Shopify SEO Scope of Work Template

Shopify SEO is SEO with guardrails — and scoping it requires knowing where those guardrails are.

The platform handles some things well (HTTPS, mobile responsiveness, basic sitemaps) and constrains others (URL structure, robots.txt customisation, faceted navigation). Agencies that scope Shopify SEO like any other platform end up either promising things Shopify can't deliver or missing Shopify-specific opportunities.

A Shopify SEO scope needs to account for what the platform does natively, what requires theme or app-level work, and what simply isn't possible without workarounds.

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Area	Shopify reality	Scope implication
URL structure	Fixed patterns: /products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/	Cannot change URL prefixes; scope around them
Robots.txt	Customisable via robots.txt.liquid (theme file)	Theme edit required; not server-level
Canonical tags	Auto-generated; sometimes incorrect for variants/collections	Audit and override via theme code
Pagination	Built-in; no rel=next/prev	Focus on crawl efficiency and internal linking
Structured data	Theme-dependent; often incomplete	JSON-LD via theme or app required
Page speed	Theme and app dependent; Shopify CDN helps	App audit critical; theme code review needed
XML sitemap	Auto-generated; limited customisation	Can't exclude individual URLs; workarounds needed
Faceted navigation	Collections + tags; limited filtering control	Crawl waste risk; may need robots or canonical rules

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• Store URL and Shopify plan (Basic/Shopify/Plus)
• Current theme and any planned theme changes
• Product catalogue size and collection structure
• Markets configuration (single market vs multi-region)
• Key SEO objectives (organic traffic, product visibility, local, content)

• Theme code audit (structured data, canonical tags, meta tags, heading structure)
• Robots.txt.liquid review and optimisation
• XML sitemap review (product, collection, page, blog coverage)
• App audit (identify script-heavy or SEO-conflicting apps)
• Page speed assessment (theme performance, app impact, image optimisation)
• Collection URL and tag structure analysis
• Canonical tag verification (product variants, tagged collections)
• Internal linking structure review
• Shopify Markets configuration review (if multi-region)

• Product page metadata (title tags, meta descriptions — up to [X] products)
• Collection page optimisation (descriptions, heading structure, metadata)
• Blog content optimisation (if blog is in scope)
• Image alt text audit and recommendations
• Schema markup implementation or enhancement (product, breadcrumb, FAQ, organisation)

• Collection page content strategy (SEO-driven descriptions)
• Blog content calendar (topics, keywords, publishing cadence)
• Landing page recommendations (Shopify pages for non-product keywords)

• Shopify theme development or redesign
• App development or custom app installation
• Product photography or image creation
• Shopify Plus checkout customisation
• Paid advertising or shopping feed management
• Inventory management or product catalogue maintenance
• Shopify admin training (unless specifically scoped)

• Shopify admin (staff account with appropriate permissions)
• Google Search Console (full access)
• Google Analytics 4 (read access)
• Theme code access (for structured data and template review)
• Current SEO tool access (rank tracker, crawl tool)

• Technical audit: [X] business days
• Recommendations delivery: [X] business days
• Implementation (if included): [X] business days per sprint
• Monthly retainer cadence: [X] hours/month (if ongoing)

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Ignoring app bloat. Shopify apps inject scripts into the storefront. 15+ apps can add 500ms+ to load time. Always scope an app performance audit as part of technical SEO.

Optimising tag pages. Shopify creates /collections/[collection]/[tag] URLs automatically. These are thin, duplicate content. Scope a strategy for handling them (noindex, canonical, or removal) rather than optimising them.

Treating all products equally. A store with 5,000 products shouldn't optimise metadata for all of them. Scope by priority: top sellers, highest margin, highest search volume. Set a clear page count.

Missing variant canonicals. Shopify's default variant URL handling can create duplicate content. Scope a canonical audit specifically for product variants.

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Shopify SEO scope follows predictable patterns — but the combination of store size, plan level, and theme capabilities creates enough variation that manual scoping misses details. The same agency scopes Shopify SEO engagements every week with slightly different inputs.

With RuleDox:

• Shopify plan level adjusts available scope — Plus-specific items only appear for Plus stores
• Catalogue size scales on-page effort — 100 products vs 5,000 products get different page count allocations
• Platform-specific exclusions auto-populate — "theme development" and "app development" always excluded
• Shopify-specific checks are built in — robots.txt.liquid, variant canonicals, and app audit sections appear automatically

Try the live demo → | See Shopify scope templates →

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Should I scope Shopify SEO differently from other platforms? Yes. Shopify constrains URL structure, robots.txt management, and sitemap customisation. It also handles some basics well (HTTPS, mobile, CDN). Your scope should reflect what Shopify does natively, what needs theme-level work, and what isn't possible. Generic SEO scopes miss platform-specific risks and opportunities.

How do I handle the app audit conversation? Frame it as performance and conflict assessment, not criticism of the client's app choices. Many merchants don't realise that apps inject frontend scripts. Scope the audit as "identify apps impacting page speed and SEO elements" — then provide recommendations with impact data.

Should I include Shopify Markets in the scope? If the store sells internationally, yes. Markets affects hreflang, currency, pricing, and domain structure — all with SEO implications. If the store is single-market, exclude it explicitly so the client doesn't assume it's covered.