Shopify URLs: Demystifying /pages/, /collections/, and How to Tidy Up Your Links

Hey everyone! I recently saw a fantastic question pop up in the community from a store owner, @Msmith1980, that I know many of you have wondered about too. They were looking at their live website and noticed something that felt a bit off: URLs like https://www.xyz.com/pages/support instead of just https://www.xyz.com/support, and the /collections page showing a grid of all their collection graphics. It’s a super common point of confusion, so let's dive into what the experts had to say and how you can manage these URLs.

Understanding Shopify's URL Structure: Why the Extra Words?

First off, if you’ve noticed /pages/, /collections/, /products/, or /blogs/ in your Shopify URLs, don't worry – you haven't done anything wrong! As several experts in the thread, like Titan from Shopplaza, Moeed, and Maximus3, quickly pointed out, this is completely normal for every Shopify store. These prefixes are built right into Shopify's core routing system. They tell the platform what type of content a given URL is pointing to.

Titan from Shopplaza put it perfectly: "/pages/, /collections/, /products/, and /blogs/ prefixes are baked into how Shopify routes content by type, and it’s not something you (or your theme) accidentally introduced."

So, can you remove them? On a standard Shopify plan, unfortunately, no. It's not a setting you can toggle or a simple theme edit. Removing them entirely would involve some pretty complex custom infrastructure, like a reverse proxy or URL rewriting layer, typically only seen on Shopify Plus plans. And honestly, it adds ongoing complexity for what's often a cosmetic win, as Titan noted.

Does it Impact SEO or Customer Experience?

This is where the community consensus is a big sigh of relief: no, not really. Customers are incredibly used to seeing these URL structures across countless Shopify stores. It doesn't read as broken or unprofessional, and it has no meaningful impact on SEO or conversion. It's so universal that, for most shoppers, it's practically invisible.

Tackling the /collections/ Page: From 'Random Graphics' to Curated Displays

Msmith1980 also mentioned that if a customer went to xyz.com/collections (without a specific collection handle), they'd "see a load of my random graphics." This is because the bare /collections URL automatically displays Shopify’s built-in "all collections" listing page. By default, it just shows every collection you have, often with their featured images, which might not be the curated experience you want.

Good news! You have control here. While you can't get rid of the /collections/ prefix itself, you can absolutely clean up what appears on that main /collections page. Ploqo provided an excellent step-by-step guide to do just that, letting you pick and choose which collections are displayed.

How to Clean Up Your /collections Page

This process customizes the "Collections list" template in your theme editor, allowing you to hide the default list and replace it with a section where you manually select which collections to feature.

1. Go to Online Store.
2. Click Edit theme on your current theme.

3. Click Home page at the top and pick Collections list.

4. Hover over Collections list page and click the eye icon to hide it.

5. Click Add section under it and choose Collection list.

6. Click the first Collection block, then click Select.

7. Pick a collection you want to show. Repeat for each Collection block.

8. Click Save.

After following these steps, your /collections page will only show the collections you've specifically chosen, giving you a much more polished look. You can see the 'Before' and 'After' examples from Ploqo here:

Before: /collections shows every collection

After following the steps given below

Creating Cleaner URLs with Redirects (e.g., /support)

While you can't remove /pages/ from your page URLs, you can definitely make them cleaner for sharing and navigation by using URL redirects. This is a common and effective strategy mentioned by both Ploqo and Moeed.

For example, if you want https://www.xyz.com/support to work instead of https://www.xyz.com/pages/support, here's how you set up a redirect:

9. Go to Content > Menus.
10. Click URL redirects.

11. Click Create URL redirect.

12. Type /support in Redirect from and /pages/support in Redirect to.
13. Click Save redirect.

Now, when someone types https://www.xyz.com/support, they'll be seamlessly redirected to your actual support page at https://www.xyz.com/pages/support without ever seeing the longer URL in their browser bar. This is a great way to create memorable and easy-to-share links for your key pages.

So, while Shopify's URL structure might seem a little rigid at first glance, it's a standard part of the platform, doesn't hurt your SEO, and customers are already accustomed to it. With a few simple steps for custom redirects and cleaning up your collection list page, you can ensure a smooth, professional experience for your visitors. Keep those questions coming in the community – we're all learning and growing together!