How to change the domain of my Shopify store and keeping my current store, apps and settings?

[TheBigAndry]

Hi, I'm a freelance web designer, a client of mine owns a shop on Shopify and was looking to change his domain. I wanted to ask: can I change the domain (or buy a new one) and keep the current store with all the settings and various apps? Could there be a problem?

How does this work for saved app data? Will they remain in Shopify's databases? Once I have purchased the new domain, can I delete the old one? I would like to keep both for a short period of time (and keep the new one as the main one), so as to redirect customers looking for the old site directly to the new one.

Do you think it's a good strategy from an SEO perspective? For internal links, should I change them manually or will they be changed automatically? Thanks in advance!

[Skye]

Hi, @TheBigAndry 

Greetings, and thanks for posting.

To be answer your question directly, adding a new domain will not affect any of your store's information or app settings. It will simply create a new route for your customers to access your site. Additionally, all product, collection, and navigation links will be updated accordingly, automatically, once you set the new domain as your primary domain. 

To ensure your SEO isn't affected, I recommend keeping both domains within your Shopify Domains list. This will allow your customers to still access your store at the previous domain, and maintain any SEO you have built.

I hope that helps! I would love to take a look at the store you've built if you can provide the domain.