SEO Audit for Shopify help
Storefront and first impressions
These 10 checks look at what a new visitor sees first: your homepage, menu, search, trust signals and how the store works on a phone.
Now on the Shopify App Store. These guides go with Store Audit: SEO & AI Search, the Cape Wired app that checks your store for you. Install it from the Shopify App Store, or follow the steps below to check your store yourself.
Last updated: 29 October 2026Clear homepage message
What it means: A visitor should know what you sell, and who it is for, within a few seconds of landing on your homepage on a phone. A slogan on its own doesn't tell them.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Go to Online Store > Themes and click Customise on your live theme.
- Select the first section on your homepage (often an image banner or slideshow).
- Change the heading so it names your product type in plain words.
- Add a short line underneath saying who the products are for.
- Use an image that shows the product, then preview on mobile and save.
What good looks like: A headline that plainly names what you sell, a short line saying who it is for, and an image that shows the product.
One clear next step
What it means: Your first screen should have one obvious button or link that takes people to your best products. Several competing ones slow people down. A styled text link works as well as a button if it stands out.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, select your homepage banner section.
- Keep one main button or link and remove or move any others further down the page.
- Give it specific text, such as "Shop" plus your product type.
- Link it to a collection that leads with your best-sellers, not an empty or catch-all one.
- Check on your phone that it is easy to see against the background.
What good looks like: A single, specific button or link that stands out on the first mobile screen, leading to a collection that starts with your top products.
Simple main menu
What it means: A short menu using your customers' own words helps people find products. Too many items, vague labels or brand names make them give up.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Go to Content > Menus and open your main menu.
- Cut the top level to seven items or fewer. Move extras into dropdowns.
- Rename vague labels (such as "Explore" or "Range") to the product words people search for.
- Remove links to empty collections and fix any broken links.
- Save, then test the menu on your phone.
What good looks like: Seven or fewer top-level items, each named the way customers shop, with every link working.
Site search that works
What it means: People who search usually know what they want. Your search should still find products when they misspell a word or use a different word from yours.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Install Shopify's free Search & Discovery app from the Shopify App Store.
- Open the app and go to Synonyms.
- Add groups of words customers use for the same thing as your product names.
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, check the search icon shows in your mobile header. If your theme has a search suggestions setting (often under Theme settings), switch it on.
- Try a few searches on your phone, including a misspelling.
What good looks like: A visible search icon in the mobile header, suggestions as you type, and useful results for misspellings and common synonyms.
Trust signals on the homepage
What it means: New visitors need reassurance before they buy. Reviews, real contact details, a returns promise and secure payment should be visible before they reach a product page.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, add a text or icon section just under your homepage banner.
- Show your review rating and count, if your reviews app offers a homepage widget.
- Add your returns promise and the payment methods you accept.
- Put a contact email and your location in the footer.
- Save and check it on mobile.
What good looks like: A slim strip under the banner with your rating, returns promise and secure payment, plus contact details and location in the footer.
Delivery costs shown early
What it means: Surprise delivery costs at checkout are a common reason people leave. Tell them the cost, any free-delivery threshold and how long it takes before they reach checkout.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Check your rates in Settings > Shipping and delivery.
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, add an announcement bar with your delivery offer.
- On your product template, add a text block near Add to cart with delivery cost and timing.
- Make sure your delivery page or FAQ says the same.
- Whenever you change your rates, update all three places.
What good looks like: Delivery cost and timing in the announcement bar and next to the price on product pages, all matching your shipping settings.
Easy to use on a phone
What it means: Most visits come from phones. Small text, cramped buttons and popups that appear straight away all cost sales.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, open Theme settings > Typography and check body text is easy to read on a phone.
- Check your popup or email sign-up app settings and delay the popup until the visitor has scrolled or spent some time on the site.
- Make sure any popup has a large close button.
- On your phone, open the menu, pick a product and add it to the basket using one thumb.
- Fix anything that needed zooming or caused a mis-tap.
What good looks like: Text around 16px, wide buttons, a menu that opens with one tap and no popup on arrival.
Page speed
What it means: Slow pages lose visitors, especially on mobile data, and Google takes speed into account. The app measures your homepage and one product page with Google PageSpeed Insights.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Go to Settings > Apps and uninstall apps you no longer use.
- Compress large images before uploading and replace any very large ones.
- In Online Store > Themes > Customise, remove homepage sections you don't need, especially autoplay videos and slideshows.
- Test your homepage and a best-selling product page in Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) and note the mobile scores.
- Run the audit again after big changes to see the effect.
What good looks like: Your homepage and a best-selling product page show their main content in about 3 seconds on mobile, Core Web Vitals pass, and you track the scores after big changes.
About page with real people
What it means: Small brands win on being real. An About page that shows the people behind the store builds trust and helps AI tools understand who you are.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Go to Online Store > Pages and open or create your About page.
- Write a short story in your own voice: who you are, why you started and where you are based.
- Add a real photo of you or your team.
- Link to your best-sellers at the end.
- Add the page to your footer menu, and your main menu if there is room, in Content > Menus.
What good looks like: 150 to 300 words in your own voice, a real photo, where you are based and a link to your best-sellers, linked from the footer.
Footer basics
What it means: Careful shoppers check the footer for policies and contact details. Broken links or pages with placeholder text make a store look unattended.
How to fix it in Shopify:
- Go to Settings > Policies and make sure your refund, privacy, terms and shipping policies are set up and match how you work.
- Go to Content > Menus and open your footer menu.
- Add links to your policies, contact page, FAQ and main collections.
- Remove or fix any link the app flagged as broken.
- Open each linked page and replace any placeholder or sample text.
What good looks like: Shop, Help and About groups in the footer, every link working, and policies written for how you actually work.
Want to go deeper?
The Shopify DIY Self-Audit Kit
Want the full checklist, worked examples and the scorecard? The Cape Wired Shopify DIY Self-Audit Kit covers all 40 checks in depth, including storefront and first impressions.