How can I safely optimize my website's URLs and layout?

[Aigerim]

Hi there. I have a website based on Shopify platform. It has been created a while ago and now it is a complete mess. I would like to optimize it by changing URLs and redirecting the existing URLs to new ones. Moreover, it is necessary to optimize the page layout. Since the website is live and it ranks very well, I am afraid of optimizing it at once in a live version. Is it possible to create a draft of the website and try to do optimization there, see how it will look before implementing it to the live website? I am more concerned about URL redirects. Maybe there are apps that could help me do the optimization in a draft version and if all is good, then implement it to the live version...  Thank you in advance!  

[DigitalArtisans]

Hello @Aigerim!

I understand your concern regarding the current ranking of your Shopify store. You can do on-page SEO in draft mode but the off-page will be done on live mode.

If you do off-page SEO in draft mode it won’t have an impact - this will be a pointless exercise. For example, if you are using backlinks and your website is not live, the backlinks will be of no use.

If you optimize the website while it is live, your ranking will improve - no need to worry.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Digital Artisans

[Aigerim]

Dear @DigitalArtisans ,

Thank you for your reply. 

Yes, it makes sense to do only on-page SEO in a draft mode. However, I am concerned about off-page SEO. How to make sure, that all redirects will work perfectly? I am going to redirect almost all old URLs to new ones. 

This is my first time optimizing a Shopify store. I have a theme, but I would like to add more features to the footer, for instance. Are there any apps that I could use to update the footer? The same thing is with the product page. 

It might sounds silly to you, but I'll still ask: I am really worried about all redirects. That's why I thought I could set up fake redirects in a draft mode to see if I didnt miss anything and there are no mistakes. Because if I do something wrong in a live mode, I can easily break the store. Could you please recommend me on how better work on off-page SEO? I have created a spreadsheet with all redirects. It looks correct, but since it is my first time updating the store, I am scared... 

[DigitalArtisans]

Hi Aigerim!

I completely understand your concern. You should do prototype testing on off-page SEO. I don’t recommend redirecting links all at once - test it out first with 2 or 3 and see what happens.

Then go ahead and launch it after seeing positive results.

Thanks,

Digital Artisans

[DigitalArtisans · Accepted solution]

Hi @Aigerim ,

Please let me know if you require further clarification.

If you feel that I have answered your question I would appreciate very much if you could mark my answer as an accepted solution.

Thanks,

Digital Artisans

[Aigerim]

Hi @DigitalArtisans 🙂

I've tried to find more about on how to "do prototype testing on off-page SEO". Could you please explain me more on how to it? If it is time consuming, maybe you could share links to useful articles. Thanks a lot!

[LeoColore]

Hi Guys of Digital Artisans! 

I have some problems on the optimization of my current store www.coloremoda.com its been a while since the last time we give maintenance, im definitely not an expert, so i was wondering if you guys give that kind of service?, we need to make our store faster in all senses. 

Hope to hear from you soon, best regards!