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You should think of migrating your e-commerce site as the physical relocation of a shop. The risk is losing your customer base along the way as a result of this change of address! In itself, switching from Magento to Shopify is a sensible decision for your business. However, from an SEO perspective, it can cause problems if the migration hasn’t been properly planned, potentially resulting in a loss of traffic. The good news is that with SEO support organised by a reputable digital marketing agency, you can not only safeguard your search engine rankings but also get off to a better start.
In recent years, there has been a real shift in the market towards SaaS solutions such as Shopify. Magento isn’t a bad solution in itself, but it is demanding. Many retailers are finding this out the hard way: high costs, technical requirements, excessive complexity… With the rise of mobile, social commerce and the need for speed, e-retailers are looking for more agile tools, and Magento can seem over-engineered.
In contrast, Shopify is an intuitive, user-friendly and reasonably priced platform. The interface is straightforward, performance is already optimised, and you can focus on what really matters: your business.
Migrating to Shopify can also have an indirect positive impact on your SEO… provided you do it properly. Why? Because the platform is often faster and better optimised in terms of performance (particularly Core Web Vitals). And these days, page load speed is a key factor for Google.
When you migrate a website, Google has to re-evaluate your site; it won’t trust it blindly. If certain pages change their URLs or are redirected incorrectly, it will take Google some time to make the connection. And it is this phase that can cause your traffic and visibility to drop.
And this process of regaining your ranking in search engines can be a long and arduous one!
As mentioned earlier, it is generally in terms of URLs that the greatest risk lies when migrating from Magento to Shopify. This is because the two platforms do not use the same URL structure. Whilst Magento can be very flexible, Shopify imposes more standardised formats (such as /products/, /collections/, etc.). This means that all URLs will change!
If 301 redirects aren’t set up between the URLs, Google will treat your new pages as new ones.
This is the sort of problem you might not notice straight away, but which causes a great deal of trouble. After a migration, some pages may:
For example, Shopify can automatically generate several URLs for the same product (via collections). If this isn’t managed properly, Google may get confused and dilute your SEO.
Internal linking is the backbone of SEO. When you switch CMS, all your internal links can be affected: menus, categories, product pages, articles… everything may need reviewing. If links are broken, misdirected or less optimised than before, you’re hindering the flow of your ‘SEO fuel’ throughout your site.
A good site map helps Google understand the structure of your website and prioritise the important pages.
Admittedly, migrating your e-commerce site from Magento to Shopify may seem straightforward on paper, but when it comes to SEO, it’s a different story altogether! You’re not just moving a website; you’re moving your entire SEO history: your traffic, your Google rankings, your backlinks, your strategic pages…
Even before the migration begins, an expert will carry out an in-depth analysis of your website. They will identify the pages that generate traffic, those that convert, and those with potential. An SEO expert knows how to identify what is valuable and, above all, how to preserve it.
| Agency | Positioning | Key strengths | Ideal for |
| Ad’s up | Performance & Acquisition | Data, e-commerce, complex migrations | Growing sites |
| JVWEB | ROI & global marketing | SEO + SEA: a business perspective | Omnichannel strategy |
| Daware | Technical SEO | Audits, migrations, technical expertise | Complex projects |
| Peak Ace | International | Multi-country SEO, high volumes | Global e-commerce |
| Optimize 360 | Digital strategy | Holistic approach, support | SMEs / Mid-cap companies |
A well-executed migration always follows a fairly structured approach – a sort of clear and well-defined roadmap.
We start with a comprehensive audit to understand what’s already working. Next, we design the new site architecture, bearing SEO considerations in mind.
The redirect phase is the most critical. This is where everything comes down to. Then comes the pre-launch testing phase: crawling, indexing and technical checks.
And once the website is live, it’s vital not to disappear. Post-migration monitoring is essential to ensure any necessary adjustments can be made quickly.
Without going into an endless list, there are a few key points that cannot be overlooked:
One of the things that sets Ad’s up apart is its data-driven approach – in other words, its analysis of data. Rather than following a set checklist, we analyse what is actually happening on your website: which pages generate traffic, which ones convert, how users navigate the site, and, above all, what really contributes to your turnover. This enables us to make more informed decisions, prioritise the right actions at the right time, and move forward with a clear vision throughout the migration.
