MAY Plugins

Shopify SEO Checklist: Product Pages and Store Basics

Written by

in

Short answer: Shopify already handles much of the technical SEO. It generates your sitemap and robots.txt, adds canonical tags, and its themes include product structured data. What’s left is mostly on your product pages, and most of it is writing: a clear product title, a unique SEO title and meta description, a readable URL, a description in your own words, alt text for every image, and complete product details such as category, barcode and variant names. Group products into collections that match how people shop. Tags help you organize the store, but Shopify says search engines don’t use them. The checklist below follows that order and shows where to find each item in your Shopify admin.

The checklist at a glance

ItemWhere in ShopifyDone when
Product pages
1. Product titleProduct › TitleIt says what the product is, in the words people search for
2. SEO titleProduct › Search engine listing › Page titleUnique, 60 characters or fewer, key words first
3. Meta descriptionProduct › Search engine listing › Meta descriptionUnique, around 160 characters, reads as a full sentence
4. URL handleProduct › Search engine listing › URL handleReadable words with hyphens; old URL redirected if it changed
5. DescriptionProduct › DescriptionYour own words, facts first
6. Images and alt textProduct › click an image › Add alt textEvery image has short, specific alt text
7. Category, type, vendor, barcodeProduct › Category, Product organization, VariantsFilled in, with a barcode wherever one exists
8. VariantsProduct › VariantsOne product, clear option names, an image for each variant that looks different
9. Structured dataYour themeA product page passes Google’s Rich Results Test
Collections and tags
10. CollectionsCollections pageEach has its own description and search engine listing
11. TagsProduct › Product organization › TagsShort and consistent, used for filters and collections
Store basics
12. Domain and sitemapGoogle Search ConsoleStore live on one primary domain, sitemap.xml submitted
13. SpeedOnline Store › Themes; Analytics › ReportsCore Web Vitals checked, unneeded apps removed
14. Internal linksContent › MenusEvery product reachable from a collection, every collection from a menu

Product page checklist

1. Product title

The product title is the name on the page, and Shopify uses it to generate the page’s H1 heading, which search engines read to work out what the page is about. Say what the product is in the words people search for, then add the detail they filter by, such as size, material or colour. How much of the title each channel shows, with examples, is in our guide to Shopify product title length.

2. SEO title

The SEO title is the Page title field under Search engine listing: the headline you offer Google for your result. Shopify’s field takes up to 70 characters and recommends 60 or fewer, with the most important words near the start. Leave it blank and your theme combines the product title with your store name. Write a different one for each product. The title length guide has examples for this field too.

3. Meta description

The meta description is the short text that can appear under your title in search results. Google sometimes uses it, when it describes the page more accurately than the text on the page would, and otherwise builds the snippet from the page itself. Shopify recommends about 160 characters, written as plain sentences rather than a list of keywords. If you leave it empty, Shopify takes the start of your product description, which can mean a snippet that stops mid-sentence. Our guide to meta description length has the details and examples.

4. URL handle

The handle is the last part of the product’s address, as in /products/washed-linen-pillow-cover. Shopify generates it when you create the product, and you can edit it under Search engine listing; spaces aren’t allowed. Google recommends readable words rather than ID numbers, with hyphens between words rather than underscores.

Change handles rarely. Shopify warns that editing a handle too often can keep the product out of search results. If you change the handle of a product that’s already live, make sure the old address redirects to the new one: go to Content > Menus and click View URL redirects. When you remove a product, redirect its address to a similar product or collection in the same place.

5. Product description

Write it yourself, for every product. Shopify advises against using a manufacturer’s exact description, because other sites probably carry the same text. Lead with the facts a shopper needs to decide, such as material, size, fit, care and what’s included, and use your keywords where they read naturally.

On length, the two sources differ. Shopify’s Help Center suggests at least 250 words of descriptive text per page; Google says it has no preferred word count. Write enough to answer a buyer’s real questions, and stop there. Our product description template gives you a structure to copy, with examples.

6. Images and alt text

Alt text describes an image in words. Google uses it, together with the image and the page around it, to understand what the picture shows, and screen readers read it aloud to shoppers who can’t see the image. In Shopify, click an image on the product page and choose Add alt text. The field allows 512 characters, and Shopify recommends 125 or fewer.

Describe what is in the picture, including the detail that sets it apart from the other photos: the colour, the angle, the product in use. Google warns that filling alt text with keywords is a poor experience and can make a site look like spam. Shopify’s media editor may suggest alt text for images that have none; read the suggestion before you accept it. Give the files short descriptive names before you upload them, too. Google treats a file name as a light clue only, so this matters much less than the alt text.

7. Category, product type, vendor and barcode

Choose the most specific product category Shopify offers. The category unlocks category metafields, product attributes such as colour or material, which Shopify says make products easier to discover in your store, in marketplaces and in search engines. It also makes selling on channels such as Google easier. Fill in the product type and vendor, and add a barcode (GTIN, UPC or ISBN) to every product or variant that has one. The barcode also feeds your structured data, as item 9 explains.

8. Variants

Sizes and colours of the same product usually belong in one product as variants, and Shopify allows up to three options per product. Name the options as a shopper would, such as Size, Colour or Material. Customers see the option names, and Shopify lists them among the product details AI shopping platforms consider.

Google wants to know which items are variations of one parent product. It recommends that each variant can be opened at its own URL, with the plain product URL as the canonical when the variant is chosen by a URL parameter. Shopify’s Dawn theme already works this way. When we checked Shopify’s Dawn demo store, a product URL with a variant selected pointed its canonical tag back to the main product URL, and the page’s markup listed every variant under one product group. If a variant looks different, assign it its own image: Shopify shows that image when a customer selects the variant.

9. Structured data

Structured data is code in the page that describes the product to search engines: name, image, price, stock and so on. It can make a product eligible for richer results that show price, availability or ratings. On Shopify you rarely add it yourself, because Shopify’s themes include product markup. On the Dawn demo store we checked, that markup was filled from the product’s own fields: title, description, SKU, barcode, price and stock status.

So the way to improve it is to complete those fields. Google strongly recommends a description in merchant listing markup and asks for every global identifier that applies, such as a GTIN, which is what your barcode field provides. The markup has to match what shoppers can see on the page, and Google doesn’t guarantee rich results even when the markup is valid. After a theme or app change, run a product page through Google’s Rich Results Test.

Example: one product, before and after

FieldBeforeAfter
URL handle/products/coastal-pillow/products/washed-linen-pillow-cover
Image file nameIMG_4021.jpgwashed-linen-pillow-cover-sage.jpg
Alt text(empty)Sage washed linen pillow cover with a hidden side zip
Barcode(empty)The GTIN printed on the packaging
Variant optionOption1: Sand, Sage, CharcoalColour: Sand, Sage, Charcoal
Tagspillow, best pillow, cheap cushions, pillow coverlinen, 45cm
CollectionsAll productsCushion covers; Linen

Nothing in the “after” column is new information. It is what the merchant already knew, put in the field where search engines, shoppers and the theme can use it.

Collections and tags: what each one does for SEO

Collections are pages. Each one has its own title, description, URL and search engine listing, so a collection such as “Linen cushion covers” can show up for broader searches while each product page answers the specific one. Shopify recommends a structure that runs from general to specific: homepage, then collections, then products. Give every collection a short description in your own words and its own SEO title and meta description, rather than a bare grid of products.

A product can sit in several collections without creating duplicate pages. Shopify adds canonical tags automatically, and on the Dawn demo store a product opened from inside a collection (/collections/bags/products/…) pointed its canonical tag at the plain /products/ URL.

Tags are not an SEO field. Shopify says search engines don’t use tags and advises against using them to improve search results. Tags still earn their place: some themes show them as filters, collections can use them as conditions, and Shopify lists tags among the product details AI shopping platforms consider (more on that in our guide to Shopify AI search optimization). Keep them short and consistent, and make sure a customer would understand them, since some themes display them.

Store basics

Set these up once, then check them now and then.

  • Live, on one domain. Search engines don’t index trial stores, and a store in private mode keeps Google out. If you have several domains and don’t use them for different countries, Shopify says to redirect them all to your primary domain.
  • Sitemap submitted. Shopify creates sitemap.xml for you and updates it when you add products, collections, pages or images. Verify your domain in Google Search Console and submit the sitemap there once. Unlisted products are left out of the sitemap and get a noindex tag, which is how to sell something by direct link only. Shopify preconfigures robots.txt, so leave it alone unless you have a specific reason.
  • Speed checked. Shopify’s web performance reports show your store’s Core Web Vitals from real visitors, on the Themes page and under Analytics > Reports. Google recommends good Core Web Vitals, though it still shows the most relevant page when page experience is weaker. Shopify names apps and large images as common causes of slow pages. Remove apps you don’t need, and keep in mind that Shopify says an uninstalled app can leave code behind in your theme.
  • Internal links in place. Every product should be reachable from a collection, and every collection from your menu (Content > Menus). Where it helps a shopper, link related pages, for example from a product to the collection it belongs to.

How to check your work

  1. Read the page source. Open a product page, view its source and find the <title> and meta name="description" tags. If they match what you entered, the store is set up correctly. Google can still rewrite titles and snippets based on the page content.
  2. Inspect the URL in Search Console to see how Google renders the page, and request indexing after a change. Shopify notes it can take a couple of weeks for edits to show in results.
  3. Run the Rich Results Test on a product page to see the product markup Google can read.
  4. Check lengths and the preview of your SEO titles and meta descriptions with our free Shopify title & meta description checker. It runs in your browser, so nothing is sent anywhere.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Treating tags as keywords. Shopify says search engines don’t use them. Put your keywords in titles, descriptions and alt text.
  • Pasting the supplier’s description. Other stores probably use the same text, and Shopify advises against it.
  • Renaming handles often. Shopify warns that frequent changes can keep a product out of search results, and a change without a redirect leaves a dead link behind.
  • Keyword lists in alt text. Google treats it as keyword stuffing.
  • Writing to a word count. Google has no preferred length. Padding a description to reach a number makes it harder to read.
  • Counting on markup for stars or prices in results. Google decides when to show rich results. Complete, accurate product data is the part you control.

Doing the writing for every product

Much of this checklist is writing, and it has to be done again for every product you add. ProductReady does that part from your own product details. It writes the product title and description, the SEO title and meta description, the Google Shopping title and description, and an AI summary, and it suggests a category, product type and tags. For a new product, you start with a working title and a few notes. You preview every field before anything changes, apply in one click and can undo from version history within your plan’s undo window, one product at a time or in bulk. It re-checks your catalog every month, so new and changed products don’t slip through, and a free check shows which products are missing details.

To check the length of what you’ve written, use our free Shopify title & meta description checker.

Sources

More posts