Migrating a Webshop to Shopify Without Losing SEO
By CodexierPublished 7 min read
Moving a webshop to Shopify is rarely about the design. It is about getting years of products, variants, customers and order history into a new structure, and making sure every old URL still lands somewhere sensible when Google and your customers arrive. This guide walks through what can move, what cannot, how to map the data, and what to check in the first week after launch.
What data can move and what cannot
| Data | Moves to Shopify? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Products, variants, prices, stock | Yes | Via CSV or the API; SKUs must be unique and consistent |
| Product images | Yes | Re-uploaded; alt texts often lost unless exported separately |
| Categories and collections | Yes, restructured | Shopify uses collections and tags, not nested categories |
| Customers and addresses | Yes | Marketing consent status must be carried over correctly |
| Customer passwords | No | Hashes are not portable; customers reset on first login |
| Order history | Yes, as archived orders | Imported for reference; not editable, not refundable through Shopify |
| Reviews | Depends on the app | Export from the old review tool and import into the new one |
| Gift cards and store credit | Partly | Balances can be recreated as new gift cards |
| Blog posts and pages | Yes | Formatting needs cleaning; internal links must be updated |
| Discount codes | Recreated | Rebuild active codes manually; old ones expire |
Product and variant mapping
Shopify's product model is simple: a product has up to three option types, such as size, colour and material, and each combination is a variant with its own SKU, price and stock. Shops coming from WooCommerce, Magento or a custom platform often have products that do not fit that shape: configurable products with many attributes, bundles, or variants that were really separate products. Sort these out in a spreadsheet before the import, not in the Shopify admin afterwards. Every product needs a clean SKU, a handle (the URL slug) that you control, and a mapping to the collection it belongs in. Decide now whether old handles are preserved; keeping them where possible reduces the redirect work considerably.
- Export the full catalogue including inactive products; you may still need to redirect their URLs.
- Normalise option names (Storlek, Färg) and values so that the same size is not written three ways.
- Carry over meta titles and meta descriptions per product; they are part of what ranks today.
- Check weights and dimensions: Swedish shipping integrations for PostNord and DHL price by them.
- Test the import on a development store first and inspect ten products by hand, including the hardest ones.
Customers, orders and passwords
Customer records import cleanly as long as email addresses are unique and consent flags are mapped honestly. Under GDPR you may move customer data to a new system for the same purpose; you may not turn a customer who never opted into marketing into a subscriber because the import defaulted the field. Passwords are the one thing that never moves. Plan a message to customers before launch explaining that they will set a new password on their first login, and make guest checkout available so nobody is blocked from buying while they sort it out.
Order history is worth importing for two reasons: customer service can see what someone bought, and Shopify's customer profiles then show lifetime value from day one. The orders arrive as archived records, so refunds for pre-migration orders are handled in the old system or manually through your payment provider. Keep the old platform's admin accessible, read-only, for as long as your accounting retention and warranty periods require.
URL redirects for SEO
Search engines have spent years learning your current URLs. Every one that returns a not-found page after the move loses its ranking and the links pointing at it. The fix is mechanical and non-negotiable: a complete map from old URL to new URL, loaded as permanent redirects on the day the new shop goes live. Shopify has a built-in redirect tool and accepts a CSV import, so the work is in building the list, not in loading it.
Crawl the old shop
Use a crawler to list every URL that currently returns a page, and pull the top pages from Search Console and Analytics so you know which ones carry traffic.
Map one-to-one
Each product, category, page and blog post goes to its closest equivalent. Never redirect everything to the homepage; that is treated as a soft error.
Handle the structure changes
Category URLs become collection URLs, and nested paths flatten. Filter and pagination URLs can usually point to the parent collection.
Keep the map after launch
Redirects stay in place for years. When you later delete a product, add its redirect the same day.
Also check what changes inside the pages: title tags, canonical tags, structured data for products, and the sitemap. Shopify generates these automatically, which is convenient but means you should verify they match what ranked before. This is the part of a store setup where we spend the most time, because it is the part that shows up in revenue six weeks later.
Launch-week checks
Switch the domain in a quiet hour, with the old shop still reachable on a backup address. Then run this list every day for the first week.
- Place a real order with each payment method, including Klarna and Swish, and refund one to confirm the flow.
- Watch Search Console for a spike in not-found errors; each one is a missing redirect to add.
- Submit the new sitemap and check that indexing of key collections starts.
- Compare organic traffic to the same weekday before the move; a small dip is normal, a collapse means redirects or indexing rules are wrong.
- Confirm shipping rates, VAT settings and the Fortnox or accounting integration produce correct invoices.
- Read every customer email that mentions login, checkout or missing products; they find what tests miss.
When you should not migrate: if the current platform works, the shop is profitable and the pain is a single missing feature, an integration on the existing platform is cheaper than a move. And if your catalogue depends on complex configurable products or B2B price lists, check Shopify's fit before committing; some shops belong on WooCommerce or a custom build, which is a comparison we make honestly on a short call. Plan the returns flow at the same time; see returns handling that protects your margin.
- Shopify / WooCommerce store setupMigration, redirects, payments and Swedish shipping set up as one project with a published delivery window.
- PricingThe store setup package and what a migration adds, in kr, before you book anything.
- Book a free 15-minute callTell us your current platform and catalogue size; we say whether a move makes sense.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Shopify migration take?
For a shop with a few hundred products and a clean catalogue, a few weeks from data export to launch, most of it spent on mapping and redirects. Large catalogues, custom integrations and messy data extend it. The launch itself is a single day if the preparation is done.
Will we lose Google rankings when we move?
Not if every old URL redirects permanently to its closest new equivalent and the page content stays comparable. Expect minor movement for a few weeks while search engines re-crawl. Rankings are lost when redirects are missing, when everything points to the homepage, or when the new theme hides content that used to rank.
Can customers keep their accounts?
Their records, addresses and order history move, but their passwords cannot. Each customer sets a new password the first time they log in. Tell them in advance and keep guest checkout open so it never blocks a purchase.
Do Klarna and Swish work on Shopify in Sweden?
Yes, both are available through Shopify Payments or as separate providers. They are reconnected on the new shop, not migrated. Test a live order and a refund with each before you announce the launch.
Thinking about moving your shop to Shopify?
Fifteen minutes with an engineer: bring your current platform, product count and biggest pain point, and we tell you whether a migration makes sense and what it would involve.
Book a free 15-minute call