Automating Shopify Redirects: Integrating Sitemap, Excel &

Manual Redirects Are Error-Prone – Especially with Shopify

A Shopify relaunch or domain migration inevitably brings URL changes. And this is exactly where the problem lies: Many redirects are managed manually—often directly in Matrixify or via Shopify apps.

What often happens in the process:

• URLs are transferred incompletely or incorrectly
• Handles are not standardized (e.g., forgetting products/)
• Language variants or subdomains are completely missing
• Matrixify imports contain formatting errors or lead to dead ends

Such errors cost not only rankings but also trust—from both users and search engines.

Why an Automated Solution Makes Sense

Instead of managing hundreds of redirects by hand, I developed a toolset that does this work for you. It is based on three data sources:

• Shopify exports (products, pages, blogs, etc.)
• Live sitemaps of your current domain(s)
• Excel mappings (e.g., “old handle” → “new handle”)

The advantages:

• You work data-driven, not on demand
• You find all URLs that Google currently knows (via sitemap)
• You automatically generate a structured redirect file
• You can also get a Matrixify-compatible import file if desired

The Toolset at a Glance

You can find all scripts in my GitHub repository:

The scripts work with Python, use among others pandas, requests, lxml, and can be individually customized.

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Example: Redirect Mapping with Sitemap + Excel + Matrixify

Let's say you run several language shops like fr.shop.com, it.shop.com, etc. You have the old handles in an Excel file, and the new ones are being created in the new system.

Here's how the process looks:

• Prepare Shopify exports & Excel
  • Export products, pages, blogs
  • Maintain mappings from old to new handles
• Crawl sitemap (automated)
  • The script automatically reads the valid sub-sitemaps (e.g., sitemap_products_fr.xml).
• Create redirect file
  • All valid “old” URLs are assigned to the appropriate new URLs—including fallback for unmapped URLs.
• Generate Matrixify import file
  • With matrixify_import.py, a clean MERGE import is created with columns like: Redirect from | Redirect to | Redirect type | Command
• Upload to Shopify – done.

Advantages Over Screaming Frog or Manual Mapping

Use the GitHub Tool for Free

The complete solution is available as an open-source tool: 🔗 github.com/AntonioBlago/shopify

There you will find:

• Examples & templates
• Detailed README files
• Requirements (requirements.txt)
• Scripts for relaunches, audits & imports

Conclusion

Redirects are not an add-on; they are a critical SEO component—especially during a relaunch or international Shopify setup.

Instead of struggling with manual lists, you can generate reliable redirects from your data with just a few lines of Python—including Matrixify import.

Next article: Planning Shopify Redirects Internationally: Combining Subdomains, Slugs & Sitemap Fallbacks Correctly

Planning a Relaunch or International Shop with Shopify?

I can help you strategically plan redirects, implement them automatically, and avoid technical SEO errors in advance.

Schedule a free initial consultation now 📩 Get in touch

Further Reading:

🧪 Google Search Console Indexing & Performance Checker (Script)
Automate the index check of your redirected URLs after the relaunch.

🛠️ Fixing 404 Errors: Find and Correct Causes
A practical guide to error analysis after domain or structure changes.

⚙️ Status Checker Workflow with n8n & Apify
Set up automated monitoring for your redirects and SEO goals.

🔍 Technical SEO: Finding 404 Errors with Google Features
How to find faulty or incorrectly redirected pages directly in Google tools.

📊 SEO Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide
The structured SEO baseline for every relaunch—including tech, content, and structure.