Picking the right Shopify theme for SEO can make it easier to optimize your pages to rank higher in search engines in the long run. Clear navigation, a proper heading structure, rich snippets, and excellent performance can ensure that visitors stay on your site longer, potentially improving conversion rates.
With dozens of themes claiming to be great for SEO, making the final choice can be difficult. That’s why I reviewed and picked the Shopify themes that offer not just a neat design and flexible customization but are also pre-optimized for search engines.
Testing rationale: How we tested Shopify themes for SEO
I spent weeks researching the Shopify theme market to find themes that are highly customizable, fast, and SEO-optimized. Here’s my SEO theme testing process in detail:
- User-friendly layout. To ensure a better user experience and lower bounce rates, I evaluated the theme designs and looked for modern themes with clear navigation.
- Responsiveness. I tested how each theme looks on smartphones and checked mobile performance results with Google Lighthouse. Mobile optimization is a crucial ranking factor and it enhances the user experience. According to Think with Google, 74% of users are more likely to return to a site that’s mobile-friendly.
- Customization. I tested the customization flexibility of each theme to evaluate whether it’s easy to optimize pages for SEO. For example, I checked if the themes allow modifying the heading structure or adding specific sections, like blogs, FAQs, or custom ones.
- Performance. I tested how each theme performed on desktop and mobile devices using Google Lighthouse. I measured the load time of the homepage, product page, and collection page, and then calculated the average result. My main priority was themes that didn’t have issues with code optimization and image loading.
- Shopify app support. I looked into how each theme works with popular SEO and page builder apps, like TinyIMG and PageFly, and prioritized them in this list.
The best Shopify themes for SEO: in-depth reviews
I researched and tested over two dozen Shopify themes, many of which claim to be great for SEO. Here are the top 10 choices based on my test results in detail:
1. Booster
Great for:
High-volume stores
Notable features:
Rich snippet support, GDPR cookie bar
Price:
$299 (or $199/year)
Try theme:
Booster is my top theme pick for Shopify SEO because my in-house tests showed that it loads almost instantly and helps your store stand out in search results with rich snippet support. You’ll be able to boost your SEO rankings while ensuring a fast and seamless experience for your customers.
Why I picked it:
I chose Booster because it comes with expanded rich snippet support and respects all native Shopify SEO functionality. Plus, when I tested it with Google Lighthouse, I found out that it’s also one of the fastest themes out there that’s also optimized for mobile. Here are the results:
- Desktop speed score: 98
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.9s
- Mobile speed score: 84
- Mobile load time (LCP): 2s
I particularly liked that Booster is one of the most versatile themes I’ve probably ever tested. You get over 75 presets for different niches, so you’ll definitely find one to help fulfill your vision. Plus, it supports other Shopify apps, including the PageFly page builder or TinyIMG SEO optimizer.
Who it’s for:
I recommend Booster to merchants with small to large Shopify stores who want to boost their rankings. It offers the perfect trio – top-tier SEO, fast speeds, and exceptional versatility – at a one-time $299 fee.
You can learn more in our Booster theme review.
2. Woodstock
Great for:
Flash sales, big stores, or dropshipping
Notable features:
Editorial content, trust badges
Price:
$270
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Woodstock is another Shopify theme I found to be great for SEO because it’s built to provide your customers with a fast and convenient shopping experience.
Why I picked it:
I liked that Woodstock lets you write blogs, so you can create keyword-optimized content to boost SEO. Plus, the performance scores and load times are some of the best I’ve tested on both desktop and mobile:
- Desktop speed score: 99
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.8s
- Mobile speed score: 89
- Mobile load time (LCP): 2.6s
Woodstock also offers breadcrumbs and a recommended product section, meaning search engines can use it to understand your site better. And if you’re considering optimizing your store for SEO with third-party apps, such tools as TinyIMG work with this theme without issues.
Who it’s for:
I’d recommend Woodstock for dropshippers and people who want to quickly set up a store. It’s available on the Shopify theme store, meaning it fits its rigorous SEO and performance requirements and comes at $270.
3. Flex
Great for:
Custom design websites
Notable features:
Cookie banner, trust badges
Price:
$495
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Flex is a great Shopify SEO theme because it’s highly customizable, so you won’t have issues creating an SEO-friendly site. It comes with 10+ pre-designed styles, meaning you can get your store up and running pretty fast.
Why I picked it:
I chose Flex because it allows custom CSS editing, loads of product discovery features, like breadcrumbs and infinite scroll, and great speeds. During my tests, the theme showed a desktop load time of below 1 second. Here are the full results:
- Desktop speed score: 86
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.7s
- Mobile speed score: 74
- Mobile load time (LCP): 3.2s
What caught my eye was the unique features that Flex offers. For example, you save money on a cookie banner because this theme gives you one of its own. And if you feel like running a blog or adding an FAQ page to rank higher on search engines, Flex gives you that too.
Who it’s for:
I suggest Flex for freelancers, designers, or small stores who want to build a creative site with custom designs. You can get this comprehensive theme at a one-time $495 fee.
4. Mavon
Great for:
High-volume stores, multi-purpose
Notable features:
Multi-currency, product reviews
Price:
$280
Try theme:
Mavon made my list of the best SEO themes for Shopify because it ensures your store looks responsive on mobile, is multi-purpose, and offers exceptional load times.
Why I picked it:
I chose Mavon for this list because it offers great features, like breadcrumbs or recommended products, which help search engines understand your site structure better. It also showed amazing desktop and mobile load time results during my tests:
- Desktop speed score: 99
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.8s
- Mobile speed score: 83
- Mobile load time (LCP): 3s
What sold Mavon for me was the mobile-first approach, ensuring SEO doesn’t suffer on any device. You can also add product reviews, high-resolution images, zoom functionality, and many more conversion-focused features.
Who it’s for:
I recommend Mavon for Shopify merchants who do dropshipping or large stores with physical locations. It’s optimized for SEO and comes at a one-time $280 fee.
5. Startup
Great for:
Small catalogs, direct-to-consumer brands
Notable features:
FAQ page, sticky header
Price:
$100
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Startup made my list for Shopify SEO themes because it’s a great option for small catalogs and creating SEO content.
Why I picked it:
I particularly liked Startup because of its features. You can quickly set up a store with quick buy, in-store pickups, a blog, and an FAQ page. During my speed tests, it showed excellent results on desktop and great ones on mobile.
- Desktop speed score: 94
- Desktop load time (LCP): 1.3s
- Mobile speed score: 89
- Mobile load time (LCP): 2.6s
To make sure your customers have a great shopping experience, you can use breadcrumbs and a sticky header for navigation. Creating a clear site structure will also help search engines better understand your site.
Who it’s for:
I’d advise getting the Startup theme for merchants with small stores who want to build an organized site or focus on editorial content for SEO. For a small business, the theme is budget-friendly, coming at just $100.
6. Broadcast
Great for:
High-volume stores with physical locations
Notable features:
Trust badges, recommended products
Price:
$400
Try theme:
Broadcast proved to be a worthy theme in the Shopify SEO theme list because of its excellent performance. It comes with plenty of good features for marketing or product discovery, making it suitable for large stores.
Why I picked it:
The Broadcast theme showed excellent load time – just 0.6 seconds. Together with a 98 performance score, it’s a way above-average result.
- Desktop speed score: 98
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.6s
- Mobile speed score: 74
- Mobile load time (LCP): 2.5s
I also liked that Broadcast gives you useful features for a better user experience like trust and product badges, promo popups, countdown timers, and more. You can even write a blog to boost your SEO and gain more traffic.
Who it’s for:
I suggest Broadcast for stores with large catalogs or physical locations that want a quick setup. The only drawback is that it’s on the pricier side, coming at $400, but the feature variety and performance can be worth it.
7. Empire
Great for:
High-volume stores, dropshipping
Notable features:
Product reviews, blog
Price:
$340
Try theme:
My tests showed that the Empire theme is a great option for high-volume stores that want to focus on SEO. It uses a single H1 tag per page, breadcrumbs, and an adaptive design for mobile.
Why I picked it:
I chose Empire because I found it to be an excellent choice for creating a store with a clear hierarchical page structure and mobile-optimized designs for better navigation and SEO. During my tests, I saw great average performance scores and load times across pages:
- Desktop speed score: 90
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.6s
- Mobile speed score: 70
- Mobile load time (LCP): 2.2s
The main drawback that I noticed is that their CSS and JavaScript are bulky. So, you may want to keep your website optimized for speed at all times to avoid user experience and SEO issues. Alternatively, I recommend looking into feature-loaded themes with optimized code, like Booster.
Who it’s for:
I suggest Empire for Shopify stores that also have physical locations and want to set up in-store pickups or run a blog for SEO. It’s fast, easy to set up, and comes at a one-time $340 fee.
8. Envy
Great for:
Flash sales or large stores
Notable features:
Age verifier, sticky header
Price:
$380
Try theme:
Envy is an SEO-optimized Shopify theme with a vast array of marketing and conversion-oriented features that help optimize the user experience. The theme offers excellent desktop performance and load times, ensuring lower bounce rates.
Why I picked it:
I chose Envy because of its feature variety and performance. During my tests, it loaded in less than a second on the desktop. Here are the results:
- Desktop speed score: 98
- Desktop load time (LCP): 0.7s
- Mobile speed score: 75
- Mobile load time (LCP): 3.8s
The mobile load time was way slower than on desktop, but that’s usual. However, if you want a theme with faster mobile speeds, I’d suggest looking at Booster instead. In terms of features, you can use Envy to write SEO-optimized blogs, create a clear website navigation with breadcrumbs and sticky headers, or even add trust badges.
Who it’s for:
I’d recommend using Envy for large stores that want to run time-sensitive promotions. It gives you all the features to optimize your product pages to improve the user experience and SEO.
9. Star
Great for:
Stores with physical locations
Notable features:
Google Maps section, rich snippet support
Price:
Free (or paid bundle for $499)
Try theme:
I found the Star theme to be suitable for SEO because it comes with rich snippet support and speed-oriented features. It guarantees a modern and sleek design, making it great for building an aesthetic store.
Why I picked it:
I enjoyed the fact that the Star theme supports Google’s rich snippets and optimizes large images, ensuring great speeds and attractive search engine result appearance. Here are all the performance results I got during my test:
- Desktop speed score: 97
- Desktop load time (LCP): 1.2s
- Mobile speed score: 72
- Mobile load time (LCP): 4.1s
Although Star claims to follow a mobile-first approach, the mobile load time and performance score were pretty low. So, if you’re looking for a more mobile-friendly theme, I’d suggest looking into Woodstock or Booster.
Who it’s for:
I’d recommend Star for small to medium-sized Shopify stores that target international audiences or have a physical location. With a Google Maps section, multiple languages, and flexible customization tools, you can build a high-ranking store for free.
10. Debutify
Great for:
Boosting conversions, flexible customization
Notable features:
Cookie bar, wish lists
Price:
Free (paid plans start at $14.5/month)
Try theme:
Debutify is another good Shopify SEO theme for SEO. It’s fully customizable and offers over 60 widgets to help you build a store that ranks high in search engines.
Why I picked it:
I liked that Debutify offers useful conversion and user experience-focused features, like trust badges, wish lists, a cookie banner, breadcrumbs for navigation, and more. In terms of performance, Debutify showed decent results on desktop:
- Desktop speed score: 77
- Desktop load time (LCP): 2.6s
- Mobile speed score: 50
- Mobile load time (LCP): 7.4s
Although Debutify states it’s a mobile-first theme, the main drawback I found was the slow mobile load time. So, if you need a faster theme on all devices, opt for Booster instead.
Who it’s for:
I recommend Debutify for small stores that are just beginning their journey to high SEO rankings. It’s a modern theme that gives you everything you may need to create an engaging site.
Why is it important to have an SEO-optimized Shopify theme?
A high-quality Shopify theme that’s optimized for SEO can bring you a lot of benefits, not just naturally better rankings in search engines. Here are all the advantages of getting an SEO-friendly theme:
Higher search engine ranking
An SEO-optimized theme will give you a competitive advantage over non-optimized ones, helping you rank higher in search engines. However, keep in mind that an SEO-friendly theme doesn’t automatically mean your pages will rank, so make sure you follow the best Shopify SEO practices.
Faster website speed
If your website is slow, you’re more likely to lose visitors. According to Think with Google statistics, the bounce rate can increase by 32% when the page load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. A theme that’s optimized for SEO also ensures high performance and a great user experience.
Responsive design
According to the Google Ads Help Center, mobile-optimized websites are more likely to rank higher in search results. For this reason, SEO-friendly theme developers make sure the design is responsive on all types of devices.
Additionally, a website that looks good on mobile helps improve user experience, ensuring more traffic and higher conversion rates.
More traffic
The higher you rank on search engines, the more likely you’re going to get more traffic to your site, especially if your content appears as a feature snippet. According to a report by FirstPageSage, the first organic search result receives around 38% of the click-through rate.
More sales
Since SEO-optimized sites are more likely to rank higher in search engine results, naturally, you can enhance your conversion rates.
Conclusion
Choosing a Shopify SEO theme is a great start to higher rankings. A good SEO theme should ensure mobile-friendliness, flexible customization options, a great user experience, and fast load times on desktop and mobile.
The right theme for your store will depend on your needs. However, our top recommendation is the Booster theme. It showed some of the best performance results, loading in less than 1 second, and offers expanded rich snippet support. Moreover, it gives you all the features you may need for optimizing conversions and the user experience.
It’s important to note that an SEO theme won’t instantly guarantee high rankings. Instead, you’ll have to learn all about the best SEO practices. Luckily, you can automate mundane SEO tasks with an SEO app, like TinyIMG. It lets you edit metadata in bulk, automatically compress images, set up JSON-LD without coding, and more.
Frequently asked questions
Booster is the best Shopify theme for SEO because it loaded in under 1 second during my in-house performance tests and offers extended rich snippet support. It respects native Shopify SEO functionality, meaning you can create a fully optimized store that ranks high on search engines while maintaining an excellent user experience.
Yes, your Shopify theme may affect your website’s SEO. A slow theme that isn’t optimized for mobile can hinder your SEO efforts while a performance-oriented option with rich snippet support and a responsive design can only improve it.
TinyIMG is the best SEO tool for your store because it helps you conveniently edit metadata in bulk mode, optimize image alt texts, easily set up JSON-LD, fix broken links, or add noindex or nofollow meta tags in a click of a button. Plus, you can generate product descriptions and metadata using AI.