Shopify Guides | Article 08
What Happens to Your URLs When You Migrate to Shopify?
A practical guide to Shopify URL structure, handles and redirects for businesses moving an established ecommerce store from WooCommerce.
Part of the Cape Wired Shopify Guides series.
The short answer
When you migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify, many URLs will change even if you keep exactly the same domain.
WooCommerce permalink structures are configurable, while Shopify uses its own standard storefront routes for core resource types. You can usually choose the final handle - the descriptive part of the address - but you do not have unrestricted control over the full Shopify path.
That is normal. The SEO risk comes from unmanaged URL changes, not simply from the fact that the paths are different.
Do not force Shopify to copy every WooCommerce URL. Create the clearest useful Shopify destination, then preserve continuity from valuable old URLs with direct, relevant redirects.
Different platform structures
Why WooCommerce and Shopify URLs often look different
WooCommerce gives merchants several product permalink options. Product
URLs can use a default /product/ base, the shop page as a
base, the shop plus category, or a custom base. Product category and
other taxonomy bases can also be configured.
That means two established WooCommerce stores can use very different URL structures even when their catalogues are similar.
Shopify takes a more standardised approach. The handle can be edited for products, collections, pages and blog content, but the surrounding storefront route is controlled by the platform. Shopify also reserves a number of paths and does not allow every URL to be used as a redirect source.
Shopify URL structure
What Shopify URLs typically look like
For migration planning, think of a Shopify URL as a platform route plus an editable handle.
| Content type | Typical Shopify pattern | What you control |
|---|---|---|
| Product | /products/example-product |
The product handle |
| Collection | /collections/example-collection |
The collection handle |
| Page | /pages/example-page |
The page handle |
| Blog | /blogs/example-blog |
The blog handle |
| Blog post | /blogs/example-blog/example-post |
The blog and post handles |
Fixed routes and editable handles
Can you remove /products/, /collections/, /pages/ or /blogs/?
For a standard Shopify Online Store, plan around Shopify's resource routes rather than assuming you can reproduce any WordPress permalink structure exactly.
For example, a WooCommerce product such as:
example.com/shop/beard-care/dark-night
may become something closer to:
example.com/products/dark-night
The old path does not need to survive literally for the migration to work. It needs a clear new destination and an appropriate redirect.
The editable part
What is a Shopify handle?
The handle is the editable identifier used within the resource URL. Shopify creates handles when resources are created, and merchants can edit the handle for products, collections, pages, blogs and blog posts.
In /products/dark-night-beard-butter, the product handle
is dark-night-beard-butter. The
/products/ portion belongs to Shopify's storefront route.
Handles are worth planning carefully because they influence the new URL map. Keeping the old slug where it remains descriptive and sensible can make migration easier, but there is no rule that every old slug must survive.
Should you keep the WooCommerce slug where possible?
Often, yes - if it is short, descriptive, still accurate and already linked externally. But do not preserve a weak slug simply because it is old. Document any change and redirect valuable old addresses when they move.
Products
What happens to product URLs?
WooCommerce product permalinks can include /product/,
/shop/, category segments or a custom base. Shopify
products use the Shopify product route with a product handle.
During migration, each indexable WooCommerce product URL should be mapped according to what happens to that product.
Categories and collections
What happens to WooCommerce category URLs?
WooCommerce product categories commonly use a configurable taxonomy
base such as /product-category/, although individual
stores can customise those structures.
Shopify uses collections as the main merchandising grouping for products. A WooCommerce category does not have to become a Shopify collection one-for-one.
First decide whether the old category still has a useful customer and search purpose. It may become a collection, merge into another collection, become supporting content, or be retired.
Pages and editorial content
What happens to WordPress pages and blog URLs?
WordPress page and post URLs can be highly flexible. Shopify pages and blogs follow Shopify's storefront structure, so content URLs frequently change during migration.
For important editorial content, preserve the content purpose first. Then map the old WordPress address to the relevant Shopify page or blog post.
If an article has significant organic visibility or backlinks, do not let it disappear simply because Shopify's blog structure is different. Equally, do not import every old post if it is outdated, duplicated or no longer useful.
Domain versus path
What happens to the domain?
The platform and the domain are separate decisions. You can connect an existing third-party domain to Shopify or transfer its management to Shopify.
If the existing domain remains appropriate, keeping it removes one major variable from the replatforming project.
Keeping the domain does not keep every path the same. A migration can
retain example.com while still changing individual
product, collection, page and blog URLs underneath it.
If the root domain also changes, treat that as an additional site-move layer rather than assuming it is simply part of the platform switch.
Redirect planning
How Shopify URL redirects work
Shopify provides URL redirects in the admin and supports importing and exporting redirect lists. A redirect has an old path and a new destination.
For example:
/product/example-product
→
/products/example-product
Redirects should normally be direct. Avoid chains where the old WooCommerce URL first redirects to an intermediate Shopify URL and then redirects again to the final destination.
Platform constraints
Important Shopify redirect limitations
Shopify redirects are useful, but they are not an unrestricted web-server rewrite system.
Changes made after launch
Can Shopify create redirects when you change a handle later?
For several Shopify content types, the admin offers an option to create a redirect from the previous handle when you change the web address. Shopify documents this behaviour for collections, pages, blogs and blog posts.
That is useful for later changes, but it does not replace the migration redirect plan. The old WooCommerce URLs were never Shopify handles, so they still need to be imported or created deliberately.
Retirement decisions
What should happen to old URLs with no direct Shopify equivalent?
Every old URL needs a decision, but not every old URL needs a redirect.
| Old URL situation | Likely action | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Same product or content exists | Redirect to the corresponding Shopify URL | Preserves a clear relationship |
| Close replacement exists | Redirect only if genuinely relevant | Keeps the destination useful to the visitor |
| Several pages are intentionally consolidated | Redirect to the new consolidated resource | Appropriate when the new page covers the old purpose |
| Page is obsolete and no replacement exists | Allow a true 404 / retirement | Avoids misleading redirects |
| Old URL still loads a valid Shopify resource | Resolve the conflict first | Shopify redirects only work from broken source URLs |
Redirects are only one part
Do redirects preserve SEO value automatically?
Permanent redirects are a core migration signal, but they do not make every migration risk disappear. Search engines still need to crawl the old URL, follow the redirect, understand the replacement and process the changed site.
Redirects are strongest when the destination genuinely continues the old page's purpose and the rest of the site also links directly to the new URL.
That means redirects should be paired with updated internal links, consistent canonicals, the new sitemap and post-launch monitoring rather than treated as the entire SEO plan.
New-site linking
What about internal links?
After migration, the new Shopify store should link directly to its final URLs. Do not leave old WooCommerce links inside the new site simply because the redirects work.
Practical workflow
A nine-step URL migration workflow
Export the old URL inventory
Combine sitemap, crawl, Search Console, analytics and backlink data so important URLs are not missed.
Classify each URL
Product, category, page, post, file, campaign, filtered URL or another resource.
Design the Shopify destination structure
Decide products, collections, pages and blogs before creating redirects.
Set Shopify handles
Keep sensible old slugs where useful; improve them where there is a clear reason.
Create the old-to-new map
Give each valuable old URL a relevant Shopify destination or an explicit retirement decision.
Import and test redirects
Check reserved paths, source conflicts, filtered URLs and redirect chains.
Update internal links
Point new-site links directly to final Shopify URLs.
Launch and crawl the store
Check priority old URLs, new URLs, canonicals, 404s and indexability.
Monitor after launch
Watch old-URL traffic, crawl errors, indexing and visibility while the move settles.
Avoidable mistakes
Common URL migration mistakes
Assuming WooCommerce paths can be recreated exactly
Build the redirect plan around Shopify's actual storefront structure.
Treating every old category as a Shopify collection
Some categories should merge, change purpose or disappear.
Redirecting deleted pages to the homepage
An irrelevant destination is not a useful replacement.
Leaving old links throughout the new store
Redirects should protect historic links, not become the new internal-link structure.
Forgetting non-product URLs
Pages, posts, PDFs, campaign URLs and taxonomy archives can all carry meaningful value.
Importing redirects without testing them
Reserved paths and source conflicts can stop expected redirects from working.
Changing handles repeatedly after launch
Every unnecessary URL change creates another continuity issue to manage.
Ignoring market or language URLs
International storefront structures can add subfolders and localisation behaviour that need testing.
The Cape Wired view
Accept Shopify's structure and protect the relationships
Trying to make Shopify behave exactly like WordPress can create unnecessary complexity. A cleaner migration accepts that Shopify has a different URL model and focuses on continuity between the old and new store.
The important questions are whether valuable content still has a useful destination, whether old URLs reach that destination directly, whether the new store links to its final URLs consistently, and whether the structure still makes sense to customers.
That approach is more useful than preserving every legacy folder name simply because it existed before the migration.
Final takeaway
So, what happens to your URLs when you migrate to Shopify?
Many of them will change. WooCommerce permalink structures are flexible, while Shopify uses standard routes for products, collections, pages and blogs. You control the handle within those routes, but not every part of the path.
That is not a reason to avoid Shopify. It is a reason to make URL mapping a formal part of the migration rather than leaving it until launch day.
Map the old store, decide the new Shopify structure, choose sensible handles, create direct relevant redirects, update internal links and test the real store before launch.