The Ultimate Guide to a Seamless Shopify Migration

A platform migration, also known as re-platforming, is the process of transferring your e-commerce website from one platform to another. In this case, you are going to move all data, content, and integrations from your current service to another.

Shopify migration is a wonderful choice for building your own business. However, you must be specific and remember to deal with any notes that may arise. We will tell more about how to migrate to Shopify in this article. 

Why migrate to Shopify?

Why should you migrate to Shopify? In Q3 2024, the merchant products revenue generated by Shopify increased by 26% YoY to reach 1.55 billion dollars as compared to 1.23 billion dollars in Q3 2023. 

The number of stores served by Shopify has grown to over 4.6 million stores as of the third quarter of 2024 since 2012 when it had only 41,000 stores. Over eighty five percent of Shopify businesses employ the use of apps to enhance their performance.

Dealing with a wealth of data, income, and outcomes makes Shopify an exceptional platform for boosting your business. Сontent migration can be performed in a few ways. The right method would enable you not to lose information, site failures, and SEO issues. The list below shows the basic variants of content migration.

• manual;
• automatic; 
• hybrid. 

Migrations out of closed systems, e.g. Wix or Shopify, are harder, as not every one provides direct export of data. Wix does not allow exporting to WordPress, and therefore, the migration of content is better done manually. In turn, Shopify migration supports CSV (comma-separated values) exports, allowing you to import items, categories, orders, and other valuable data into WordPress using e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce.

Is Shopify the right platform for you?

Choosing the correct CMS platform for your company is a major milestone that should be linked to your site’s requirements and goals. The primary factors include usability, customizability, security, cost, and popularity. If a platform has the functionality you seek but comes at a high cost, it is not the best pick. 

On the contrary, a low-cost solution that requires extensive upkeep and modifications to meet your requirements is likewise not appropriate. Top-rated CMS like Shopify allows you to modify the layout of your homepage, add media, arrange content by labels and categories, manage multiple users, change the code foundation of your website, and much more.

Shopify is an all-in-one e-commerce CMS that enables merchants to create and manage their online businesses easily. You can use the AI store builder to create a free store design in minutes, or start with one of the many pre-built themes. 

Shopify’s attractive user interface (UI) and asset library make content administration simple once it has been designed. From there, Shopify’s e-commerce functionality handles all the necessary functions of an online store, such as inventory management and payment processing.

Are you afraid of Shopify data migration? Web Help deals with the right services!

Get in touch

Pre-migration planning: Laying the groundwork

The shift from one platform to another, or direct integration into an infrastructure, implies specific goals and objectives. In terms of e-commerce, everything is incredibly straightforward. The business owner chooses the most profitable trading platform. However, what do these words mean? Let’s find out!

Define goals and KPIs

First and foremost, you have to recognize why you need a website. In truth, its development is a collection of measures with numerous built-in functions. A landing page is suitable for a small store with a limited product range.

If your goal for implementing a platform is to reach an audience, you’ll need a good website with eye-catching graphics and simple navigation. This is just what Northings called for. Their primary goal was to showcase their diverse range of tours and destinations, enabling users to select and book their next trip easily.

Choose the right Shopify migration plan & tech stack

Website migration is making changes to a website that may alter how it appears in search engine results. This could include a change to the website’s domain, structure, design, or content management system. The primary aim is to make the website easier to use and rank higher in search engines. This plan must be properly developed and implemented to guarantee that any modifications do not negatively impact your SEO or user experience.

Take inventory

Everything that was previously used to build your site is required for Shopify data migration. This is applicable to both catalogs and customer databases. Optimize images, compress code, and enable caching to achieve website load times comparable to the blink of an eye. At the same time, give your online project the virtue of mobile friendliness and bless it.

While creating appealing content and establishing backlink networks are critical, it is the precise combination of SEO basic tips and website growth that promises your digital opus will be well-received by search engine sentinels.

Step-by-step Shopify migration process

Shopify data migration is a time-consuming operation if you don’t know what steps to take. The truth is that if you skip a step or don’t recognize the complexities, you risk losing some of the admin panel’s data or functionality. The table below can help you comprehend the specifics.

Step	Description
Set up basic settings in the Shopify store admin panel	Use the migration checklist to make sure you haven’t missed anything when migrating your online store. Get comfortable with your account and its features.
Import the store’s content and data to Shopify	When moving to Shopify, you’ll need to migrate your content: from products and reviews to customer transactions and CRM. Migrating data can take some time, so start working on it as soon as possible. Assess your existing data and decide which ones need to be migrated.
Temporarily disable order email notifications	When migrating orders, the same notifications will be sent out as when new orders are created. So before you start importing, disable order notifications. You will still receive notifications about new orders. But you will still be able to view all orders in your Shopify store admin panel.

When buyers can’t find the things they want to buy using navigation, they turn to onsite search. If your search functionality falls short, you’re losing money. 

Auto recommendations, filters, and the Shopify migration checklist can assist in enhancing onsite search and conversions. In that case, you have the option to use it on Shopify Plus or select an alternative application.

Store setup

Creating an online store may seem daunting, but with the right tools, launching your sales platform becomes straightforward. Whether you are an experienced seller or pursuing your first sale, setting up a shop is the most effective way to reach customers and build your business’s online presence. The first step in Shopify store migration is learning how to properly set up your Shopify store.

1. Domain address. 
2. Navigation. 
3. Logo. 
4. Design elements. 

If your store builder offers pre-designed templates, choose one that fits your preferred website style. Pay attention to features such as parallax scrolling or display sections. Alternatively, you can create a custom theme or migrate one from WordPress or another CMS. These themes can also be adjusted within the theme settings to match your brand’s visual identity.

Effective selling requires good marketplaces and apps that facilitate it. You can sell things on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms where clients already spend time. Many customers begin exploring marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy. To reach these buyers, sync your inventory with marketplace listings. 

Data Shopify migration

The first step in migrating to Shopify is preparing your product data. This involves gathering all relevant details such as product names, descriptions, prices, images, and any additional necessary information.

You should additionally organize your product data in a spreadsheet or CSV file to make it easier to complete the Shopify migration checklist. It may appear daunting, but working with an agency can help you relax and focus. After the Shopify migration, follow the next steps:

• checking inventory and determining integrations;
• document and address integration gaps with a development plan;
• generate and submit XML Sitemap to Google, Bing, and other search engines;
• audit URLs and determine and test 301 redirects and 404s;
• inspect crawlability and indexability with Google Search Console. 

Product tags and collections will be prevalent on e-commerce sites in 2025, allowing for categorization of products for specific audiences or sale events. As your store grows, alter your price strategy based on customer data and comments. Inventory details, such as stock keeping units and barcode information, are further needed for Shopify migreren.

Design transfer or redesign

To give your store a consistent and professional appearance, you should consider branding. If your old concept is well-known in a specific niche, you should consider rebranding. When migrating to Shopify, the color palette, theme, logo, tagline, and brand presentation idea are paramount considerations.

The visual component plays an integral part in social media promotion. Agreed, a piece of reinforcement or a glass of water is unlikely to appeal to the masses. 

Web Help Agency completely understands this, hence it was able to create a great design for Capitola Social. Many people were able to apply AR filters and other application functionalities.

Shopify provides an AI-powered website builder that enables businesses to generate a complete online store based on a brief description of their company. By submitting information about your business or products, the tool automatically selects suitable website templates. It features more than 800 customizable, mobile-responsive templates, all optimized for e-commerce.

SEO preservation

The three letters that search engines use to recognize content are “S-E-O.” As of March 2025, Google is by far the most popular search engine on the internet, with over 79% of searches conducted through its platform, compared to 12% for second-place Bing. Redirects, meta tags, and URL structure are as matter for promotion as keywords or interlinking.

Do you need strong SEO optimization? Web Help can beat your concerns.

Request a quote

Functionality mapping

An online store theme determines how it is structured, how it functions, and how it looks. It has inbuilt navigation tools and it is compatible with third party plug-ins. This enables the user to create online stores without much or any coding knowledge.

Once your luxury online shop is growing considerably, you should think about upgrading to Stiletto, a high-end Shopify theme with far more features. Studio is a place made to suit creators, artists, influencers, and makers. Impact works with the aim of increasing the sales of high-volume sellers. All these themes can be found in Shopify stores.

Custom features, however, can be transferred if Shopify supports them. WooCommerce and WordPress include custom features that can be integrated into Shopify. For example, the ‘Journy’ theme offers limitless customization options through its Gutenberg blocks. It’s ideal for bloggers, businesses, freelancers, and anyone seeking to establish a strong online presence.

Testing stage

No matter how good the design is, if dead pixels or freezing appear when switching pages, there is no way to talk about traffic. The positions listed below should be tested throughout the migration to Shopify.

1. Cart working. 
2. “Checkout” button. 
3. Payment information. 
4. Order review. 
5. Order confirmation. 

A Shopify store comes with pre-made home, contact, and checkout pages, and Shopify automatically creates and populates product pages as new products are added to your store. So you can test them right after the run. In the website builder, you may alter page content, while the admin panel allows you to customize the checkout page and customer account settings. 

SEO considerations during Shopify migration

The SEO features of migration Shopify include the fact that the search engine is not dependent on the site. The content and how you set it up are the most major variables here. Shopify has built-in analytical tools, but they are insufficient to fully understand the market. What happens if everything goes wrong? We will tell you now.

Avoiding an SEO drop

The coverage report detects missing pages, broken redirects, and technical SEO issues. Fixing them quickly helps maintain rankings and ensures a smooth website transition. 

Before launching the new site, thorough testing of common SEO mistakes is required. Agree, you don’t want to be at the bottom of the ranking. This comprises the following points.

• check navigation; 
• verify URLs;
• login pages are non-stunning.

Also, make sure your login credentials function correctly in the new hosting control panel. Verifying PDFs, media files, and structured data helps ensure all content remains intact after migration.

301 and 404 redirects

The HTTP status codes 301 and 404 are used on websites to control how users and search engines interact with URLs. A 301 redirect indicates a permanent move of a page to a new location, whereas a 404 code indicates that the page is not found. For Shopify migration, 301 messages are normal; however, 404 messages indicate that the link requires verification.

Shopify stores’ default URL is “something_myshopify.com”. You may use this domain for free. Alternatively, you can buy a domain or link to an existing one. The dashboard will show your automatically allocated “myshopify.com URL”. If you already have a custom domain, select “Connect existing domain” and follow the instructions to link it to your online store.

Backlinks are links from other websites that direct visitors to your site. They can help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Backlinks can become broken links. 

To avoid them and enhance SEO backlinking, consider using an additional service. When selecting a link-building service, examine the quality of the links provided. They should provide a variety of linking alternatives, like guest posting or directory submission.

Google Search Console & post-monitoring

SEO tools are available in both paid and free versions. Their basic functionality is +/- the same, though their capacities vary. Third-party software is not required when promoting on Google. Google Search Console integrates with the Shopify admin panel, enabling you to analyze trends and adjust content to changes in promotional guidelines.

Website downtime must be taken seriously because it creates a negative image and disappoints visitors. The company’s website is a postcard to a specific audience, thus your first concern should be your capacity to satisfy clients. Downtime on a website influences search engine rankings and popularity. 

Post-migration: launch and beyond

After you’ve completed the Shopify migration checklist, it’s time to test the launch. In general, the Shopify approach is comparable to that of building a standard website. Hard-launching makes the application available to your complete target audience or customer base on the first day. What stands out about running a site after launching with Shopify? Let’s sort this out.

Go-live checklist

A positioning statement describes why you’re releasing your product. Major stakeholders, such as product managers, identify what the product does, how it differs from competing products, and who the target consumer is. After a week of release, speak with your customers. Conduct market research in order to comprehend them and their demands.

Running an online business requires more than just creating a website to guarantee smooth operation, greater safety, and optimal performance. It also requires ongoing maintenance and support. Go live service’s Shopify to Shopify migration can conflict with yours if you do it wrong.

Performance monitoring and customer communication

The steps of performance monitoring are rather easy. The first month is spent aggressively collecting and comparing statistics, such as views and orders. Reviews and Shopify notifications are also taken into consideration. Pay great attention to the latter, as it affects your effectiveness with this resource.

Shareable content is crafted to inform, entertain, or solve a problem for a specific audience. It can take the form of blog posts, infographics, videos, or interactive elements — designed to spark interest and encourage reposts across platforms.

You may build relationships with your fans and establish a sense of community by actively using comments, direct messaging, and social media groups. 

Ongoing optimization

To deliver a high-quality product, you must test constantly. Allow various people to test your new offering to ensure it works in a range of situations and to identify any bugs or issues that may negatively impact client experiences. In addition to testing your goods, take the time to test the buying process ahead of launch day. 

The premise of “do it once and for all time” cannot be applied to SEO flexibility and continual growth. Although it may be challenging to keep up with all the data and new developments, certain metrics should be updated regularly. This includes keywords, backlinks, and pictures. Image optimization has the greatest influence on buyer perceptions, followed by Google and Bing algorithms.

Want better maintenance service when you migrate to Shopify? Web Help will assist you!

Hire us

Real-world case study

In 2009, the Polders began their farming journey, using limited space to raise rabbits and produce jam for local sale. Staying true to traditional methods, they launched their products through a classic, old-fashioned sales channel.

Loran Polder stated: “When you establish yourself on sites like Etsy or various social channels, you typically do not own your audience or customer lists. A Shopify store allows you to collect customer emails and market your business in your own way. Communicate directly with your valued consumers so you get repeat business.”

International cases should contain both flexible maintenance development and strong, mind-blowing web design. Regatta is a high-speed, resilient database built for both transactional and analytical workloads. It handles distributed transactions efficiently while supporting parallel queries on live data for real-time processing. For the Shopify migration, it might take about a month. 

Tools and services to simplify Shopify migration

Several methods can help you migrate to Shopify, including manual CSV imports, automatic third-party software, and even custom solutions. Cart2Cart is a popular option for straightforward migrations. Larger or more complex migrations may benefit from solutions such as Matrixify or direct API integrations, possibly with the assistance of a Shopify partner.

Shopify migration involves moving your site data from the old hosting to the new one. You can use FTP or SSH for this. Upload files to your FTP server to keep everything secure. After a full backup, update your DNS settings to complete the migration.

Ready for a smooth transition? Web Help is here!

A vast amount of data must be saved as part of the Shopify migration process. This is best accomplished using an FTP server or other backup storage. Contact us to maximize earnings in the shortest amount of time. Self-transfer may be slow due to a lack of awareness of the platform’s rules and the need to check the database’s availability. 

FAQ