What's missing in Shopify SEO?

By Ilana Davis

Yesterday I was having a conversation with a peer and we began to discuss what Shopify is missing for SEO.

We came up with a few things, that have frustrated us for years, but that got me curious.

What do you think Shopify is missing for SEO, but should included without needing an app?

The biggest hurdle I see with Shopify SEO is that it's all disjointed. There is no one central place to configure SEO settings. You can do most of what you need, but you have to know where to go. Setting a noindex tag for example is done through a metafield, but structured data is from themes. Setting meta titles is at the page level (as it should be) but many themes append the company name which you have to change by editing the theme code.

Sure some apps solve some needs, but the question is Shopify, not Shopify apps. (I recognize the irony since I have Shopify SEO apps.)

I've heard from some that they want more control, whatever that means, which I don't argue with. Yet I see how many merchants interact with Google Search Console and it's scary. Search Console is a tool meant for those with technical experience and it rarely goes well. For those who can't understand the reporting in Google Search Console, I have a hard time recommending more control to futz with things.

Sometimes, I think Shopify limits the amount of control we have over SEO settings to safeguard merchants from making catastrophic errors. Other times, I wonder if Shopify needs to guide merchants, but allow them to make their own mistakes.

Perhaps there's a way for Shopify to have safeguards in place, while still allowing merchants to shoot themselves in the foot if they choose to do so. Much like the robots.txt file which is now editable, but requires you to have technical knowledge of code to do so.

So again, I'll ask you.

What do you think Shopify is missing for SEO, but should included without needing an app?

I'm really curious about your thoughts and perhaps I can share them with the folks at Shopify. My email and DMs are open.

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