The decision to re-platform your ecommerce business is rarely taken lightly. It usually comes after months of frustration—slow loading times, limited design flexibility, or the realisation that your current platform simply cannot handle your growing inventory. For many successful online retailers, this means it is time to move from wix to shopify.
However, just as you get ready to make the switch, a specific anxiety sets in. You have spent years building up your organic traffic. You rank well for your key products. What happens to all that hard work if you change platforms?
This guide is designed to address that fear directly. We will explore exactly how to migrate wix to shopify without sacrificing your hard-earned search engine rankings or losing sales momentum. In fact, when done correctly, a migration is an opportunity to improve both.
The #1 Fear: Losing Rankings When Moving Platforms
If you speak to any business owner planning to transfer wix to shopify, their primary concern is almost always the same: “Will my traffic drop off a cliff?”
It is a valid concern. Search engines like Google crave stability. They have spent time crawling your Wix site, understanding your URL structure, and indexing your content. When you move to a new platform, the architecture of your site changes fundamentally. If Google suddenly cannot find the pages it trusts, it will stop sending traffic to them.
But here is the truth: Migration itself does not cause ranking drops. Poorly executed migration causes ranking drops.
When handled with precision, a platform move is simply a change of address. If you tell Google exactly where every page has moved, your rankings should remain stable. If you improve the site speed and user experience in the process—which Shopify excels at—you often see a traffic increase shortly after the dust settles.
What Actually Causes SEO Loss During Migration
To prevent a disaster, you need to understand what causes it. SEO loss during a migration isn’t mysterious; it is usually down to three specific technical failures.
1. Broken Redirects (The Silent Killer)
When you are on Wix, your product URL might look like yoursite.com/product-page/blue-tshirt. On Shopify, that same product will live at yoursite.com/products/blue-tshirt.
If you do not set up a “301 redirect” (a permanent forwarding instruction), any customer or search engine clicking the old Wix link will hit a “404 Not Found” error. If Google hits a 404, it assumes the page is gone and removes it from search results. This is the single biggest cause of traffic loss.
2. Loss of Metadata
Your meta titles and descriptions are the advertisements for your pages in search results. Often, during a migration, this data gets left behind or replaced with auto-generated defaults. If your carefully crafted meta title “Luxury Leather Handbags | Handcrafted in London” is replaced with just “Handbags”, your click-through rate will plummet, dragging your rankings down with it.
3. Content Gaps
It is tempting to “trim the fat” when moving sites. You might decide not to migrate old blog posts or product descriptions. However, those pages might be holding authoritative backlinks or supporting your overall keyword relevance. Deleting content without analysing its SEO value first can weaken your site’s overall authority.
How to Move From Wix to Shopify the Right Way
A successful migration is 80% preparation and 20% execution. To migrate wix to shopify safely, you need a structured approach that prioritises data integrity.
Comprehensive URL Mapping
Before you touch the new Shopify store, you need a map. Crawl your existing Wix site to generate a complete list of every live URL. This spreadsheet will become your “redirect bible”. Every single URL on this list must have a corresponding destination on your new Shopify site.
The 301 Redirect Strategy
Once you have your map, you must implement the redirects. Shopify has a native URL redirect tool, but for large sites (hundreds or thousands of SKUs), bulk upload tools are essential.
- Old Wix URL:
/product-page/vintage-lamp - New Shopify URL:
/products/vintage-lamp - Action: 301 Permanent Redirect
This ensures that any “link juice” (ranking power) passed to the old page is seamlessly transferred to the new one.
Content Preservation
Ensure that your H1 tags, page titles, product descriptions, and image alt texts are transferred accurately. While you can improve them, the core keywords and intent should remain consistent initially. Let the site settle in its new home before you start making drastic changes to the content.
Conversion Optimisation Opportunities During Migration
While the focus is often on risk mitigation, don’t forget the upside. You are moving to Shopify for a reason. This is the perfect time to fix the conversion bottlenecks that plagued your Wix site.
Checkout UX
Shopify’s checkout is the gold standard in ecommerce. It is faster, cleaner, and more trusted by consumers than Wix’s standard checkout flow. Ensure you enable features like Shop Pay or digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) immediately. These reduce friction and can increase mobile conversion rates significantly.
Mobile Performance
Wix sites can sometimes be heavy on code, leading to slower load times on mobile devices. Shopify themes are generally leaner and more responsive. During the build phase, test your new site rigorously on mobile. A faster site doesn’t just please customers; it pleases Google, boosting your mobile SEO rankings.
Upsells and Bundles
Shopify’s app ecosystem allows for sophisticated upselling that Wix struggles to match. During migration, plan out product bundles or “frequently bought together” widgets. Implementing these from day one can increase your Average Order Value (AOV) immediately, helping to pay for the migration cost faster.
Real-World Migration Wins
What does success look like? We have seen brands transfer wix to shopify and see transformative results within 90 days.
Take the example of a boutique homeware brand that felt stuck on Wix. Their traffic had plateaued, and mobile sales were low. After a structured migration to Shopify:
- Traffic: Organic traffic dipped by 3% for two weeks (normal fluctuation), then grew by 25% over the next three months due to improved site speed.
- Sales: Mobile conversion rate increased by 40% thanks to a simplified checkout process.
- Management: The team saved 10 hours a week on inventory management thanks to Shopify’s better backend tools.
These aren’t outliers; they are the standard outcomes of a professional migration.
Why SEO Tailor Is the Safest Migration Partner
Migrating a business is not a task for amateurs or automated tools. A generic “migration app” won’t understand the nuances of your SEO strategy or care about your 301 redirects.
SEO Tailor is different. We have been a Shopify Partner since 2018, specialising specifically in high-stakes migrations.
We view migration through an SEO lens first. We don’t just build a pretty store; we build a fortress for your data. Our process includes:
- Manual Data Verification: We check that your product variants, prices, and SKUs have transferred correctly.
- Zero-Traffic-Loss Framework: Our rigorous redirect testing ensures there are no dead ends for your customers or Google bots.
- Post-Launch Monitoring: We don’t disappear on launch day. We monitor Search Console to ensure indexing is happening correctly.
Timeline: How Long a Wix → Shopify Migration Takes
A proper migration is not an overnight job. While a basic data copy can take a few hours, a full replatforming project typically follows this timeline:
- Weeks 1-2: Discovery & Data Audit: Mapping URLs, cleaning data, and planning the design.
- Weeks 3-5: Development & Build: Setting up the Shopify theme, migrating content, and configuring apps.
- Week 6: Testing & QA: Testing redirects, placing test orders, and checking mobile responsiveness.
- Week 7: Launch: Switching the domain and going live.
For most businesses, a 4 to 8-week timeline ensures nothing is rushed and every risk is mitigated.
Ready to Make the Move?
Leaving Wix doesn’t have to be a leap of faith. With the right partner, it is a calculated step towards higher growth.
At SEO Tailor, we have helped businesses move from wix to shopify securely since 2018. We handle the technical headaches—the redirects, the data, and the SEO preservation—so you can focus on launching your new, better brand.
Do not risk your rankings with a DIY migration. Let’s get you moved safely.
Book your free migration consultation with SEO Tailor today.