Shopify's structural quirks
Shopify makes some SEO decisions for you. Products are reachable at both /products/handle and /collections/collection/products/handle, which creates duplicate URLs; Shopify sets canonicals to help, but internal linking and templates still need attention. Core paths like /products/, /collections/, /pages/, and /blogs/ are fixed and can't be flattened.
The platform also generates collection filter and sort URLs, and its robots.txt is now editable via a theme file, so crawl control that used to be off-limits is now possible with care.
- Duplicate product access via /products/ and /collections/.../products/
- Fixed URL prefixes (/products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/) you can't remove
- Collection filter and sort parameters creating thin variants
- robots.txt.liquid now editable for controlled crawl rules
- Default canonicals present but internal links needing alignment
- Duplicate or auto-generated tag and vendor collection pages
What we tune within the platform
We link products to their canonical /products/ URL consistently, tidy up collection filtering so crawlers aren't chasing endless combinations, and edit the theme's robots file where it genuinely helps. On speed, Shopify's biggest drag is usually app and theme bloat, every installed app can inject scripts on every page.
We audit installed apps and theme code, remove scripts from pages that don't need them, ensure product images are sized and lazy-loaded, and add clean structured data for products so you're eligible for rich results.
- Point internal links and canonicals to the /products/ URL consistently
- Control collection filter/sort crawling to avoid thin duplicates
- Edit robots.txt.liquid where it meaningfully helps crawl budget
- Audit apps and remove leftover scripts slowing every page
- Optimize product images (sizing, format, lazy loading)
- Add valid Product and Breadcrumb structured data for rich results
More on technical seo
Frequently asked questions
Can you change Shopify's URL structure?
Only partially. The core prefixes like /products/ and /collections/ are fixed by the platform and can't be removed. What we can do is make sure the canonical version of each URL is used consistently in links and sitemaps, and control the duplicate and filtered variants Shopify generates.
Why is my Shopify store slow?
The most common causes are installed apps and heavy themes. Many apps inject JavaScript and CSS on every page, even pages that don't use them, and leftover code stays behind after an app is removed. Auditing and trimming that, plus image optimization, is usually where the speed wins are.
Do I need extra SEO apps for Shopify?
Sometimes a focused app helps for a specific job, but stacking SEO apps often adds bloat and overlapping features that slow the store down. We prefer to use Shopify's built-in capabilities and clean theme edits first, and only add an app when it clearly earns its place.