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woocommerce to shopify migration

Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing SEO

Direct answer

Migration failure is redirect and data-loss risk, not platform dislike. Migrate when ops drag plus outage risk exceeds fee delta; export with a 301 map, freeze old checkout in cutover, replay 20 orders in test mode before DNS switch.

SEO rule: URL parity spreadsheet signed off before go-live — products alone are insufficient.

Symptoms: traffic drops the week after cutover

  • Missing 301s: top organic URLs return 404 on the new store.
  • Metafield loss: variant attributes and subscription terms not mapped.
  • Dual checkout live: Woo and Shopify both accept payment during migration weekend.
  • Subscription break: rebill engine not validated — churn spike in month one.
  • Content drift: blog stays on WordPress without canonical strategy to product URLs.

Recommended tools (ranked)

#ToolStarting priceRatingAction
1Shopify$5/mo4.6/5(4,800)Try Shopify

Resolution protocol

  1. 01

    Decide if you should migrate

    Migrate when ops time + outage risk > platform fee delta. Stay on Woo if you need deep WP content integration.

  2. 02

    Export + URL map

    CSV export, 301 redirect spreadsheet, disable old checkout during cutover window.

  3. 03

    Validate orders + subscriptions

    Replay 20 historical orders in test mode. Confirm tax, shipping, and email templates.

Related playbooks

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