Shopify SEO audit workflow with Semrush

Commercial disclosure: this page may mention Semrush. Recommendations should be weighed against the stated testing status and native Shopify alternatives.

Field note

The tool should find issues. The field guide should decide which issues matter.

Semrush is useful in a Shopify SEO audit because it brings crawl data, keyword research, competitor visibility and backlink context into one workflow. But the tool cannot understand every Shopify-specific decision on its own. The best workflow uses Semrush to surface evidence, then verifies the important findings directly in the store.

Step 1: Define The Audit Scope

Decide whether the audit is for a live Shopify store, a migration candidate, a post-launch review or a competitor gap analysis. The scope changes the priority:

• migration audits focus on redirects, old URLs, metadata preservation and launch QA;
• live-store audits focus on crawlability, collections, product data, internal links and app weight;
• growth audits focus on competitor gaps, collection opportunities and content expansion;
• AI visibility audits focus on source clarity, entity consistency and external corroboration.

Without a scope, automated reports become a long list of disconnected warnings.

Step 2: Run A Technical Crawl

Use Semrush Site Audit to identify broken links, missing metadata, duplicate titles, crawl issues, HTTPS problems and performance warnings. Then verify the highest-risk issues manually. Shopify themes, apps and collection paths can create false positives or issues that need context.

Prioritise anything affecting indexation, canonical tags, redirects, internal links, structured data and important templates.

Step 3: Review Search Intent And Collections

Use keyword and competitor research to identify category demand. Then map opportunities to Shopify collections. Do not create collections for every keyword variation. Create pages only where the store has product depth, distinct intent and a realistic chance of satisfying the searcher.

This is where Semrush is commercially valuable: it can show where competitors are winning demand that your catalogue could credibly serve.

Step 4: Competitor Gap Analysis

Compare the store against direct competitors, publishers and marketplaces. Look for:

• collection pages competitors have that the store lacks;
• guides that support commercial pages;
• stronger title patterns;
• richer product data;
• internal-linking patterns;
• backlinks to useful resources or category guides.

The output should be a prioritised content and architecture plan, not just a keyword export.

Step 5: App And Performance Review

Use the audit to identify slow pages, heavy templates and app-related risk. Then inspect the theme and installed apps. A Shopify SEO audit should ask whether each app earns its place. If image issues dominate, TinyIMG may be a relevant test. If title tags are missing, native Shopify fields may be enough.

Step 6: Turn Findings Into Actions

Group recommendations into:

• urgent technical fixes;
• migration-risk fixes;
• collection and product improvements;
• internal-linking actions;
• content opportunities;
• tool or app tests;
• monitoring tasks.

Each action should have an owner, evidence source and expected impact. That is the difference between an audit that gets read and an audit that improves revenue.