SEO problems with using JavaScript-based redirects in Shopify

Whenever you move a page from one url to another, you should setup redirects so the old url still works. This is even more important when you switch domain names, as that's a chief cause of sudden SEO loss.

Shopify has built-in URL redirects but sometimes developers will reach for a JavaScript based redirect instead of the built-in ones. While JavaScript ones can work, they come with their own problems:

  • they are much slower that regular url redirects
  • they can artificially inflate your page views and deflate your bounce rate, painting a too rosy of a picture
  • they require a search engine to use JavaScript which means some niche ones might not work
  • oftentimes there are bugs in the code or there are technical problems that break the redirect without anyone knowing
  • and most importantly, you now have to maintain that code and redirect forever until the old page disappears from the Internet.

There are a few cases where JavaScript based redirects are appropriate (e.g. country switchers, based on user interaction) but they should be avoided as a tool for SEO.

Would you like more organic search traffic from Google? With JSON-LD for SEO you can get more traffic, without having to fight for better rankings through the power of Rich Results.

Eric Davis

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Each tip includes a way to improve your store: customer analysis, analytics, traffic, SEO, customer acquisition, Rich Results, CRO... plus plenty of puns and amazing alliterations.