Issue 01
Yoast and Rank Math data left behind
Custom SEO titles and meta descriptions live in WordPress post meta, not in the product fields most migration apps read. They often arrive blank.
WooCommerce to Shopify
WooCommerce to Shopify migration, with your rankings intact
WordPress gave you freedom and a plugin for everything. Shopify gives you fixed URL patterns and fewer moving parts. We handle the gap between the two: every product, category, post and image URL mapped, and the SEO data your plugins stored carried across.
What breaks
Where WooCommerce migrations lose rankings
Issue 02
Nested categories flattened badly
WooCommerce allows /product-category/furniture/sofas/. Shopify collections are flat. Without a plan, parent and child categories collide or vanish.
Issue 03
Blog posts at the root
Many WordPress sites publish posts at /post-name/. On Shopify they must live under /blogs/, so every post URL changes, including the ones with your best backlinks.
Issue 04
Image URLs ignored
Files under /wp-content/uploads/ rank in Google Images and collect links from Pinterest and forums. Most migrations never redirect them.
Issue 05
Variations turned into separate products
A variable product with 40 variations can land on Shopify as several products, splitting reviews and link equity across URLs.
Issue 06
Plugin features that were really content
Size guides, FAQs and comparison tables built with page-builder plugins do not import. The product page keeps its URL and loses its depth.
URL structure
WooCommerce URLs and where they go on Shopify
WooCommerce defaults shown. Many stores changed their permalink bases, so we always crawl before we assume.
| Compare | WooCommerce (default) | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Product | /product/oak-dining-table/ | /products/oak-dining-table |
| Category | /product-category/dining/tables/ | /collections/dining-tables |
| Product tag | /product-tag/oak/ | /collections/oak-furniture or the closest collection |
| Shop page | /shop/ | /collections/all or a curated collection |
| Blog post | /how-to-choose-a-dining-table/ or /2024/03/post-name/ | /blogs/news/how-to-choose-a-dining-table |
| Static page | /about-us/ | /pages/about-us |
| Variation | /product/oak-dining-table/?attribute_pa_size=large | /products/oak-dining-table?variant=[ID] |
| Image | /wp-content/uploads/2024/03/table.jpg | Shopify CDN file URL |
How we do it
A WooCommerce migration in six steps
- Week 1
Export more than the product CSV
We pull products, categories, tags, posts, pages and media from WordPress, plus the Yoast or Rank Math meta fields and any canonical overrides they store.
- Weeks 1 to 2
Crawl and rank every URL
A full crawl plus Search Console and backlink data tells us which of your URLs actually earn traffic and links, including old posts and image files.
- Week 2
Design the collection structure
We turn nested WooCommerce categories into Shopify collections that match buyer keywords, and decide which tags deserve their own collection page.
- Week 3
Build the redirect map
One row per old URL, including trailing-slash variants and dated post URLs, checked against Shopify reserved paths and overlapping handles.
- Weeks 4 to 5
Parity checks on staging
Titles, meta, H1s, category copy, internal links and product schema compared old against new before the password comes off.
- Day 0 to 90
Launch and 90 days of monitoring
Redirects imported, sitemaps submitted, old URL list crawled against the live store the same day, then weekly Search Console checks.
The details
What does not migrate cleanly from WordPress
The product catalog is usually the easy part. The trouble sits in everything WordPress stored around it.
Reviews#
WooCommerce product reviews are stored as WordPress comments. They do not come across in a standard product export. We export them with the author, date, rating and product ID, then import them into the Shopify review app you choose, so the review count and star rating on each product stay the same. That keeps your Product and AggregateRating schema honest from day one.
Customer accounts#
Customer records and order history can be imported, but WordPress password hashes cannot be used by Shopify. Customers will need to set a new password, or use Shopify's newer customer accounts, which sign in with a one-time email code. Plan the launch email for this, or support tickets will do it for you.
The blog#
If the blog is a big share of your organic traffic, it deserves its own map. Every post moves to /blogs/[blog-name]/[handle]. Categories and tag archives have no direct Shopify equivalent, so we redirect them to the closest article or collection. Internal links inside old posts still point at WordPress URLs, and we rewrite them so they do not route through a redirect every time. WordPress comments, author archives and date archives rarely carry search value; we check before deciding.
Variations and options#
Shopify limits each product to three option types. A WooCommerce product with four attributes needs a decision: combine two options, split the product, or move one attribute into a metafield. We make that call by looking at which URL has the rankings and reviews.
What stays on WordPress#
Some brands keep WordPress for a large content hub and move only the store. That can work, but it splits authority across two systems. We will tell you honestly which option fits your traffic.
Related reading: the migration SEO hub, Magento to Shopify if you have a second store on Adobe Commerce, and BigCommerce to Shopify. After launch, our collection page SEO work builds on the new structure.
Deliverables
What you get for a WooCommerce move
URL inventory
Products, categories, tags, posts, pages and image URLs with traffic and backlink data.
Yoast or Rank Math export
SEO titles and meta descriptions mapped to Shopify fields, product by product.
Collection plan
Nested categories turned into flat, keyword-led Shopify collections.
Redirect CSV
Every old URL mapped, tested for chains and reserved paths.
Review import file
Reviews exported from WordPress comments, formatted for your review app.
90-day monitoring
Search Console and revenue checks against the pre-launch baseline.
Questions
WooCommerce to Shopify questions
Will my WooCommerce URLs stay the same on Shopify?
No. Shopify uses fixed prefixes: products live under /products/, categories become collections under /collections/, pages sit under /pages/ and blog posts under /blogs/. You cannot remove these prefixes. That is why a complete 301 redirect map from every old WooCommerce URL to its new Shopify URL is the most important part of the migration.
Do Yoast SEO titles and meta descriptions transfer to Shopify?
Not automatically in most cases. Yoast and Rank Math store titles and descriptions as WordPress post meta, which many migration tools skip. We export those fields directly and map them to the Shopify SEO title and description for each product, collection, page and article, then check them on staging before launch.
Can I keep my WordPress blog and move only the store?
You can, for example by keeping the blog on a subdomain or on a separate path served through a proxy. It adds complexity and splits authority between two systems. For most stores we recommend moving the blog to Shopify with a full redirect map, so articles can link directly to collections and products on the same domain.
How are WooCommerce product reviews migrated?
WooCommerce stores reviews as WordPress comments attached to each product. We export them with rating, author, date and product reference, then import them into your chosen Shopify review app. The goal is that each product keeps the same review count and average rating, so star ratings and review schema continue after launch.
Will customers need to reset their passwords?
Yes, unless you use Shopify customer accounts that sign in with a one-time email code. Customer names, emails, addresses and order history can be imported, but WordPress password hashes cannot be reused on Shopify. We recommend a short email at launch that explains the new sign-in, so it does not turn into support tickets.
Moving off WordPress this year?
Send us your domain and target launch date. We will crawl the site and tell you where the risk sits before you commit to a timeline.