How to Find and Fix Broken Links in Shopify

Broken links are the silent killers of SEO. They frustrate users, send search engines the wrong signals, and can tank your rankings. We see this happen all the time — a store owner launches a new collection, updates a product, or even just reorganizes their menu, and suddenly, 404 errors start popping up. Sound familiar?

Why Broken Links Matter

When a user clicks a link that leads to a dead end (a 404 error), it's a bad experience. They bounce, your conversion rates suffer, and they might never come back. But it's not just about the user. Google's crawlers follow links to discover and index your site's content. When they hit a broken link, it's like a pothole on the information superhighway. It slows them down and tells them your site might not be trustworthy or well-maintained.

Google's official documentation on crawlable link structure emphasizes the importance of a clear and logical site architecture. Broken links disrupt this structure, making it harder for Google to understand your site and rank your content effectively. A site littered with 404s signals poor maintenance, which can lead to lower rankings and reduced organic traffic.

Identifying Broken Links on Your Shopify Store

The first step is to find those pesky broken links. We've seen many approaches, from manually clicking through every page (tedious and error-prone) to using generic online tools that often miss key issues. The best method is a thorough site crawl.

Manual Checks (Limited Use)

We walk through each page in order, checking links by hand. This catches obvious issues but doesn't scale past a few dozen pages. This approach is only useful for spot-checking a few key pages or after a major site update.

Using a Site Crawler

A site crawler, or SEO spider, is a piece of software that systematically browses your website, following every link and checking its status. A good crawler will:

• Check all internal and external links.
• Identify 404 errors, 500 errors, and redirect chains.
• Provide detailed reports, often with the source page and the broken link.

We built the Site Crawler feature in PerfBee to surface exactly this kind of issue across thousands of pages — see how it works. With PerfBee, you get a clear dashboard of all broken links, making it easy to prioritize and fix the most critical issues.

Common Causes of Broken Links in Shopify

Broken links can arise from a number of common issues specific to Shopify stores.

Product and Collection Changes

Shopify stores are dynamic, and products come and go. When you delete a product or change a collection's URL, any links pointing to that old URL will break. Similarly, when you edit a product's handle (the part of the URL after the domain), you create a broken link. We see this happen frequently when store owners rename products or tidy up their URLs.

Theme Updates and Migrations

Theme changes can be another culprit. If your new theme uses different templates or has different link structures, links that worked in the old theme may break in the new one. Migrating from one platform to Shopify, or even between Shopify themes, often introduces broken links due to differences in URL structures and template code.

Manual Errors

Typos in links, especially in navigation menus or within content, are a frequent cause. When you're manually adding links, it's easy to make a mistake. Also, when copy-pasting links, it's easy to miss a character or two. This is where a crawler really shines, catching these errors at scale.

External Links

External links can break if the target website changes its URL or removes the content. While you don't control these links, it's still important to monitor them, as they can negatively impact your site's user experience and SEO.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Broken Links in Shopify

Now that you know how to find broken links, let's look at how to fix them. The process involves identifying the broken links, understanding their cause, and implementing the appropriate solution.

Step 1: Identify the Broken Links

Use your chosen site crawler (like PerfBee's) to generate a report of all broken links. The report should include the URL of the broken link, the page where it's found, and the HTTP status code (usually 404).

Step 2: Understand the Cause

For each broken link, determine why it's broken. Was the product deleted? Did the URL change? Is it a typo? This investigation informs the fix.

Step 3: Implement the Fix

Here are the common fixes:

• For deleted products: Redirect the old URL to a relevant product or collection page.
• For changed URLs: Update the link to the new URL.
• For typos: Correct the typo in the link.
• For external links: If the target page is gone, consider removing the link or finding an alternative resource.

Step 4: Implement Redirects in Shopify

Shopify makes it easy to create redirects. Go to Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects. Then, you can add a new redirect by entering the old URL (the broken link) and the new URL (where you want the user to go). Here's an example:

# Example: Redirect a deleted product
Old URL: /products/old-product-name
New URL: /collections/all

This tells Shopify to send anyone who tries to visit the old product page to your main collection page. Be sure to test your redirects to confirm they're working.

Step 5: Test and Re-Crawl

After implementing fixes, re-crawl your site to ensure the broken links are gone. This is a critical step to verify your changes. If the broken links persist, double-check your redirects and link updates.

Maintaining a Healthy Site

Fixing broken links isn't a one-time task; it's an ongoing process. We recommend:

• Regular Crawls: Run a site crawl at least once a month, or more frequently if you make frequent content or product updates.
• Monitor for Changes: Pay close attention to any changes to your site's structure, product URLs, or theme.
• Use Redirects Wisely: Avoid excessive redirects, as they can slow down your site. Use redirects only when necessary.

By regularly checking for and fixing broken links, you'll improve your site's SEO, enhance user experience, and ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index your content.

Maintaining a healthy SEO profile is an ongoing process. Make it a habit to crawl your site for broken links at least once a month, and you'll stay ahead of a common source of SEO problems.