Quick answer: A 301 redirect map is a spreadsheet that pairs every important old URL with its closest new Shopify URL. Build it from a crawl, Search Console and backlink data; match pages by relevance rather than by convenience; bulk-import it through Shopify’s URL redirects tool; then test every line and fix chains, loops and soft 404s before and after launch.
Of all the work in a platform migration, the redirect map is the least glamorous and the most valuable. It is a spreadsheet. Nobody celebrates it at launch. But when a store loses 40 per cent of its organic traffic in the month after go-live, the cause is almost always found in this file — or in its absence.
This guide explains how we build one, so that you can build your own or check what an agency hands you.
What a redirect map actually does
When a URL changes, Google and every visitor who follows an old link need to be told where the page went. A 301 redirect says the move is permanent, and search engines pass most ranking signals from the old URL to the new one.
The redirect map is the plan that decides, for every old URL, where it should go. Without it, redirects are applied inconsistently, usually by pattern rules that miss exceptions, and the pages that earned your traffic are the ones that fall through.
Step 1: Collect every URL you might need
Pull URLs from four sources and combine them in one sheet:
• A full crawl of the live site, including images, PDFs and paginated pages
• Google Search Console, for URLs that have received impressions or clicks in the last 16 months
• Analytics, for landing pages with sessions or revenue
• A backlink export from Ahrefs, Semrush or a similar tool, for URLs that earn external links
Remove duplicates, normalise trailing slashes and lowercase, and strip tracking parameters. You will usually end up with more URLs than you expected, because old filters, sort orders and campaign parameters have been indexed for years.
Step 2: Prioritise by value
You do not need to hand-map every URL. Tag each one with its value:
| Priority | What it covers | How to redirect |
| High | Pages with organic traffic, revenue or backlinks | Manual one-to-one |
| Medium | Live products, collections and content with little traffic | Pattern or one-to-one |
| Low | Filters, parameters, old tags, empty pages | Pattern rules or let 404 |
This keeps the effort proportionate. In most stores, a few hundred high-priority URLs account for the large majority of organic value.
Step 3: Match by relevance
For every high-priority URL, choose the new destination by asking one question: if a visitor landed on the old page, which new page would answer the same need?
• A discontinued product goes to the closest replacement product, or the parent collection
• A merged category goes to the new category that now holds those products
• An old blog post goes to the same post on the new blog, or the most relevant guide
• A page with no equivalent goes to the nearest useful parent, never to the homepage by default
Redirecting everything to the homepage is the classic shortcut. Google generally treats mass homepage redirects like soft 404s, so the signals do not transfer. Use the homepage only when nothing else is genuinely relevant.
Step 4: Know Shopify’s URL structure
Shopify uses fixed prefixes: /products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/news/ and so on. Products can appear at /collections/x/products/y, but the canonical is /products/y. That affects how you write the destination column — always use the canonical form.
Where possible, keep the handle (the slug at the end of the URL) the same as the old one. This keeps the redirect predictable and makes it easy to audit later.
Step 5: Import in bulk
Shopify’s admin has a URL redirects tool under Content > Menus > View URL redirects (the exact location can vary as the admin changes). It accepts a CSV with two columns: Redirect from and Redirect to. Paths should be relative, beginning with a slash.
A few rules help avoid trouble:
• Redirect from the path only, not the full domain
• Do not redirect to a URL that itself redirects
• Do not create a redirect for a URL that still exists as a live page, because Shopify will not apply it
• Import in batches and test after each, so you can find a bad row quickly
For very large maps, a script or app is more practical than the admin upload, but the structure of the spreadsheet stays the same.
Step 6: Test before launch
Once the new store is on staging or the redirects are loaded, run the old URL list through a crawler in list mode and check three things:
1. Status code. Every high-priority URL should return a single 301.
2. Destination. Each should land on the intended page with a 200 status.
3. Hops. No chains and no loops. A chain is A to B to C; a loop is A to B to A.
Fix everything that fails, then repeat. This is tedious, and it is the step that separates a clean migration from a messy one.
Step 7: Check again after launch
On launch day, run the same list against the live domain. Then check Search Console’s page indexing report and 404 report each day for the first week. Real traffic reveals URLs your crawl missed — usually old backlinks and parameter URLs. Add new redirects as they appear.
Add a status column to the map — tested, live, needs review — and keep it as a living document. When someone asks six months later why an old URL lands where it does, the sheet answers the question, and any future redesign becomes far less risky.
Keep the redirects in place for at least a year. Many teams remove them after a few months, and it costs them the backlink equity that still points at the old URLs.
Common mistakes
• Chains created by double migrations. If the store has migrated before, old redirects may already exist. Flatten them so each old URL goes directly to its final destination.
• Case and trailing slash mismatches. /Product-A and /product-a/ may be different URLs on the old platform.
• Redirecting to out-of-stock or deleted pages. Always check that the destination is live.
• Forgetting image and PDF URLs that earn traffic or links.
• Redirecting URLs that should return 410 or 404. Some pages should genuinely disappear, such as spam URLs or test pages.
Frequently asked questions
How many redirects can a Shopify store have?
Shopify allows very large numbers of redirects, and bulk import handles large CSV files. In practice, a well-built map is shorter than the full crawl because low-value URLs are handled by pattern or left to return 404.
Is a 301 or 302 better for a migration?
Use 301 for permanent moves. A 302 signals a temporary change and may delay the transfer of ranking signals.
Do redirects slow down my Shopify store?
A single redirect adds a negligible delay. Chains of several redirects can add noticeable latency and waste crawl budget, which is why flattening them matters.
Can I redirect URL parameters in Shopify?
Shopify’s redirect tool matches paths, not query strings. Parameter URLs are generally handled through canonical tags and Search Console settings rather than redirects.
Next step
If you already have a map and want a second pair of eyes, we can review it against a fresh crawl and flag chains, gaps and likely soft 404s before you launch. Request a redirect map review and send us the spreadsheet.
