How to Do Shopify SEO? 2025 Updated (15-Step Checklist)

Shopify is one of the most popular platforms in the e-commerce world. However, to have your store rank high on Google, you must implement the right SEO strategies. We have compiled the most up-to-date Shopify SEO tips for 2025 in 15 steps.

How to Do Shopify SEO?

To have your Shopify store rank high on Google, choose a fast and mobile-friendly theme, use SEO-friendly URL structures, optimize title and meta descriptions, enrich product descriptions with keywords, compress images and add ALT tags, improve your site speed, create internal links, attract traffic with blog content, use schema markup for rich results, and obtain backlinks from authoritative sites. Additionally, perform a technical SEO audit, enhance user experience, highlight customer reviews, implement local SEO strategies, and regularly analyze your SEO performance.

Shopify SEO Steps are as Follows:

1. Choose a fast and mobile-friendly theme.
2. Use SEO-friendly URL structures.
3. Optimize title and meta descriptions.
4. Enrich your product descriptions with keywords.
5. Compress images and add ALT tags.
6. Increase your site speed.
7. Create internal links.
8. Attract organic traffic with blog content.
9. Add structured data (Schema Markup).
10. Obtain backlinks from authoritative sites.
11. Conduct a technical SEO audit.
12. Improve user experience (UX).
13. Utilize customer reviews and social proof.
14. Implement local SEO strategies.
15. Conduct competitor analysis and track your SEO performance.

1. Choose a Fast and Mobile-Friendly Theme

Speed is a critical factor for the success of your Shopify store. Google directly uses page speed as a ranking factor. A slow-loading site negatively affects both user experience and your SEO performance.🛠 What should you do?

• Choose a lightweight and optimized theme. (Themes such as Debutify, Dawn, and Turbo are excellent for speed.)
• Test your speed using Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
• Avoid using too many apps and clean up unnecessary code.

📌 Tip: To improve your store’s speed, choose a theme that offers AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) support.

2. Use SEO-Friendly URL Structures

By default, Shopify may create long and complex URLs for category and product pages. Google understands short, descriptive URLs containing keywords much better.✅ A good URL example:https://magaza.com/kadin-beyaz-spor-ayakkabi❌ A bad URL example:https://magaza.com/products/2348234dfdsfsd💡 What can you do?

• Manually edit URLs in Shopify.
• Remove unnecessary parameters and ID numbers from the URLs.
• Include category names and product names in the URL.

📌 Tip: Shopify automatically adds “/collections/” or “/products/” to the URLs. You cannot change these, but you can emphasize your keyword to make the URL more SEO-friendly.

3. Optimize Title and Meta Descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions determine how your page appears on Google. A good title not only strengthens your SEO but also increases your click-through rate (CTR).📝 Best practices for titles:

• Place your keyword near the beginning of the title.
• Keep it under 60 characters.
• Include call-to-action phrases (e.g., “Best Prices,” “2025 Updated,” “Explore Now”).

📌 A good title example:“Women’s White Sports Shoes | 2025 Trendiest Models”❌ A bad title example:“Buy Women’s Sports Shoes – Cheapest – Free Shipping”📌 Best practices for meta descriptions:

• Write within 150-160 characters.
• Use your keyword naturally.
• Include phrases that encourage the user to take action.

🔹 Example Meta Description: “Discover the latest trends in women’s white sports shoes! Comfortable and stylish designs now in stock. Start shopping now!”

4. Enrich Your Product Descriptions with Keywords

Many e-commerce stores on Shopify make a big SEO mistake by copying and pasting product descriptions. Google loves original content, so you need to write unique descriptions for each product.📌 What should a good product description include?

• It should naturally incorporate keywords.
• Answer questions that users might have about the product.
• Use a narrative or emotionally engaging language.

💡 Example of a bad description: “These sports shoes are comfortable and stylish. Click here to buy now.” ❌💡 Example of a good description: “Featuring lightweight sole technology and a breathable design, this women’s white sports shoe offers all-day comfort. Discover it now!” ✔️

5. Optimize Images and Use ALT Tags

In the process of e-commerce SEO optimization, images are especially important and need to be properly optimized for SEO. If you want your images to appear in Google Image Search, pay attention to the following:✅ What should you do?

• Compress images to improve speed (you can use tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel).
• Add ALT text and incorporate your keyword there.
• Make file names descriptive (e.g., kadin-beyaz-spor-ayakkabi.jpg).

📌 Incorrect image name:image12345.jpg📌 Correct image name:kadin-beyaz-spor-ayakkabi-2025.jpg💡 Tip: Increase your speed by uploading images in WebP format to Shopify.

6. Increase Your Site Speed

Google rewards fast-loading sites, and page speed is directly a ranking factor. To speed up your Shopify store:📌 Actions to increase your speed:

• Remove unnecessary Shopify apps.
• Compress images and use the WebP format.
• Utilize Shopify’s built-in CDN (Content Delivery Network).
• Enable Lazy Loading.

💡 Tip: Test your store’s speed with Google PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix. Aim for a score of 80+ and check out our Technical SEO Checklist for more details.

7. Use Internal Links

Internal links encourage users to spend more time on your site and boost your SEO strength.✅ For an effective internal linking strategy:

• Link to related products within product descriptions.
• Add links to product or category pages within blog posts.
• Create links with relevant anchor text (e.g., “Discover our best sports shoes”).

💡 Example of internal link usage: “Would you like to see this season’s trendiest women’s white sports shoe models?”

8. Attract Organic Traffic with Blog Content

Google rewards informative content as well as product pages. By adding a blog section to your Shopify store, you can gain an advantage by writing SEO-friendly articles.📝 Suggestions for blog content:

• Conduct keyword research to find popular topics.
• Create how-to guides, comparison posts, and informative articles.
• Write SEO-friendly articles of at least 1000 words.
• Relate your blog content to your products.

📌 Example Blog Titles:✔️ “Women’s Sports Shoe Models That Will Be Popular in 2025”✔️ “How to Clean Sports Shoes? A 5-Step Guide”💡 Tip: Target questions from the “People also ask” section on Google when creating your content.

9. Add Structured Data (Schema Markup)

To better display your products in search results, Google requires structured data. For Shopify, you can achieve rich results (Rich Snippets) by using Schema Markup in JSON-LD format.📌 What do you gain with Schema Markup?

• ✔️ Product prices become visible in search results.
• ✔️ Stock status is directly listed.
• ✔️ Star ratings boost your click-through rate (CTR).

💡 Tip: For Shopify, consider using apps such as SEO Manager or JSON-LD for SEO to add structured data.

10. Conduct Backlink Outreach

Backlinks help Google view your site as more authoritative. The more quality sites that link to you, the higher your ranking.📌 Strategies to earn backlinks:

• Analyze your competitors’ backlinks (using Ahrefs or Semrush).
• Prepare an effective press release and send it to news sites.
• Collaborate with bloggers and influencers to get product reviews.
• Be active in industry-related forums and Facebook groups.

💡 Tip: For Shopify, use platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to secure quality backlinks from reputable news sites.

11. Conduct a Technical SEO Audit

Technical SEO helps Google’s crawlers better understand your Shopify store.🛠 What to do for Technical SEO:

• Add your site to Google Search Console and monitor index status and crawl errors.
• Check your robots.txt file for any unnecessary blocks.
• Create a sitemap.xml file and submit it to Google.
• Fix 404 errors or set up 301 redirects.
• Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.

💡 Tip: Shopify automatically creates a sitemap.xml, but you can perform more detailed optimizations with plugins like Yoast SEO or SEO Manager. Also, consider working with an SEO consultant.

12. Improve User Experience (UX)

Google downgrades sites with poor user experience in its rankings. It is therefore crucial that your Shopify store is easy to use, fast, and reliable.📌 Suggestions to enhance user experience:

• Create a simple and intuitive menu structure.
• Enhance product search and filtering features.
• Prioritize a mobile-friendly design.
• Simplify the cart and checkout process (use a one-page checkout screen).
• Boost customer trust by prominently displaying your security certificates (SSL, payment protection, etc.).

💡 Tip: Use tools like Hotjar or CrazyEgg to analyze your store’s heatmap.

13. Utilize Customer Reviews and Social Proof

Customer reviews not only increase trust but are also extremely valuable for SEO. Google loves dynamic, updated content.📌 SEO benefits of customer reviews:

• ✔️ They add fresh content (which Google appreciates).
• ✔️ They increase keyword density on your product pages.
• ✔️ They provide real user experience, boosting your conversion rates.

🛠 How can you get more reviews?

• Enhance your review system with Shopify apps like Judge.me, Loox, or Yotpo.
• Encourage post-purchase reviews via email marketing.
• Offer small discount coupons to customers who leave reviews.

💡 Tip: Google uses Schema Markup (structured data) to display customer reviews in the SERPs. By adding structured data in JSON-LD format, your star reviews can appear in search results.

14. Implement Local SEO Strategies

If your Shopify store is tied to a physical location, you can stand out on Google Maps and in regional searches by using local SEO strategies.📌 For local Shopify SEO, you should:

• ✔️ Create and regularly update your Google My Business listing.
• ✔️ Clearly display your store address, phone number, and business hours on your site.
• ✔️ Create content with local keywords (e.g., “Best Sports Shoe Store in Istanbul”).
• ✔️ List your store in local directories and guide sites.

💡 Tip: Boost your ranking on Google Maps by increasing customer reviews on your Google My Business profile.

15. Conduct Competitor Analysis and Track Your SEO Performance

SEO requires ongoing analysis and updates. Regularly monitor your Shopify store’s performance to identify areas for improvement. 📊 Tools you can use include:

• Google Search Console (to track your keyword rankings).
• Google Analytics 4 (to analyze your organic traffic data).
• Ahrefs or Semrush (for competitor analysis and backlink profile reviews).
• SEO Minion or Screaming Frog (to identify on-page SEO issues).

💡 Tip: Run A/B tests to determine which titles and meta descriptions drive more clicks.