How to Set Up Sitewide and Global Redirect Patterns on Shopify

This guide is for high-volume Shopify merchants, brands undergoing replatforming, or those performing major site restructures that affect thousands of URLs. When migrating a site or changing a category structure, manually creating thousands of 301 redirects is not only time-consuming but highly prone to error.

We will solve the problem of managing these large-scale URL changes by implementing global Redirect Patterns. Using a redirect app, you can define one single rule to handle thousands of old, broken, or deprecated links, ensuring your SEO is protected and your users always land on the right page.

Quick Answer

You can efficiently set up global and sitewide redirects on Shopify, but the native platform tools are insufficient for complex patterns and bulk changes. The main method is to use a specialized SEO application like SC Easy Redirects which offers Redirect Patterns. This feature allows you to use regular expressions or wildcards to match and redirect entire segments of your site URLs (e.g., changing /old-handle/ to /new-handle/ across your entire catalog). This approach prevents site abandonment from 404 errors, retains critical organic traffic and SEO rankings during major migrations, and saves hundreds of hours of manual URL management.

What is a Sitewide or Global Redirect Pattern?

A global redirect pattern is a single, rule-based redirect that applies to a set of URLs that share a common structure. Instead of mapping Old URL A to New URL A, and Old URL B to New URL B, a pattern uses placeholders (like wildcards or regex) to redirect any URL matching a structure (e.g., /*-old.html) to a corresponding new structure (e.g., /*-new/).

Who Needs Global Redirects?

• Wholesalers & Manufacturers: Changing complex product code structures within URLs.

• Brands Replatforming: Moving from another CMS (like WooCommerce or Magento) to Shopify, resulting in a massive change in URL suffixes or formats.

• Stores Restructuring Categories: Redefining main product collection handles (e.g., changing /collections/summer-collection/ to /collections/seasonal-new-arrivals/).

• Merchants Managing Large Campaigns: Redirecting thousands of time-sensitive campaign URLs after they expire.

Why Global Redirects Matter

• Protect Your SEO Rankings: 301 redirects pass authority (link juice) from the old URL to the new one, minimizing SEO loss.

• Retain Organic Traffic: Visitors clicking on old search results are routed seamlessly, instead of hitting a 404 page.

• Less Manual Work: A single rule can replace thousands of individual redirects, dramatically reducing administrative overhead.

• Better User Experience: A smooth redirect flow ensures visitors don't bounce due to broken links or frustrating error pages.

• Future-Proofing: It makes future large-scale URL updates much easier and safer to implement.

How to Set Up Sitewide Redirects on Shopify

Setting up global redirect patterns requires a dedicated app feature, specifically the Redirect Patterns functionality available in SC Easy Redirects.

Step 1: Prepare your store

Before initiating any sitewide change, thoroughly map out your old and new URL structures.

• Identify the exact element of the URL that is changing (e.g., a file extension, a category name, or a suffix).

• Ensure you have the SC Easy Redirects Pro or Pro+ plan, as this functionality is typically not available on the free tier.

Step 2: Install and configure the app(s)

Install the SC Easy Redirects app and familiarize yourself with the dashboard.

• Access the app directly from your Shopify admin under the Apps section.

• Look for the section dedicated to Redirect Patterns or Automated Redirects.

Step 3: Create rules and logic

This is the most critical step, requiring precision in pattern matching.

• Define the Old Pattern: Use wildcards (*) or Regular Expressions (Regex) to represent the part of the URL that remains the same, and the part that is changing.

• Define the New Destination Pattern: Use corresponding placeholders in the destination URL to match the dynamic parts captured in the Old Pattern.

Example Pattern (using a simple wildcard):

• Old Pattern: /products/old-category-handle/*

• New Pattern: /collections/new-category-handle/*

Step 4: Test the flow

Always test your sitewide rule before relying on it completely.

• Test at least one URL that should match the pattern, and verify the destination is correct.

• Test a second URL that should not match the pattern, and confirm it remains unchanged or redirects as expected by other rules.

• Utilize the app's internal testing feature (if available) to preview the redirect before saving.

Step 5: Go live and monitor

Once confirmed, activate the rule and use the app’s monitoring tools to track its performance.

• Watch the app’s 404 error tracking dashboard to ensure the rule is successfully capturing and rerouting traffic.

• Review your web analytics (like Google Search Console) to verify that the indexed URLs are updating and not throwing major crawl errors.

Use Cases

Example 1: Replatforming Suffix Removal

• Business Type: Large e-commerce store migrating from an older platform.

• Problem: All product URLs on the old site ended with .aspx, which Shopify does not use, leading to thousands of 404 errors.

• Setup: The merchant created a pattern in SC Easy Redirects to redirect any URL ending in .aspx to the URL without the suffix.

• Result: All legacy inbound links were preserved, retaining valuable link equity and preventing a major SEO drop during the migration.

Example 2: Sitewide Brand Handle Update

• Business Type: A national clothing brand restructuring its online terminology.

• Problem: The brand decided to change the internal handle for its entire "Outerwear" section to "Jackets-and-Coats."

• Setup: A single pattern was set up: ^/collections/outerwear/(.*) redirected to /collections/jackets-and-coats/$1.

• Result: A clean, sitewide URL structure was implemented in minutes, correctly handling thousands of individual product and collection links automatically.

Recommended Setup and Tools

To successfully implement a global redirect strategy, you need advanced features beyond Shopify's basic 301 list.

• Main app – SC Easy Redirects: Use this app for its robust features including bulk upload, automatic 404 tracking, and most importantly, Redirect Patterns and Live Redirect Patterns. This feature set allows you to manage simple redirects and complex regex-based sitewide rules efficiently.
  
  You can read more about how this app powers your online visibility.
  

• Supporting Tool – Google Search Console: Use this external tool to monitor your site’s health, identify crawl errors, and verify that Google is recognizing and processing your 301 redirect patterns correctly.

Best Practices

• Use 301 (Permanent) Redirects: Sitewide changes are almost always permanent and should use a 301 status code to instruct search engines to pass authority permanently.

• Identify and Group Redirects: Use the grouping/filtering features in SC Easy Redirects to label related patterns (e.g., "Migration 2024," "Category Restructure") for easier maintenance.

• Keep Patterns Simple: If possible, use simple wildcards (*) before resorting to complex Regular Expressions (Regex), as the latter can be prone to errors if not tested thoroughly.

• Prioritize 404 Resolution: Use the app’s automatic 404 tracking to catch and fix any URLs that slipped past your main patterns. This ensures you navigate the web smoothly.

• Avoid Redirect Chains: Ensure your new URLs are final destinations. A pattern redirecting to a page that itself redirects causes delay and weakens SEO.

Summary

Sitewide and global redirects are not just technical necessities; they are critical SEO protection measures for any large or rapidly scaling Shopify store. By leveraging the advanced Redirect Pattern functionality within SC Easy Redirects, you can handle massive URL changes, whether from a migration or restructuring, without the risk of losing valuable organic traffic or harming your search rankings. The core 2–3 steps are mapping the change, creating the precise pattern, and monitoring the results.

If you are planning a large-scale URL update and want help setting this up, you can try the SC Easy Redirects app to access its powerful pattern matching and 404 management tools.