t help anyone. It’s generic, bland, and tells neither users nor Google anything about your content category.

So here’s your decision point: What do you actually want that “blog handle” to say about your content? If you’re publishing styling tips, name it something like /blogs/style-guide. If it’s all about brand updates, maybe /blogs/inside-brand.

Think of the blog handle as your content theme. You’re giving each blog a label that helps Google and users understand the focus area—without needing to read the full article.

“Good blog URLs don’t just help Google understand your site—they help real people feel like they’re in the right place.”

And that brings us to the article handle—the part of the URL that follows the blog. This is where your keywords need to shine. Keep it short, descriptive, and straight to the point.

Here is what blog URL structure should look like:

This setup does two big things. First, it tells search engines exactly what your content is about. Second, it tells your readers they're in the right place even before the page loads.

To make this change, go into your Shopify Admin and either:

• Rename your existing blog section (if there are few posts), or
• Start a new one with a better handle and migrate content selectively.

And don’t worry, Shopify automatically sets up redirects when you move an article between blogs. But still, double-check for broken links if you're doing a major cleanup.

In short, blog URL optimization isn't just about cleaner links. It's about building trust and clarity, one click at a time.

7. Faceted Navigation URL Control

Shopify makes filtering products feel smooth for the shopper, but not so much for search engines.

When a user filters by color, size, price, or anything else, Shopify automatically appends those filters to the URL as parameters. You get links like:

•  /collections/shirts?color=blue
•  /collections/shirts?size=large&sort_by=best-selling

Check out this quick visual that shows exactly how those filter clicks start bloating your URL.

Now, from a shopper’s perspective, it's totally fine. But for search engines, these filtered URLs often look like separate pages—even though they all show just rearranged versions of the same content. That’s where things start to get messy.

So here’s the premise: while filters improve user experience, they can create unwanted SEO clutter if you don’t control how those URLs behave.

Let’s break down what you should do to manage this cleanly and avoid bloating your site with low-value URLs:

• Never index filtered pages. These URLs aren’t unique enough to deserve a spot in Google. Let your main collection page do the ranking.
• Use canonical tags to point all filtered versions back to the main collection. Shopify usually handles this, but double-check with a crawl tool to be safe.
• Update your robots.txt.liquid (available in Shopify Plus) to block crawlers from going down these filter paths.
• Avoid linking to filtered URLs from your navigation or homepage. Internal links signal importance, and you don’t want search engines prioritizing them.

And here’s the big takeaway: filtered URLs should serve the user only, not the search engine.

If Google ends up crawling and indexing dozens of filter variations, you’re sending mixed signals about which page is the most important. Worse, you’re wasting your crawl budget on pages that don’t deserve attention.

Clean it up by telling Google exactly what you want it to see. The main collection page is your SEO hero and everything else is just the supporting cast.

8. Sitemap Optimization

Shopify auto-generates a sitemap for your store at /sitemap.xml. Sounds convenient, right? Well, it is—but only to a point.

While it includes all your products, collections, pages, and blog posts, you don’t get to choose what goes in or how it’s organized. That means even out-of-stock products or hidden test pages might end up in there—cluttering the path for Google’s crawlers.

So here’s what you can do: start treating your sitemap like a living checklist for your store’s visibility. 

Begin by submitting the sitemap to Google Search Console, and regularly monitor which URLs are being indexed. If you find junk links creeping in, unpublish or deindex those pages from Shopify and they’ll drop off over time.

“Your sitemap is like a guest list—make sure only the right URLs get an invite to Google’s party.”

And while you can’t manually edit the native sitemap, apps or a custom solution can give you more control if needed.

This isn’t about perfection, it’s about hygiene. Clean sitemaps mean cleaner indexing, which helps your key pages rank better and faster.

9. Periodic URL Audit & Cleanup

So, you've set up your URLs well.. But here's something most people overlook—you can’t “set and forget” your site structure. Just like your store needs spring cleaning once in a while, so does your URL setup.

Over time, products get removed, collections are renamed, redirects stack up, and before you know it, your site is cluttered with outdated or broken links. This clutter can quietly eat away at your SEO and confuse both users and search engines.

That’s why a periodic URL audit isn't just a nice-to-have—it’s essential.

Start by picking a regular interval. Maybe once a quarter, or at least twice a year. Think of it as a maintenance check for your SEO health. When you're ready, you’ll want to review your live URLs, redirects, and internal links for signs of messiness.

Here’s what you should look out for when doing this cleanup:

• Broken URLs: Links pointing to deleted products or old pages.
• Outdated redirects: Pages that bounce through multiple hops before reaching the destination.
• Duplicate URLs: Same content accessible through different paths (like with collection links).
• Orphan pages: Pages that exist but aren’t linked anywhere on the site.
• Unindexed or low-performing pages: Pages that aren’t getting traffic or aren’t indexed at all.

Use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or even Google Search Console to spot these issues quickly. They’ll help you see your site the way Google does—which is exactly what you want.

And once you find the junk, don’t just patch it—fix the root cause. Update links, delete old redirects, and clean up anything that doesn’t serve a purpose anymore.

It’s one of those things that doesn’t feel urgent… until it suddenly is. A bloated site structure can tank crawl efficiency and lead to frustrating SEO stagnation. But if you stay on top of it, your site stays lean, fast, and focused.

10. Implement Vanity URLs for Marketing Campaigns

Shopify doesn’t give you complete freedom over URLs. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with long, messy links when you’re running a campaign. You’ve got a little trick up your sleeve, and it’s called a vanity URL.

So, what is it exactly? A vanity URL is a short, branded, and easy-to-remember link that redirects to a longer, less attractive page. Think of it like your store’s custom shortcut. 

Instead of sending someone to a mouthful like: /collections/summer-sale-2025-clearance-items

You create this instead: /summer

Much better, right? Cleaner, tighter, and way more shareable on Instagram bios, WhatsApp, or even offline posters.

“The fewer the characters, the stronger the recall. And in marketing, recall is everything.”

Now, here’s where Shopify Plus comes in handy. You can create these custom redirects easily from your Shopify admin. Just head to: Online Store → Navigation → URL Redirects

From there, create a rule that sends traffic from /summer to your full campaign landing page.

This works brilliantly for seasonal sales, limited-time launches, influencer campaigns, or even print materials. The URL looks good, feels intentional, and gives your marketing a polished edge.

Plus, it gives you clean data. If you're tagging the long destination URL with UTM parameters, and masking it behind a vanity URL, you get a beautiful combo: branded link outside, trackable campaign data inside.

And no, you don’t need a developer, app, or any fancy tools. Just good planning and a little attention to detail.

So, next time you launch a sale, don’t let your URLs be an afterthought. Own them. Brand them. And make them work for you, not against you.

11. Leverage Meta Fields to Control URL Logic & Linking

Alright, now let’s talk about metafields. Metafields are Shopify’s quiet little powerhouse that can give you a lot more control over how your URLs behave, even if you can’t rewrite them directly.

If you’ve ever felt boxed in by Shopify’s default structure, metafields are your way of adding your own logic behind the scenes. Think of them as custom data fields that live on your products, collections, blogs, or even variants. You define what goes into them, and you decide how they’re used.

So, why should you care when we’re talking about URL structure?

Because metafields let you customize how your site internally links to products or pages. They also allow you to mark which version of a URL should be considered canonical—even if Shopify didn’t give you that option upfront.

Let’s say you have a product featured in multiple collections, but you only want one canonical URL to show up in your sitemap or internal links.

You can use a metafield (call it something like preferred_url) and populate it with the cleanest product path. 

Just to make things clearer, here’s a quick demo screenshot showing how it looks inside Shopify when you set up a preferred_url metafield and pull it into your Liquid theme.

Then, modify your Liquid templates to pull internal links from that metafield instead of Shopify's default handle. This opens up a lot of possibilities.

You could store:

• Canonical URL overrides
• Alternate link targets for international markets
  Custom breadcrumb paths
• Even logic for when and where a product should show up in navigation or collections

And the best part is that, it’s all dynamic. Once the Liquid is set up, your store pulls the correct link or tag based on what you’ve entered in the metafield. You’re no longer hardcoding URLs or relying on Shopify’s guesswork.

So, even though you can't rewrite Shopify’s native URL folders, you can decide how your visitors (and search engines) move through your site—and that’s a pretty powerful workaround.

In short, metafields = control. And control is exactly what you need when you’re optimizing for SEO at scale.

12. Optimize Internal Linking Structure with Clean URLs

Let’s say you’re linking to one of your best-selling products across your store. Seems simple, right?

But if your links look like this: /collections/shirts/products/blue-shirt

instead of

/products/blue-shirt

you’re quietly creating a mess.

Here’s what’s really happening: Shopify, by default, links to products through the collection they appear in. This makes sense from a merchandising point of view, but not from an SEO perspective. Because what you’re doing—without realizing it—is creating multiple URLs for the same page. And that’s not great for Google or your site's authority.

So, what’s the smarter way to handle this?

Stick to one format. Preferably the cleanest one.

The clean product path—/products/product-name—should be the only version you use across your site. That means in your homepage banners, featured product widgets, blog articles, footer recommendations—everywhere.

“Every time you link to the same page from different URLs, you make Google guess. And Google doesn’t like guessing—it likes clarity.”

To make it super clear, here’s a quick visual showing how both URLs point to the same product—but one’s carrying unnecessary baggage.

Here’s how to actually clean this up.

If you have a developer, ask them to override the default Liquid code in your Shopify theme. Specifically, instead of using {{ product.url | within: collection }}, use just {{ product.url }}. This forces the system to drop the collection slug and always link clean.

If you're not using a developer, you can still be proactive. Whenever you're manually adding links (like in navigation menus or content blocks) copy the direct product URL from the product's admin page. Don’t pull it from the storefront while browsing a collection.

And yes, this might seem like a small thing. But over time, these tiny consistency upgrades add up to a stronger internal linking structure, clearer crawl paths for search engines, and a better chance of ranking higher.

13. Use Shopify Functions & Hydrogen for Custom URL Control (Advanced)

If you're feeling boxed in by Shopify's default URL structure, you're not alone.

Every Plus merchant hits this wall eventually—you want cleaner paths, maybe just /blue-shirt instead of /products/blue-shirt. But Shopify won’t let you, right?

Well, not quite.

If you're on Shopify Plus, there's a back door—but it’s a bit advanced. It's called Hydrogen (Shopify’s headless framework) combined with Shopify Functions. This combo gives you the freedom to rewrite the rules—literally.

So here's the premise: Shopify’s default URLs are rigid. You can’t strip out /products/ or /collections/ from the core site. But when you go headless with Hydrogen, you're no longer tied to Shopify's frontend.

You build your storefront separately, pulling product data via API. That means you decide what the URLs look like.

Want /shop/blue-shirt or just /blue-shirt? You can build it that way. Want category pages to live at /men/ instead of /collections/men? Done.

But here’s the thing—you need to commit to a headless setup, and that’s not a light switch. It means your frontend is custom-built (React-based), and you’re maintaining it independently of Shopify’s default theme engine.

Here’s a quick visual to show you how the standard Shopify URLs stack up against the custom magic you can pull off with Hydrogen:

Now, how do Shopify Functions fit into this?

Functions are server-side custom logic tools—you can use them to customize things like routing logic, cart behaviors, or checkout rules. Pair them with Hydrogen, and you get deep control over how URLs resolve and behave.

You might:

• Route /best-sellers to a curated dynamic collection.
• Auto-generate static URLs for personalized landing pages.
• Tie campaign logic directly to product routes.

But let’s be honest—this isn’t something you do casually on a weekend. You’ll need dev support, planning, and a good understanding of how Shopify’s Storefront API works.

Still, if you want total control over your site architecture, this is the way to get it. You’re no longer adjusting to Shopify—you’re building what you want and letting Shopify power the backend.

14. URL Parameter Management in Robots.txt.liquid (Shopify Plus Exclusive)

If you’re on Shopify Plus, you’ve got a powerful little file that most merchants don’t even know they can touch—robots.txt.liquid.

Think of it as your site’s “doorman.” It tells search engines which pages are welcome to come in and get indexed… and which ones should stay out.

Now, here’s the thing: Shopify loves to tack on URL parameters. These usually appear when users apply filters, sort collections, or paginate through product grids. You’ll see URLs like:

/collections/shirts?sort_by=price-ascending  

/collections/sale?page=2  

/products/blue-shirt?variant=123456

At first glance, these seem harmless. But here’s the catch: search engines can end up crawling hundreds of unnecessary versions of the same page—all thanks to those little parameters.

That creates clutter in your index. It eats up your crawl budget. And worst of all? It weakens your SEO signals by spreading them thin.

So what do you do? You go into your Shopify Plus admin and head over to the Theme Files. From there, locate robots.txt.liquid. If it’s not there, you can create it manually.

Now inside this file, you can tell bots to ignore specific parameters using Disallow directives.

Here’s a simple starter pack:

Disallow: /*?sort_by=

Disallow: /*?page=

Disallow: /*?variant=

What this does is block Google (and other bots) from indexing any page that includes these parameters. You’re basically saying, “Hey Google, don’t waste your time crawling these duplicates. Focus on the main stuff.”

It’s a lightweight fix, but it makes a huge impact on your site’s crawl health and overall SEO hygiene.

Just be careful—don’t go blocking anything blindly. Always double-check that the pages you’re excluding don’t carry any unique or valuable content.

This is the kind of SEO move that makes your site faster, smarter, and easier to manage. And in the long run, it’s the small technical wins like this that compound into stronger organic performance.

Conclusion

So, the takeaway here is simple—stick to clean product URLs and make sure all your internal links point directly to them. You’re not just fixing a technical detail; you’re making it easier for Google to understand your site, and for your visitors to trust it. No fluff, no confusion—just one clear path to each product.

It’s a small change that makes a big impact over time. And the best part is that you can start doing it today without touching code.

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FAQs

What happens if I keep using the long collection-based product URLs?

Over time, search engines may see your product pages as duplicates. That can split your SEO power and confuse Google. Clean URLs help Google focus on one version, making your site stronger and easier to rank.

Will changing internal links affect my customers’ shopping experience?

Not at all. Your customers won’t even notice the difference. The product still opens just the same. But behind the scenes, you're giving Google a clearer path to understand and rank your product pages better.

Do I need a developer to change my product URLs?

Nope, you don’t need one. You’re not changing the URL itself—just how you link to it. Anywhere you add a link (menus, blogs, buttons), just use the short /products/your-item format instead of the long one.

Can I still use collections for organizing products?

Yes, definitely. Collections are still great for grouping items. Just don’t use the collection-based path when linking to individual products. Collections are for browsing—products should shine on their own with clean, focused links.

Is this a one-time fix or an ongoing thing?

It’s mostly a one-time setup, but it helps to stay consistent. Every time you add a new link to a product, just double-check that you’re using the clean version. It’s a small habit with big rewards.