Sitemap, Redirects and Noindex

Sitemap Manager, Redirects, access controls, and Noindex Rules work together to manage URL changes, storefront access, crawling, and search indexation.

Sitemap Manager

Shopify’s default sitemap is available at /sitemap.xml. Use View live Sitemap to inspect it or Download sitemap.xml for review. Sitemap Manager displays included and excluded entries and can manage priority and change frequency where supported.

Shopify-native 301 redirects

Use the standard redirect form when an old URL no longer exists. Enter the old store path as the source and the new store path or complete external URL as the target.

• Source examples: /products/old-handle or a complete old URL. Firefly Sky SEO extracts the path automatically.
• Target examples: /products/new-handle or https://example.com/new-page.
• Status: Shopify applies these as permanent 301 redirects.
• Best use: deleted products, changed handles, merged collections, moved blog posts, and domain migrations.

Possible missing-page suggestions

Firefly Sky SEO may show pages that were analyzed previously but can no longer be found in Shopify. Review each suggestion, choose a valid target, and create a redirect, or ignore the suggestion if the old URL should remain unavailable.

Force redirects and wildcard rules

Force Redirects run in the visitor’s browser through the enabled Firefly Sky SEO App Embed. They can redirect an existing source page and can match an entire path prefix with a wildcard.

• Exact rule: /old-page → /new-page.
• Wildcard rule: /pt/* → https://pt.example.com/*.
• Matched suffix: /pt/products/headphones becomes https://pt.example.com/products/headphones.
• Different target domain: /es/* can point to https://example.es/* or another complete domain.

A wildcard source supports one trailing /*. Its target must contain exactly one *. Exact rules take priority over wildcard rules when both could match the same request.

Enable the storefront App Embed

1. Open Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Customize.
2. Open the App embeds panel.
3. Enable Firefly Sky SEO and save the theme.
4. Return to Redirects and enable the Force Redirects master switch.

Rules are saved in the app, but storefront execution stops when the App Embed or the master switch is disabled.

Access blocking and redirect rules

Each access rule has its own switch, matching values, and destination. A matched visitor is sent to the internal store path or complete external URL you specify. These controls depend on the storefront App Embed and App Proxy.

Country access blocking

Country detection first uses country signals supplied by Shopify, a CDN, or the app proxy. When no country header is available, the app can look up the visitor’s public IP. Enter ISO two-letter country codes separated by commas, such as US, SG, CN.

Browser language blocking

This rule uses the visitor’s browser language, such as zh, zh-CN, or ru. Browser language is a preference signal and is not proof of the visitor’s physical location.

Bot traffic

Bot detection uses common User-Agent patterns. Search-engine crawlers and AI crawlers have separate switches and are allowed by default. Enable search-engine crawler blocking only when you accept the risk of reduced crawling and indexing.

• Search-engine examples include Googlebot, Bingbot, Applebot, and DuckDuckBot.
• AI crawler examples include GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Bytespider, and CCBot.

VPN and proxy traffic

VPN, proxy, and Tor blocking depends on risk signals supplied by an upstream CDN or detection service. When no signal is available, the app does not guess. Consumer VPNs, residential proxies, mobile carrier networks, and newly assigned addresses may not always be identified.

Redirect destination

Use a store path such as /pages/not-available or a complete external URL such as https://example.com/blocked. The destination does not need to be a 404 page.

Testing and troubleshooting

1. Save the rule and confirm its individual switch and master switch are enabled.
2. Confirm the Firefly Sky SEO App Embed is enabled on the published theme.
3. Test in a private browser window where you are not signed in to Shopify Admin.
4. For country tests, verify the public exit IP and country using an independent IP lookup service.
5. Test the full source path, including the part matched by *.
6. Check that the target does not point back to the source and create a loop.

Theme preview and Shopify Admin contexts are intentionally treated differently from ordinary storefront visitors so administrators are not locked out while configuring rules. Browser caches, CDN caches, and a previously loaded page can also affect a test; use a fresh private window when possible.

Noindex Rules

1. Open Noindex Rules.
2. Enter an exact path such as /cart, or a prefix wildcard such as /policies/*.
3. Add an optional note and save the rule.
4. Enable the Firefly Sky SEO App Embed so the injected robots meta tag can take effect.

Common candidates include cart, search results, account pages, checkout paths, and empty collections. Policy pages are optional; some merchants keep them indexed for trust.