Sitemap
The sitemap is your store's table of contents for search engines: an XML file with every URL that should be indexed, often annotated with the last modification date. Google uses it to discover new and changed pages faster, especially valuable for large catalogs with thousands of product URLs.
Shopify generates the sitemap automatically at /sitemap.xml and keeps it current: products, collections, pages and blog posts are added automatically, while hidden or unavailable content is removed. No manual maintenance is needed, but the sitemap should be submitted in Google Search Console.
Important in practice: the sitemap is a hint, not a guarantee of indexing. Whether a page makes it into the index is decided by content quality and internal linking. Search Console shows which submitted URLs Google actually indexes and where problems lie.
Shopify SEO
Related terms
E-Commerce SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) covers everything that helps a store get found in unpaid Google results.
View termRedirects (301)
A redirect permanently forwards an old URL to a new one. 301 redirects carry rankings and link equity across and are indispensable in store migrations.
View termStructured Data
Structured data is machine-readable markup in your source code (Schema.org/JSON-LD) that lets search engines unambiguously understand content such as products, prices and reviews.
View term
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