How to run an SEO check on a store in development mode with a pasword

[Yogabloke]

Hiya I am relatively new to Shopify and would appreciate some help. I am building a store for a client and would like to run an SEO check before transfering. The problem is that the SEO tools I have been using are analysing the password input page, not my store home page. Would hugely appreciate some advice . . . Thank you!

[Eric-HAN]

Hi， there

Google spider engine don‘t index any website  pages when they get password.

[PageFly-Kate]

Hi @Yogabloke,

This is Kate from PageFly - Shopify Advanced Page Builder app. Below are some solutions for your problem.

1. Disable Password in short time

To run an SEO check, you need to temporarily disable the password protection so that the tools can crawl and analyze your site properly. Once the analysis is complete, you can re-enable the password protection.

Here are the steps again in detail:

Steps to Temporarily Disable Password Protection for SEO Analysis

1. Log in to Shopify Admin:
• Go to your Shopify admin dashboard.
2. Navigate to Preferences:
• From the admin dashboard, go to Online Store > Preferences.
3. Disable Password Protection:
• In the Preferences section, scroll down to the Password protection area.
• Uncheck the box that says "Enable password."
• Click Save to apply the changes.
4. Run Your SEO Tools:
• With the password protection disabled, run your SEO tools to analyze the store’s homepage and other pages.
5. Re-enable Password Protection:
• Once you have finished the SEO analysis, go back to Online Store > Preferences.
• Recheck the "Enable password" box to turn password protection back on.
• Click Save to apply the changes.

Additional Tips for Secure SEO Analysis

• Schedule a Time:
• Perform this process during a time when it’s less likely that someone might stumble upon the unprotected site if it's not yet ready for public viewing.
• Use a Limited Access Window:
• You can disable the password protection just long enough to run your SEO checks and then re-enable it immediately afterward.

2. Use a Staging Environment

If you frequently need to run checks or make changes without exposing your store, consider setting up a staging environment. This is a duplicate of your live store where you can test changes and run analyses without affecting the live site. Some Shopify apps and services can help you set up and manage a staging environment: Rewind Staging, Store Copy – Rewind, Duplicator – Store Migration & Copy, Theme Kit (Shopify's Official Tool).

I hope you find these suggestions helpful with you to solve your problem. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Best regards,

Kate | PageFly Team

[Yogabloke · Accepted solution]

Hiya and thank you for your comprehensive answer. I really appreciate it. The advice about disabling password protection doesn't work for me unfortunately. That option is greyed out on my preferences section as the store is in development mode. I will try your other suggestion to create a staging environment. Have a great day.

[KieranR]

Good SEO crawlers will let you do a "form login", auth (enter store pwd), save cookies and run the crawl with those cookies. 

This will crawl the entire dev, password protected Shopify site without disabling the public pwd 🙂

ScreamingFrog and Sitebulb and both have this feature.