Shopify SEO Tutorial (with Pro-Level Secrets)

📍 PART 1: Shopify SEO Setup (Foundations)

✅ 1. Use a Premium SEO-Friendly Theme

• Free Shopify themes are decent, but they load slow & lack schema support.

• Pro Secret: Use themes like Turbo (Out of the Sandbox) or Booster Theme. They’re optimized for speed, schema, and mobile UX.

✅ 2. Remove Shopify’s Default Title Tag Formatting

• Shopify auto-adds your store name to every title tag. Bad for CTR and rankings.

• How to fix:
  Go to theme.liquid → Find <title> tag → Replace: <title>{{ page_title }} – {{ shop.name }}</title> with: <title>{{ page_title }}</title>

🔍 PART 2: Keyword Research (Profit-Driven)

✅ 1. Use Low Competition, Commercial Intent Keywords

• Tools: Ahrefs, LowFruits.io, KeywordChef, Google Search Console

• Find long-tail product keywords like:

  • best vegan leather wallet under $50

  • non-slip yoga mat for beginners

✅ 2. Spy on Your Competitors

• Use Ahrefs → Site Explorer → Enter competitor Shopify URLs

• Filter for pages with traffic + keywords

• Pro Secret: Most Shopify stores neglect blog content. You can outrank them with minimal effort.

 

🏗️ PART 3: On-Page SEO (Like a Pro)

✅ 1. Optimize Product Pages (Not Just Home Page)

Every product page should have:

• Custom title tag: Include primary keyword + benefit

• Meta description: Write a sales pitch that makes people click

• H1: Product name with keyword

• Description: Add FAQs, benefits, specs

• Alt text: Real, descriptive image alt tags (no keyword stuffing)

Pro Secret: Add “Why buy from us?” content to increase dwell time & conversions (Google notices both).

✅ 2. Clean URLs

Use:

• /products/leather-travel-wallet Avoid:

• /products/12345-wallet-travel-leather-red-xyz

Edit in Shopify Admin > Product > Search engine listing preview > Edit website SEO

🛠️ PART 4: Technical SEO for Shopify

✅ 1. Fix Duplicate Content

Shopify creates duplicate URLs via collections and variants.

• Use canonical tags (<link rel="canonical" href="..." />)

• Shopify does this automatically now, but double-check using Ahrefs → Duplicate content audit

✅ 2. Add Structured Data (Schema)

• Use apps like JSON-LD for SEO or do it manually:

{
“@context”: “https://schema.org/”,
“@type”: “Product”,
“name”: “{{ product.title }}”,
“image”: “{{ product.featured_image | img_url: ‘600×600’ }}”,
“description”: “{{ product.description | strip_html }}”,
“sku”: “{{ product.sku }}”,
“brand”: {
“@type”: “Brand”,
“name”: “{{ product.vendor }}”
}
}

✅ 3. Speed Optimizations

• Compress images with TinyPNG or Crush.pics

• Remove unused Shopify apps (they often inject JavaScript)

• Use Shopify’s Online Store Speed Report (Admin > Online Store > Themes > Speed)

Pro Secret: Disable animations and slideshows on mobile – they tank speed scores but barely convert.

✍️ PART 5: Content & Blogging (Secret SEO Weapon)

✅ 1. Create “Collection Adjacent” Blog Posts

Example:

• Collection: Minimalist Backpacks

• Blog Post: 10 Things to Look for in a Minimalist Backpack in 2025

Link from blog → product pages with contextual anchor text.

✅ 2. Build Internal Link Hubs

• Create cornerstone blog content and link to top-selling products

• Use smart internal anchors like: “lightweight carry-on bags” → links to your product

Pro Secret: Google favors Shopify blogs that behave like mini content sites. Build topical authority with 10+ posts per product category.

🔗 PART 6: Backlinks & Authority (Low-Key Tactics)

✅ 1. Digital PR (Cheap Hacks)

• Use HARO or Terkel to answer journalist queries and get links from big sites

• Pitch unique angles: sustainability, founder story, behind-the-scenes

✅ 2. Guest Post & Resource Link Building

• Outreach to lifestyle, travel, or niche blogs

• Offer to write content that naturally links to your Shopify site

Pro Secret: Use tools like Hunter.io + ScrapeBox to build massive prospect lists fast.

📊 PART 7: Tracking & SEO Monitoring

✅ 1. Set Up Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools

• Submit sitemap: yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

• Monitor crawl issues, indexing, and keyword data

✅ 2. Use Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity

• See where customers drop off

• Improve user experience (also improves SEO indirectly)

Pro Secret: Google rewards improved engagement (longer time on page, lower bounce). Optimize not just for bots—but for people.

🔐 BONUS SECRET STRATEGY: Cloaked Long-Tail Landing Pages

• Create hidden landing pages targeting ultra-specific long-tail queries (e.g., “non-toxic baby pajamas made in USA”)

• Don’t link from your site menu – only index them through XML sitemap

• They convert insanely well and are easy to rank due to low competition

 

✅ Final Checklist

Last Updated on March 24, 2025