Ultimate Shopify SEO Checklist for Irish Businesses

Plenty of Irish shops sell much the same thing you sell, so the question is how a customer finds yours.

The answer is Shopify SEO, set up for the Irish market.

What Shopify SEO Actually Means

Shopify SEO is the work of getting your store to rank higher in search engine results pages. Most of what it asks for, faster pages, clearer descriptions and a structure people can follow, is the same work that makes the store easier to buy from.

What Sets Shopify SEO Apart?

The basics of SEO apply on any platform. Shopify has its own quirks on top of them:

1. Built-in SEO Features: Shopify ships with automatic sitemap generation, customisable title tags and meta descriptions, and a built-in blog.
2. Ecommerce Focused: Unlike general websites, Shopify stores are all about selling products. This means we need to pay extra attention to things like product descriptions, category pages, and schema markup for rich snippets.
3. Theme Considerations: The theme you choose for your Shopify store can have a big impact on your SEO. Some themes are more SEO-friendly than others, with better code structure and faster loading times.
4. App Store: Shopify’s app store has plenty of SEO tools. Too many apps slow the site down, which costs you more than the apps gain.

Why Shopify SEO Pays for Irish Businesses

Plenty of Irish shops now sell online too. What SEO buys you:

1. Local Search: When someone in Dublin or Cork searches for what you sell, the optimised store is the one they see first.
2. Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to paid advertising, SEO offers a better long-term return on investment. Once you’re ranking well, you’re getting “free” traffic to your store.
3. Building Trust and Credibility: People trust the businesses that appear at the top of search results. Ranking high earns you the click and the benefit of the doubt.
4. Mobile-First Approach: With Shopify’s mobile-responsive themes and SEO best practices, you can cater to Irish shoppers who buy on their smartphones.
5. International Expansion: The same optimised store works outside Ireland. As the business grows, the search work already done carries into new markets.

What Has Changed in SEO

A few things shaping Shopify SEO:

• AI and Machine Learning: Search engines are getting smarter. They’re better at understanding user intent and natural language. This means your content needs to be more conversational and less keyword-stuffed.
• Core Web Vitals: Google’s emphasis on page experience means factors like loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability are more important than ever.
• E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): For ecommerce sites that means customer reviews, and product information detailed enough to show you know the product.
• Voice Search Optimisation: People ask full questions out loud on phones and smart speakers, so write clear answers in plain language.

Setting Up Your Shopify Store for SEO Success

Get the setup right and everything after it is easier. These are the steps that belong at the start.

1. Choose the Right Domain Name

Your domain name is like your store’s digital address. Here’s how to make it work for your SEO:

• Keep it short and memorable: Aim for something catchy that rolls off the tongue. ‘QuickFitIreland.com’ is better than ‘BestSportswearShopInDublin.com’.
• Include a keyword if possible: If it fits naturally, try to include a relevant keyword. For example, ‘IrishHandmadeJewellery.com’.
• Avoid hyphens and numbers: They can make your domain look spammy and are harder to remember.
• Go for a .ie domain: This shows search engines and customers that you’re an Irish business, which can help with local SEO.

Your domain name is a long-term commitment, and changing it later costs you rankings. A .ie domain name can help with SEO.

2. Set Up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

These two tools show you how search engines see your site and flag problems on it. Setting them up:

1. Google Search Console:
   • Head to the sign-up page to create your Google Search Console account, then click ‘Add Property’.
   • Enter your website URL and verify ownership.
   • Once verified, submit your sitemap (more on this later).
2. Bing Webmaster Tools:
   • Head to Bing Webmaster Tools by going to the sign-up page, and sign in with your Microsoft account.
   • Add your site and verify ownership.
   • Don’t neglect Bing.

Check both regularly. They are the only place you see what search engines actually make of the site.

3. Install and Configure SEO Apps

Be selective with SEO apps. Three worth having:

1. Plug in SEO: Checks your store for common SEO problems and tells you how to fix each one.
2. Smart SEO: Great for automating meta tags and alt text. It’s a real time-saver, especially if you have a large product catalogue.
3. Schema Plus for SEO: This app adds structured data to your store, which can help you get those fancy rich snippets in search results.

Every app you keep adds code to every page load. Keep only the ones earning their place.

4. Submit Your Sitemap

Your sitemap is like a roadmap of your website for search engines. Luckily, Shopify automatically generates a sitemap for you. Here’s how to submit it:

1. Find your sitemap URL: It’s usually ‘yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml’.
2. In Google Search Console, go to ‘Sitemaps’ and submit this URL.
3. Do the same in Bing Webmaster Tools.

Submitting the sitemap gets your pages discovered and indexed faster.

5. Set Up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is not an SEO tool, but it is where you see what visitors do once they arrive. Shopify makes it easy to add:

1. Set up a Google Analytics account if you haven’t already.
2. In your Shopify admin, open the Google & YouTube app under Sales Channels, and connect your GA4 property.
3. Sign in with the Google account that owns the property, then choose the property.

You then see which pages perform, where the traffic comes from, and what visitors do once they land.

6. Optimise Your Store Structure

A well-organised store is not just good for customers, search engines love it too. Here’s how to structure your Shopify store for SEO success:

• Use a logical hierarchy: Group related products into collections. For example, if you’re selling clothes, you might have collections for ‘Men’s’, ‘Women’s’, ‘Kids’, and then subcategories like ‘Shirts’, ‘Trousers’, etc.
• Implement breadcrumbs: These little navigation aids help both users and search engines understand your site structure. Most Shopify themes include breadcrumbs, but make sure yours does.
• Limit depth: Try to keep all pages within three clicks from the homepage. This helps with both user experience and SEO.

7. Set Up Redirects

If you are moving to Shopify from another platform, or changing your URL structure, redirects keep the old links working and keep the rankings attached to them. Shopify makes this easy:

1. Go to ‘Online Store’ > ‘Navigation’ > ‘URL Redirects’.
2. Click ‘Create URL redirect’.
3. Enter the old URL in ‘Redirect from’ and the new URL in ‘Redirect to’.

Use a 301 redirect for a permanent move. It tells search engines the page has gone for good and passes most of its value to the new URL.

On-Page SEO Checklist for Shopify

On-page SEO is the work done on individual pages, to make them rank and to make them worth landing on.

1. Keyword Research

Before you optimise anything you need to know which terms you are optimising for.

• Use keyword research tools: Google Keyword Planner is free and a great place to start. For more advanced features, tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush are worth the investment.
• Focus on long-tail keywords: These are longer, more specific phrases. For example, instead of just “running shoes”, try “women’s waterproof running shoes Ireland”.
• Consider search intent: Are people looking to buy, or just get information? Match your content to the intent.
• Look at your competitors: Ahrefs will show you what they rank for.

Research Irish terms and spellings too. “Jumper” rather than “sweater”, “football boots” rather than “cleats”.

2. Optimise Your Product Titles and Descriptions

Your product titles and descriptions are prime real estate for your keywords. Here’s how to make them work harder for you:

• Include your main keyword in the product title: But make it natural. “Women’s Waterproof Running Shoes, All-Weather Comfort” is better than “Running Shoes Women Waterproof Ireland Buy Now”.
• Write unique, detailed product descriptions: Don’t just copy and paste from the manufacturer. Describe the benefits, not just the features. How will this product make your customer’s life better?
• Use natural language: Write for humans first, search engines second. Include keywords, but don’t stuff them in.
• Add specifics: Include size, colour, material, etc. This helps you rank for more specific searches.

3. Craft Compelling Meta Titles and Descriptions

Think of these as your ad copy in search results. They need to be informative and enticing:

• Meta titles: Keep them under 60 characters. Include your main keyword and your brand name if possible.
• Meta descriptions: Aim for 150-160 characters. Use action-oriented language and include a call to action.
• Be unique: Every page should have a different meta title and description.

Here’s a good template for product pages:

• Title: Women’s Waterproof Running Shoes | All-Weather Comfort | Example Shoes
• Description: Shop Women’s Waterproof Running Shoes at Example Shoes. Lightweight, with a grippy sole. Free shipping on orders over €50. Shop now.

4. Optimise Your URL Structure

Shopify automatically generates URLs for you, but you can (and should) customise them:

• Keep them short and descriptive: “yourdomain.ie/womens-waterproof-running-shoes” is better than “yourdomain.ie/product-category-0123”.
• Use hyphens to separate words: Not spaces, and not the “_” character.
• Include your main keyword: But don’t overdo it.

Keep URLs simple, and arrange your content so the URLs make sense to a person reading them. Google’s guide on URL structure has the detail.

5. Use Header Tags Effectively

Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) help structure your content and tell search engines what’s important:

• Use only one H1 per page: This should be your main title and include your primary keyword.
• Use H2s and H3s for subheadings: These are great places to include secondary keywords.
• Structure content logically: Think of it like an outline for your page.

6. Optimise Images

Images can slow down your site if not optimised properly. Here’s how to make them SEO-friendly:

• Use descriptive file names: “womens-blue-waterproof-running-shoe.jpg” is better than “IMG_12345.jpg”.
• Add alt text: Describe the image concisely and include a keyword if it fits naturally.
• Compress images: Use tools like TinyPNG to reduce file sizes without losing quality.

To improve your images’ chances of appearing in search results, give each image file a meaningful name (avoid generic names like “83798.jpg”).

Write alt text that clearly describes the image. This helps search engines understand the content and makes your site more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

7. Implement Schema Markup

Schema markup is a code that you put on your website to help search engines return more informative results for users. For Shopify stores, product schema is particularly important:

• Use Shopify apps: Apps like Smart SEO can automatically add schema markup to your products.
• Include key information: Price, availability, reviews, and ratings are all important.
• Test your markup: Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check it is implemented correctly.

8. Optimise Your Homepage

Your homepage is often the first thing both users and search engines see. Make it count:

• Include a clear value proposition: What makes your store unique?
• Highlight best-selling products or categories: This helps users and search engines understand what you’re about.
• Add some content: A short paragraph about your store can help with rankings. Keep it short, the main job of the page is to get people shopping.

9. Create and Optimise Collections Pages

Collection pages are great for targeting broader keywords:

• Write unique content for each collection: Don’t just list products. Add a paragraph or two describing the collection.
• Use internal links: Link to your most important products or subcategories.
• Optimise for collection-level keywords: If you have a “Women’s Running Shoes” collection, optimise for that term.

10. Use Customer Reviews and Photos

Reviews and customer photos convince buyers, and they add text to the page that search engines can read:

• Enable product reviews: More text content on your product pages is always good for SEO.
• Encourage customers to leave detailed reviews: Ask them to mention specific features or uses of the product.
• Respond to reviews: This adds even more unique content to your pages.

On-page SEO is not a job you finish. Watch the analytics, see what works, change what does not.

Technical SEO for Shopify Stores

That brings us to technical SEO.

Technical SEO means making sure search engines can crawl, understand and index your store. None of it is visible to a customer, and all of it decides whether the pages get found.

1. Improve Site Speed

A slow store loses buyers before the page finishes loading. How to speed it up:

• Choose a fast, responsive theme: test its speed on a phone before you commit to it.
• Minimise apps: Each app adds code to your site. Only keep the ones you really need.
• Optimise images: Compress every image before it goes up.
• Use Shopify’s CDN: Content Delivery Networks help deliver your content faster. Luckily, Shopify has a built-in CDN.

Google’s PageSpeed Insights gives you a score and a list of what to fix.

2. Ensure Mobile-Friendliness

Many shoppers browse and buy on a phone. What to focus on:

• Use a responsive theme: All themes in the Shopify theme store are mobile-responsive, so you’re covered if you’re using one of these.
• Test on multiple devices: What looks great on your iPhone might not work so well on an Android tablet.
• Keep menus simple: Complex navigation is a nightmare on mobile.
• Use large, tappable buttons: A thumb is not a mouse pointer.

To confirm your mobile optimisation, use Google’s Lighthouse, an open-source, automated tool designed to help improve the quality of web pages.

3. Fix Broken Links and Implement Proper Redirects

A broken link wastes a visitor, and wastes whatever link equity was pointing at it. How to find them:

• Regularly check for broken links: Use a tool like Broken Link Checker or Shopify’s built-in link checker.
• Set up 301 redirects: If you’ve changed a page’s URL, make sure you redirect the old one to the new one.
• Don’t forget about images: Broken image links can also impact your SEO.

4. Use Canonical Tags to Avoid Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is a big no-no in SEO. Luckily, Shopify automatically adds canonical tags to pages to help prevent this issue. However, it’s good to understand how they work:

• Check your canonical tags: Ensure they’re pointing to the correct URL.
• Be careful with collections: If a product appears in multiple collections, make sure the canonical tag points to the main product page.

5. Implement SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

Search engines aim to protect users by avoiding referrals to unsafe websites. That’s why Google considers SSL certification and HTTPS domains when determining a site’s ranking in search results.

Secure websites use encryption to prevent digital eavesdroppers from intercepting data passed through your site. Whether you run an ecommerce store, blog or affiliate site, that encryption protects your visitors and helps your search ranking.

Shopify provides an SSL certificate for every store automatically, so the site is encrypted and shows the padlock in the address bar.

6. Optimise Your Robots.txt File

The robots.txt file tells search engines which pages they should and shouldn’t crawl. Shopify generates this file automatically, but it’s worth checking:

• Review your robots.txt file: You can find it at yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
• Make sure important pages aren’t blocked: It is easy to tell Google not to index your best-selling product by accident.

7. Implement XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap is like a roadmap of your site for search engines. Good news, Shopify automatically generates and updates your sitemap for you. You can find it at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

8. Manage Faceted Navigation

If you have a large product catalogue, you might use faceted navigation to help customers filter products. While great for users, this can create SEO challenges:

• Use ‘noindex’ tags: For filtered pages that you don’t want in search results.
• Implement canonical tags: Point to the main category page from filtered results.
• Be selective with internal linking: Don’t link to every possible filter combination from your main navigation.

9. Optimise Your Store’s JavaScript and CSS

While Shopify handles a lot of the heavy lifting here, there are still some things you can do:

• Minify your code: This removes unnecessary characters without changing functionality.
• Defer non-critical JavaScript: This can help your pages load faster.
• Use Shopify’s asset pipeline: This helps with caching and can improve load times.

10. Implement Structured Data

We touched on this earlier with schema markup, but it’s worth diving a bit deeper:

• Use JSON-LD: This is Google’s preferred format for structured data.
• Include key information: Price, availability, reviews and ratings all belong in product page markup.
• Test your implementation: Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check everything is set up correctly.

11. Set Up Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager

Neither of these is an SEO tool, but you need both to see how the site performs:

• Turn on ecommerce tracking: This shows you where people drop out on the way to a purchase.
• Use Google Tag Manager: This makes it easier to add and manage various marketing tags on your site.

12. Monitor Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that Google uses to measure user experience. They include:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How long it takes for the main content of a page to load.
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly the page responds after someone taps or clicks. INP replaced First Input Delay in March 2024.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How much unexpected layout shift occurs during page loading.

You can monitor these in Google Search Console and PageSpeed Insights.

13. Implement Hreflang Tags for International SEO

If you sell to customers outside Ireland, hreflang tags matter:

• Use hreflang tags: These tell search engines which version of a page they should show to users in different countries or languages.
• Be consistent: Make sure your hreflang tags match your site structure.

Content Strategy for Shopify SEO

Google cannot rank a blank page. Content is what gives it something to rank, and gives the customer a reason to stay.

A content plan covers every page on the store, not only the blog.

1. Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar is what keeps content going out when the shop gets busy.

• Identify key dates: Black Friday, Christmas and St Patrick’s Day. Mark these on your calendar.
• Plan around product launches: If you’re releasing new products, build content around them.
• Consider seasonality: If you sell umbrellas, the content goes up before the wet months, not during them.

Trello or Asana will hold the calendar and let anyone else on the team see it.

2. Develop High-Quality Blog Content

The blog is where you target the keywords a product page cannot.

• Focus on quality over quantity: One well-researched, in-depth article is worth more than five rushed, shallow posts.
• Use your keyword research: Remember those long-tail keywords we talked about earlier? Your blog is the perfect place to target them.
• Provide real value: Don’t just write to rank. Write to help your customers solve problems or learn something new.
• Include visuals: Break up your text with images, infographics, or even videos.
• Optimise for featured snippets: Use clear headings, bullet points, and concise definitions to increase your chances of appearing in featured snippets.

Example topics for an Irish outdoor gear shop:

• “10 Best Hiking Trails in Ireland for Beginners”
• “How to Choose the Right Waterproof Jacket for Irish Weather”
• “Camping in the Wicklow Mountains, What to Bring”

3. Implement an Internal Linking Strategy

Internal links are like signposts guiding visitors (and search engines) around your site. They help distribute link equity and improve your site structure. Here’s how to do it right:

• Link from blog posts to relevant products: If you’re writing about hiking trails, link to your hiking boots.
• Use descriptive anchor text: “Click here” doesn’t tell search engines anything. “Check out our waterproof hiking boots” is much better.
• Don’t overdo it: Aim for 2-3 internal links per 1000 words of content.
• Keep it relevant: Only link when it truly adds value for the reader.

4. Create Landing Pages for Key Product Categories

Landing pages are a great way to target broader keywords and provide an overview of your product categories. Here’s what to include:

• Unique, informative content: Don’t just list products. Explain the category, discuss features to look for, and provide buying guides.
• Optimise for category-level keywords: If you have a “Women’s Running Shoes” category, optimise for that term.
• Include FAQs: This is a great way to target long-tail keywords and provide value to customers.

5. Use Content Your Customers Make

User-generated content adds pages of text you did not have to write, and it convinces buyers more than your own copy does. How to encourage it:

• Enable product reviews: Ask customers to be specific about what they liked or didn’t like.
• Run social media contests: Encourage customers to share photos of themselves using your products.
• Create a branded hashtag: This makes it easy to find and share UGC.

Example: If you sell camping gear, you could run a “Best Camping Spot in Ireland” contest, asking customers to share photos of their camping adventures with your products.

6. Optimise Product Descriptions

The product description rules in the on-page checklist above apply here too. Add specifications as well, since they help with specific searches.

7. Create Educational Content

Content that teaches something ranks and earns trust at the same time. Consider:

• How-to guides: “How to Measure Your Foot for the Perfect Fitting Shoe”
• Buying guides: “How to Choose a Tent for Irish Weather”
• Care and maintenance tips: “5 Tips to Extend the Life of Your Leather Boots”

8. Implement a Video Strategy

Video content is increasingly important for SEO and engagement. While you can’t host videos directly on Shopify, you can embed YouTube videos:

• Create product demonstrations: Show your products in action.
• Develop how-to videos: These can complement your written how-to guides.
• Share customer testimonials: Video testimonials are powerful trust-builders.

Remember to optimise your YouTube videos with relevant titles, descriptions, and tags.

9. Localise Your Content

As an Irish business, make sure your content resonates with your local audience:

• Use Irish English spellings and terms: It’s “colour”, not “color”, and “football boots”, not “cleats”.
• Reference local landmarks, events, and culture: This helps build a connection with your Irish customers and can help with local SEO.
• Consider creating content in Irish: Even if it’s just a page or two, content in Irish can help you stand out and appeal to Irish language enthusiasts.

10. Keep Your Content Fresh

Old pages drift out of date. Here’s how to keep things up to date:

• Regularly update existing content: Go back to old blog posts and product descriptions and update them with new information.
• Add new products regularly: If you’re always adding new items, you’re always adding new content.
• Comment on current events: If there’s a major event relevant to your products, create content around it.

Off-Page SEO Techniques for Shopify

Off-page SEO is your store’s reputation everywhere else. It comes down to other websites vouching for you.

1. Build High-Quality Backlinks

A backlink is another site vouching for yours. How to earn them:

• Create linkable assets: Develop content that others want to link to. This could be comprehensive guides, original research, or infographics.
• Guest posting: Write articles for relevant blogs or news sites. A few good sites beat a pile of poor ones.
• Broken link building: Find broken links on other sites and offer your content as a replacement.
• Digital PR: Get featured in online publications. Irish business publications like Business & Finance or Irish Tech News could be good targets.

Ahrefs or Moz will track the links you have and show you where competitors got theirs.

2. Social Media and Its SEO Benefits

While social media signals aren’t direct ranking factors, they can indirectly boost your SEO:

• Share your content: Every time you publish a new blog post or product, share it across your social channels.
• Engage with your audience: Respond to comments and messages. This builds brand loyalty and can lead to more shares and backlinks.
• Use social media to build relationships: Connect with influencers and other brands in your niche.
• Consider Irish-specific platforms: While Facebook and Instagram are universal, don’t overlook platforms popular in Ireland like Boards.ie for community engagement.

3. Local SEO Strategies for Irish Businesses

Even if you’re selling online, local SEO can be a powerful tool for Irish Shopify stores:

• Claim your Google Business Profile: Without it you are unlikely to show in local results or on Google Maps.
• Get listed in Irish business directories: GoldenPages.ie is one Irish directory to check.
• Encourage reviews: Positive reviews on Google, Facebook, and Trustpilot can boost your local SEO and build trust with potential customers.
• Use location-specific keywords: If you have a physical store, include your location in your keywords. For example, “handmade jewellery in Dublin”.

4. Influencer Partnerships and Collaborations

Influencer work can produce backlinks as well as Instagram likes:

• Collaborate with Irish influencers: They can create content featuring your products, potentially leading to backlinks and increased brand awareness.
• Host influencer events: If you have a physical store, invite influencers for exclusive shopping events. This can lead to valuable user-generated content and backlinks.
• Sponsor content: Partner with influencers or bloggers to create sponsored content that links back to your store.

Micro-influencers, the ones with smaller but highly engaged followings, can be worth a look.

5. Participate in Online Communities

Engaging in online communities can help build your brand’s authority and potentially lead to backlinks:

• Answer questions on Quora: Look for questions related to your products or industry and provide helpful answers.
• Engage on Reddit: Participate in relevant subreddits. Just remember to be helpful, not spammy.
• Join LinkedIn groups: For B2B Shopify stores, LinkedIn can be a goldmine for networking and establishing authority.
• Participate in Irish forums: Sites like Boards.ie have active communities where you can share your expertise.

6. Create and Optimise Your Google Business Profile

• Fill out your profile completely: Include your business hours, photos, and a detailed description.
• Encourage and respond to reviews: This shows that you’re active and care about customer feedback.
• Use Google Posts: Share updates, offers, and events directly on your Google Business Profile.

7. Implement Schema Markup for Reviews

While this is technically an on-page tactic, it has off-page benefits:

• Use review schema: This can help your product pages display star ratings in search results, potentially improving click-through rates.
• Aggregate reviews: If you’re using a review platform like Trustpilot, make sure to implement their schema markup on your site.

8. Develop a Brand Mention Strategy

Not all brand mentions come with links, but they’re still valuable for SEO:

• Set up Google Alerts: Monitor the web for mentions of your brand name.
• Reach out for links: If someone mentions your brand without linking, politely ask if they’d be willing to add a link.
• Create shareable content: Develop content that people naturally want to talk about and share.

9. Engage in Email Marketing

While not directly an SEO tactic, email marketing can indirectly boost your SEO efforts:

• Drive traffic to your site: Use email to promote your latest blog posts or products, increasing traffic (which is a positive signal to search engines).
• Encourage sharing: Ask subscribers to share your content on social media or forward your emails.
• Build relationships: Regular communication with your audience can lead to more engagement on your site, potentially increasing time on site and reducing bounce rates.

10. Video Content on External Platforms

Video content on platforms like YouTube can drive traffic to your site and potentially earn backlinks:

• Create product demos: Show your products in action.
• Develop how-to content: Create tutorials related to your products or industry.
• Optimise your video descriptions: Include links back to your site and use relevant keywords.

11. Host or Sponsor Events

Events, whether virtual or in-person, can be great for building backlinks and brand awareness:

• Host webinars: Invite industry experts to speak and promote the event on your site and theirs.
• Sponsor local events: This can get your brand name out there and often comes with a backlink from the event website.
• Participate in trade shows: Many trade shows have online directories that link to exhibitors’ websites.

12. Irish-Specific Opportunities

As an Irish business, you have unique opportunities to build your off-page SEO:

• Apply for Irish business awards: Awards can bring press coverage and links. Look for awards that cover online retail.
• Get involved with Irish business organisations: Groups like Enterprise Ireland or your local Chamber of Commerce often have member directories with backlinks.
• Participate in Irish ecommerce events: Irish ecommerce events are useful for networking.

Measuring and Monitoring Your Shopify SEO Performance

You need to know what is working, what is not, and where the next bit of effort should go. That means measuring.

1. Key Metrics to Track

The numbers worth watching:

• Organic Traffic: This is the number of visitors coming to your site from search engines. It’s a good indicator of overall SEO health.
• Keyword Rankings: Where do you rank for your target keywords? Are you moving up or down?
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Of the people who see your site in search results, how many are clicking through?
• Bounce Rate: Are visitors sticking around or immediately leaving your site?
• Page Load Speed: How quickly your pages load. Speed is a ranking factor.
• Conversion Rate: Ultimately, are your SEO efforts leading to more sales?
• Backlink Profile: How many quality backlinks are you earning over time?

No single one of those tells you much on its own. Read them together.

2. Tools for Monitoring SEO Performance

The tools that track those numbers:

• Google Analytics: Traffic data, user behaviour and conversion tracking. Free, and it plugs straight into Shopify.
• Google Search Console: How Google sees your site, which queries you appear for, and what is broken.
• Shopify Analytics: Don’t overlook the built-in analytics in your Shopify dashboard. It provides valuable data on sales and customer behaviour.
• SEMrush or Ahrefs: Paid tools for competitor analysis and backlink tracking.
• PageSpeed Insights: Use this to monitor your site speed and get recommendations for improvement.

3. Setting Up Google Analytics for Shopify

Set it up using the steps in the Google Analytics section above, then turn on ecommerce tracking for more detailed sales data.

4. Using Google Search Console Effectively

Google Search Console is a goldmine of SEO data. Here’s what to focus on:

• Performance Report: This shows your clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position for different queries.
• Coverage Report: Use this to identify any indexing issues.
• Mobile Usability: Check the site works on a phone, which is where many of your visitors will be.
• Core Web Vitals: Keep an eye on these performance metrics that Google uses as ranking factors.

5. Regular SEO Audits

Performing regular SEO audits helps you stay on top of any issues and identify opportunities for improvement. Here’s a basic audit checklist:

• Check for any technical issues (like 404 errors or slow loading pages)
• Ensure all your important pages are being indexed
• Look for any sudden drops in traffic or rankings
• Identify your top-performing and underperforming content
• Review your backlink profile for any low-quality links

Consider doing a comprehensive audit every quarter, with more frequent checks on specific aspects.

6. Tracking Local SEO Performance

How to track local SEO for an Irish Shopify store:

• Monitor your Google Business Profile figures for views, clicks and calls
• Track your rankings for location-specific keywords (e.g. “handmade jewellery Dublin”)
• Keep an eye on your reviews across various platforms (Google, Facebook, Trustpilot)

7. Competitive Analysis

Don’t forget to keep an eye on your competition. Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can help you:

• See which keywords your competitors are ranking for
• Identify gaps in your content strategy
• Find new link-building opportunities

8. Creating SEO Reports

Regular reporting helps you stay on top of your SEO performance and communicate progress to stakeholders. Here’s what to include in your monthly SEO report:

• The organic traffic trend
• Top performing pages and keywords
• Any significant ranking changes
• Technical issues identified and resolved
• Progress on ongoing SEO initiatives
• Key actions for the next month

9. Setting Realistic Goals

Based on your data, set realistic, measurable SEO goals. These might include:

• Grow organic traffic from your current baseline
• Improve rankings for your main target keywords
• Raise the conversion rate from organic traffic
• Earn a steady number of quality backlinks each month

You will not see results overnight, but you should see steady improvement.

10. Adapting to Algorithm Updates

Google’s algorithm is constantly evolving. Stay informed about updates and be ready to adapt your strategy. Some tips:

• Follow reputable SEO news sources (like Search Engine Journal or Moz’s blog)
• Join SEO communities (Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, or forums) to discuss updates with peers
• If you notice sudden changes in your performance, check if there’s been a recent algorithm update

11. Understanding Seasonality

For many Irish businesses, seasonality can play a big role in SEO performance. For example, if you sell outdoor gear, you might see a spike in certain searches as summer approaches. Use tools like Google Trends to understand seasonal patterns in your industry and plan your SEO strategy accordingly.

12. Shopify’s SEO Apps

A few Shopify apps add reporting of their own:

• SEO Manager can provide detailed on-page SEO analysis
• Plug in SEO offers ongoing SEO monitoring and suggestions
• Smart SEO can help with automating meta tags and sitemap submission

None of them replaces knowing what you are trying to rank for.

Common Shopify SEO Mistakes to Avoid and Future SEO Predictions

Common Shopify SEO Mistakes to Avoid

The mistakes that come up most often:

1. Overlooking Mobile Optimisation: Shopify themes are generally mobile-responsive, but check how your own store looks and works on a few real devices.
2. Neglecting Page Speed Optimisation: Slow pages lose visitors and rankings together. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to find the causes and fix them.
3. Ignoring Local SEO: Even if you’re selling nationwide or internationally, don’t neglect your local Irish market. Claim your Google Business Profile, use location-specific keywords, and encourage reviews from local customers.
4. Duplicate Content Issues: Shopify can sometimes create duplicate content with product variants or collections. Use canonical tags to tell search engines which version of a page is the “main” one.
5. Poor URL Structures: Shopify’s default URL structure isn’t always ideal for SEO. Customise your URLs to be short, descriptive, and include relevant keywords.
6. Neglecting Image Optimisation: Product images need descriptive file names, compression for faster loading, and alt text.
7. Overusing Apps: Shopify has an app for everything, and too many of them slow down your site and create conflicting code. Only use what you need, and go through the list every so often.
8. Focusing on Quantity Over Quality in Content: It’s not about how much content you have, but how good it is. One well-researched, in-depth article is worth more than ten shallow blog posts.
9. Ignoring Internal Linking: Internal links help distribute link equity throughout your site and guide users (and search engines) to your most important pages. Don’t overlook this simple yet effective SEO tactic.
10. Failing to Optimise for Voice Search: People ask full questions out loud, so write for them. Think about natural language queries and long-tail keywords.

Trends and Predictions for Shopify SEO

Trends likely to shape SEO for Irish Shopify stores:

1. AI and Machine Learning Will Play a Bigger Role: Google’s algorithms are getting smarter, using AI to better understand user intent and deliver more relevant results. This means we need to focus on creating content that truly answers user queries, not just matches keywords.
2. Voice Search Optimisation Will Matter More: Spoken questions to phones and smart speakers may keep growing, so voice search may matter more. Focus on natural language and question-based queries.
3. Video Content Will Continue to Rise: Video is already huge, and it’s only going to get bigger. Consider creating product demos, how-to guides, and behind-the-scenes content to engage your audience and improve your SEO.
4. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) Will Be More Important Than Ever: E-E-A-T matters most for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics. Show your experience and expertise, build your brand authority and earn the trust of your audience.
5. Core Web Vitals Will Remain a Key Ranking Factor: Google’s focus on user experience isn’t going away. Expect Core Web Vitals (loading speed, interactivity and visual stability) to remain a ranking factor.
6. Local SEO Will Become More Sophisticated: For Irish businesses, local SEO will evolve beyond just having a Google Business Profile. Expect more emphasis on local content, reviews, and mobile-local search optimisation.
7. Visual Search Will Gain Traction: As technology improves, searching with images will become more common. Ensure your product images are high-quality and properly optimised.
8. Structured Data Will Become More Important: Rich snippets and other enhanced results can make a listing stand out. Proper schema markup makes your pages eligible for them.
9. Mobile-First Indexing Is the Norm: Google indexes the mobile version of your pages, so a mobile-optimised store matters for search.
10. Sustainability May Influence SEO: Some shoppers look for eco-friendly and ethical credentials. If you have them, say so in your product content and metadata.

Getting Help With It

Bubblehub is a digital marketing agency that builds the sites and does the SEO, and this is the work we do.

We also do custom web development, SEO and paid advertising, for the Irish market.

If you would rather have it done for you, talk to us about your store. No obligation.

We’re a Google Partner, in the top 3% of Google Partners in Ireland, and a Shopify Partner.