Smart Redirections
When your blog moves from WordPress to Shopify, every post gets a new URL. Smart Redirections keeps the old ones working by adding Shopify URL redirects from each WordPress address to the article's Shopify address.
WordPress URL: https://yourblog.com/2026/01/15/ultimate-guide-to-skincare/
Shopify URL: https://yourstore.com/blogs/news/ultimate-guide-to-skincare
Redirect: /2026/01/15/ultimate-guide-to-skincare/ → /blogs/news/ultimate-guide-to-skincare
Without redirects, old links and bookmarks return 404, backlinks stop counting and search rankings drop.
Smart Redirections is part of the Business plan and above.
How it works
flowchart TD
A[Post syncs to Shopify] --> B[Shopify confirms the new URL]
B --> C[Wash adds a 301 redirect in Shopify]
C --> D["Visitor opens the old path on your Shopify domain"]
D --> E[Shopify sends them to the article]
The redirects are stored in Shopify, under URL Redirects in the Shopify admin, and Shopify serves them as 301 (permanent) redirects. They take effect once your old domain points at Shopify. WordPress itself doesn't redirect anything.
Each post gets one redirect, even when it has translations; Shopify Markets handles the language versions.
Turning it on
- Go to Settings > Wash Connector and open the Redirections tab
- Tick Enable Smart Redirections
- Click Save Settings
From then on, each post that syncs gets its redirect automatically.
Managing redirects
The Redirections Manager on the same tab shows how many redirects there are and holds the full list.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sync from Old Website | Reads the redirects you already have in the Redirection plugin, Rank Math or Yoast SEO Premium, and adds them to the list |
| Generate from Synced Posts | Builds a redirect for every post already synced to Shopify. Use it if you turned the feature on after syncing |
| Load from Shopify | Loads the redirects currently in Shopify into the list |
| Sync Redirections to Shopify | Sends the list to Shopify |
Editing the list
The Redirections List is locked so it isn't changed by accident. Click Unlock to edit it. Write one redirect per line:
# Lines starting with # are comments
/blog/my-post → /blogs/news/my-post
/old-page -> /pages/about
/category/news/ => /blogs/news
You can separate the two paths with →, -> or =>. Click Verify to check the syntax, then Sync Redirections to Shopify. Wash skips redirects that are already in Shopify, so syncing the list twice doesn't create duplicates.
You can also manage a connection's redirects in the Shopify app: click Redirections on the connection card under Apps > Wash > Connections. That page has its own Enable Smart Redirections switch, shows how many redirects exist and how many of Shopify's 100,000 remain, and lets you search the list, Add Redirect one at a time or Bulk Import many.
SEO considerations
- Set redirects up before you move the domain, or straight after.
- Keep them for at least a year.
- Redirect straight to the final URL; chains are worse for SEO.
- Point internal links at the new URLs. Rewrite Internal URLs on the Sync Settings tab does this during sync.
After the move, submit your Shopify sitemap in Google Search Console and watch the Pages report for crawl errors.
Troubleshooting
Redirect not working
- Check the old domain points at Shopify. The redirects only work there
- Check the redirect is in Shopify (Load from Shopify)
- Shopify matches the path exactly, including the trailing slash, and ignores query strings
Redirect loop
Symptoms: Browser shows "too many redirects"
Fix: Click Load from Shopify, find the pair of redirects that point at each other, remove one, then Sync Redirections to Shopify. Also check the URL Redirects list in the Shopify admin.
Shopify reports a missing permission
If loading or syncing redirects fails with a scope or permission error, contact support from the Wash app in Shopify.
The tab is locked
Smart Redirections needs the Business plan or above.
Shopify redirect limits
Understanding Shopify's redirect limitations helps you plan your migration effectively.
Limits and constraints
| Constraint | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Redirects | 100,000 per store | All Shopify plans |
| Path Format | Relative paths only | Domain not included |
| Query Strings | Ignored | ?param=value stripped from matching |
| Wildcards | Not supported | Each URL must be individual |
No wildcard support
Shopify does not support wildcard redirects like /blog/* → /blogs/news/*. Each URL must be redirected individually.
Example:
# NOT supported in Shopify:
/blog/* → /blogs/news/*
# Must create individual redirects:
/blog/post-1/ → /blogs/news/post-1
/blog/post-2/ → /blogs/news/post-2
/blog/post-3/ → /blogs/news/post-3
Wash works around this by creating one redirect per post. Generate from Synced Posts builds the full list for you.
Bulk import via CSV
Shopify allows bulk redirect import:
- Go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Navigation → URL Redirects
- Click Import
- Upload CSV file with two columns:
Redirect from(relative path)Redirect to(relative path)
CSV Format Example:
Redirect from,Redirect to
/blog/old-post/,/blogs/news/old-post
/category/news/,/blogs/news
/2024/01/my-article/,/blogs/news/my-article
Processing time
- Small imports (< 1,000): Usually instant
- Large imports (1,000 - 10,000): May take several minutes
- Very large imports (> 10,000): Can take 15-30 minutes
Redirects become active immediately after processing completes.
If you need more than 100,000
If your migration requires more than 100,000 redirects:
- Start with your highest-traffic URLs.
- Use category-level redirects where you can.
- Look at third-party redirect apps with higher limits.
- Handle redirects at the edge with Cloudflare or a similar CDN.
Migration workflow
- Tick Enable Smart Redirections before you sync anything.
- Sync all posts to Shopify. Each one gets its redirect.
- Click Sync from Old Website to add the redirects your SEO plugin already had, then Sync Redirections to Shopify.
- Point your old domain at Shopify (add it under Settings > Domains in Shopify).
- Test a sample of old URLs and watch analytics for 404s.
- Keep the redirects for the long term.
Keeping WordPress online
The redirects live in Shopify, so they only work for a domain that points at Shopify. If WordPress stays online on its own domain, for example as blog.yourstore.com for writing, Shopify never sees those requests. Hide that site from search engines instead (the Block Search Engines setting on the Advanced tab) so the Shopify copies are the ones that rank.
See Best Practices for detailed recommendations.