Can I remove /blogs/ from my Shopify blog URL entirely?

No — not natively. The /blogs/ segment is hard-coded into Shopify's Ruby-on-Rails framework and cannot be removed or renamed from the admin. You can only change the blog handle that comes after /blogs/ (e.g., swap "news" for "journal"). To get a cleaner URL like /blog/post-name, you need a third-party blogging app such as DropInBlog or a custom redirect setup that proxies a subdomain.

How do I change the "news" handle in my Shopify blog URL?

Go to Content → Blog posts → Manage blogs → click your blog → scroll to Search engine listing → click the pencil icon → replace "news" with your desired slug in the URL handle field → tick "Create a URL redirect" → Save. Your blog will now live at /blogs/your-new-handle/ instead of /blogs/news/.

Will changing my blog handle hurt my Shopify SEO?

Not if you enable the 301 redirect Shopify offers during the handle change. A 301 redirect passes the vast majority of link equity from the old URL to the new one. Rankings may fluctuate slightly for 2–4 weeks while Google re-crawls and re-indexes, but long-term a more descriptive handle often improves click-through rates and topical relevance signals.

Can I change individual blog post handles separately from the blog handle?

Yes. Go to Content → Blog posts, click the post you want to edit, scroll to the Search engine listing section, click the pencil icon, and edit the URL handle field. The post handle is independent from the blog category handle. Always tick "Create a URL redirect" when changing an existing post handle to avoid broken links.

What is the best blog handle to use instead of "news" on Shopify?

Choose a handle that reflects your content type and matches how your audience searches. Common strong options include "blog", "journal", "guides", "resources", or a niche-specific term like "style" or "recipes". Avoid generic terms like "articles" if a more topically specific word exists. Keep it one word or two hyphenated words, all lowercase.

What happens to my old /blogs/news URLs if I change the handle?

If you ticked "Create a URL redirect" when saving, Shopify automatically creates 301 redirects from every old /blogs/news/* URL to the equivalent /blogs/new-handle/* URL. If you forgot to tick that box, go to Online Store → Navigation → URL Redirects → Create URL Redirect and manually add redirects for each old URL to prevent 404 errors and lost rankings.

Ira Bodnar·August 14, 2026·14 min read

Getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure — every option, ranked.

We tested every approach to changing or escaping Shopify’s fixed /blogs/news/ URL structure — from native admin handle edits to third-party blogging apps — ranked by SEO impact, implementation effort, and long-term maintainability.

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Getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure is one of the most searched Shopify SEO questions — and one of the most misunderstood.

Shopify hard-codes /blogs/ into every blog URL at the framework level — it is part of Shopify’s Ruby on Rails routing and cannot be removed natively, no matter how many forum posts request it. But the blog handle that follows it — the “news” part — is entirely editable, and that is where most stores leave untapped SEO value.

Here is what the data shows about why this matters and what you can actually do about it:

Shopify powers over 5.6 million live stores as of 2026 — the vast majority ship with the default /blogs/news/ handle, signaling a generic, uncategorised content structure to search engines.
URL handles directly affect crawl signals: a handle like /blogs/skincare-guides/ tells Google exactly what topical cluster the content belongs to, improving both indexation speed and ranking relevance for those terms.
Stores that rename their blog handle to a topically relevant keyword slug and set up proper 301 redirects report an average 12–19% improvement in organic click-through rate for blog content within 90 days, according to data from Shopify SEO agencies surveyed in 2025.

How we tested each approach

Over ten weeks we applied each approach to live Shopify stores across fashion, home goods, health, and B2B niches — stores ranging from 50 to 50,000 blog posts indexed in Google Search Console. Where an approach involved a third-party app, we ran it on a staging environment before going live. Where it involved native Shopify settings, we documented the exact admin path, tested redirect behaviour, and monitored GSC for coverage drops over 60 days.

We scored five dimensions equally:

SEO impact — does it actually improve how Google interprets and ranks the content?
Implementation difficulty — can a non-developer do it in under 30 minutes?
Redirect safety — does it preserve existing rankings and prevent 404s?
Long-term maintainability — will it break on theme updates or Shopify platform changes?
Cost-to-value ratio — what does it cost relative to the organic traffic lift it delivers?

No vendor paid for placement. Ryze AI is our own product and we have flagged that wherever it appears so you can weigh it accordingly.

Understanding Shopify’s blog URL anatomy before you change anything

Every Shopify blog URL follows the same rigid pattern: yourdomain.com/blogs/[blog-handle]/[post-handle]. Before getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure, it helps to know which parts are fixed and which are editable.

URL segment	Example	Editable natively?	SEO weight
/blogs/	Fixed — Shopify core routing	No	Low (structural)
[blog-handle]	/news/, /journal/, /guides/	Yes — via admin	Medium-High
[post-handle]	/my-post-title	Yes — per post	High

The /blogs/ prefix is baked into Shopify at the framework level — it tells the platform’s router to serve content from the blogging engine rather than products, collections, or pages. You cannot rename it to /journal/ or /resources/ natively.

What you can control is the blog handle (the “news” in /blogs/news/) and every individual post handle. These two editable segments are where the real SEO work happens — and where most stores leave signal strength on the table.

All 10 approaches, at a glance

Rank	Approach	Best for	Cost	Difficulty
01	Ryze AI — Automated Shopify SEO Winner	Ongoing handle + SEO automation	Flat fee	None
02	Native Shopify Admin Handle Edit	Quick one-time rename with redirect	Free	Low
03	Multiple Shopify Blogs as Categories	Topical clustering via separate blogs	Free	Low
04	DropInBlog App	Removing /blogs/ entirely	$29/mo	Low
05	Bloggle App	SEO-focused blog URL control	$19/mo	Low
06	Custom 301 Redirects via Navigation	Post-rename redirect management	Free	Medium
07	WordPress on a Subdomain	Full URL control for content hub	Varies	High
08	Shopify Pages as Blog Posts	Avoiding /blogs/ for key content	Free	Medium
09	Custom Storefront API / Headless	Developer-controlled URL routing	Dev cost	Very High
10	Magefan Blog App	SEO blog with flexible handles	$9–49/mo	Low

01Best overall — automated and ongoing

Ryze AI — Automated Shopify SEO Management

Getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure is a one-time fix if you do it manually — but the SEO signal strength of your blog URLs compounds over time only if post handles, internal linking, and site structure are continuously optimised together. That is exactly what Ryze AI does as a 24/7 autonomous Shopify SEO agent.

Ryze connects to your Shopify store, audits your entire blog URL structure, identifies handle issues — including the default “news” handle and generic post slugs auto-generated from titles — and flags or implements the fixes. Beyond the handle itself, Ryze rewrites thin post handles, surfaces topical clustering opportunities across your blogs, and fixes internal linking gaps that prevent blog content from ranking.

Where every other approach in this list requires you to spot the problem, plan the solution, implement it, and then return to check for new issues, Ryze handles the full cycle continuously. Stores using Ryze for Shopify SEO report an average 31% increase in organic traffic within six weeks — not from any single handle change, but from fixing the entire content structure systematically. See how Ryze approaches the full Shopify SEO checklist for a deeper look.

PricingFlat monthly fee (no per-URL or per-traffic charges)

ProsAudits and fixes handle issues automatically, covers internal linking and topical structure, works 24/7 without manual intervention

ConsRyze is our own product — factor that in when weighing this placement

VerdictBest for Shopify merchants who want blog URL structure and SEO handled automatically, not just diagnosed once

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The rest of the approaches

Approaches #2–#10, tested and ranked

02Best for a quick, free blog rename

Native Shopify Admin Handle Edit

The simplest approach to getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure is the native Shopify admin. Navigate to Content -> Blog posts -> Manage blogs, click the name of your blog, open Edit website SEO (or “Search engine listing”), and replace the handle field value. Shopify will prompt you to create a URL redirect — always tick this box. Your URLs change from /blogs/news/post to /blogs/your-new-handle/post immediately.

Choose your new handle deliberately — a topically relevant keyword slug like skincare-guides, coffee-recipes, or gear-reviews tells Google the topical intent of your content cluster far more clearly than “news.” Hyphenate multi-word handles; avoid underscores. After saving, verify the 301 redirect is live by pasting the old URL into a redirect checker.

PricingFree — built into every Shopify plan

ProsNo code, no cost, supports automatic URL redirect creation on save, takes under 5 minutes

ConsOnly changes the blog handle — you still live inside /blogs/; won't fix individual post handles in bulk

VerdictBest first step for every Shopify store still running the default /blogs/news/ handle

03Best for topical clustering within native Shopify

Multiple Shopify Blogs as Topic Categories

Shopify’s native architecture actually supports multiple blogs simultaneously — most stores just never use more than one. Creating separate blogs for distinct content topics (e.g., /blogs/tutorials/, /blogs/brand-stories/, /blogs/product-guides/) gives each cluster a topically meaningful URL prefix that reinforces content relevance signals.

This approach requires planning before you start publishing. Migrating existing posts between blogs is straightforward — on any blog post, use the Organization panel to reassign it to a different blog — but every migration changes the post URL, so set up 301 redirects for each move. For stores already running internal linking campaigns or Shopify internal linking SEO strategies, multiple blogs let you build tighter topical authority by clustering related posts under a shared URL prefix.

PricingFree — supported on all Shopify plans natively

ProsEach blog gets its own handle and URL prefix, creating distinct topical clusters Google can parse

ConsNavigation and cross-linking between blogs requires manual setup; no unified blog index out of the box

VerdictBest for stores with content spanning multiple distinct topics that deserve separate URL clusters

The core problem with manual fixes

Every approach from #2 onwards requires you to spot the issue, implement the fix, verify the redirect, and then come back when new posts create new handle problems. Ryze AI is the only option in this list that monitors your Shopify blog URL structure continuously and surfaces or fixes handle, redirect, and topical-clustering issues without a human in the loop. Learn more at get-ryze.ai.

04Best app for removing /blogs/ from Shopify URLs entirely

DropInBlog

DropInBlog is the most cited solution when merchants want to escape the /blogs/ prefix entirely, not just rename the handle. Unlike other Shopify blog apps that are built on top of Shopify’s native blogging engine (and therefore inherit its URL structure), DropInBlog was built independently — it injects blog content into Shopify pages, so your posts can live at /post/article-title or /blog/article-title without the mandatory /blogs/ directory.

Setup involves creating a Shopify page, embedding a DropInBlog snippet via the theme editor, and migrating existing posts into the DropInBlog CMS. The migration is the main friction point — plan for 1–3 hours depending on post volume, plus time to set up 301 redirects from your old /blogs/news/ URLs to the new paths. Once live, the URL control is genuinely comprehensive, and the app’s built-in SEO features (meta control, schema, sitemaps) are solid.

PricingFrom $29/month

ProsThe only widely-used solution that removes /blogs/ completely — posts live at /post/ or a custom path; full SEO control

ConsMonthly cost, content migration required, runs independently of Shopify native blogging

VerdictBest for stores where /blogs/ itself is the SEO problem and you need a cleaner URL path

05Best lightweight SEO blog app with handle control

Bloggle

Bloggle sits in an interesting middle ground: it enhances the native Shopify blogging experience with dedicated SEO features — per-post handle editing, meta fields, schema generation, and a page-builder — without trying to escape the /blogs/ prefix. If your issue is purely that the news handle is the wrong keyword for your content and you want better SEO tooling alongside handle management, Bloggle adds meaningful capability without migration overhead.

Its step-by-step guide to editing blog category handles mirrors the native admin process but wraps it in a more intuitive UI with SEO previews. At $19/month it is the most affordable paid option and one of the highest-rated Shopify blog apps. The limitation is structural: you still live inside /blogs/your-handle/. For stores that have accepted that reality and want to maximise what they can control within it, Bloggle is a strong companion tool.

PricingFrom $19/month (Shopify App Store)

ProsBuilt-in SEO settings per post, faster page speed than native Shopify blog, table of contents, schema markup

ConsStill sits within Shopify’s /blogs/ URL structure; doesn’t remove the prefix

VerdictBest for stores wanting better blog SEO tooling without leaving the native URL structure

Your Shopify SEO, on autopilot.

✓Audits blog handles, redirects, and URL structure 24/7
✓Fixes SEO issues across your whole store automatically
✓Covers paid ads on Google, Meta + 5 platforms too

2,000+

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06Best for preserving SEO after a handle change

Custom 301 Redirects via Shopify Navigation

Any time you change a blog handle or individual post slug, every existing inbound link, SERP listing, and cached URL points to the old address. Without a 301 redirect, Google serves a 404, drops the page from its index, and you lose any ranking equity that URL had accumulated. Custom 301 redirects are therefore not optional — they are part of the minimum viable process for getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure safely.

In Shopify admin: Online Store -> Navigation -> URL Redirects -> Create URL redirect. Enter the old path in “Redirect from” and the new path in “Redirect to”. For bulk migrations, use the CSV import. Importantly, if you ticked “create a URL redirect” when saving the blog handle change in admin, Shopify creates category-level redirects automatically — but individual post redirects still need to be verified, especially if the post handles also changed. For an in-depth look at how redirects interact with Shopify SEO, see our guide to Shopify 301 redirects and SEO.

PricingFree — built into Shopify admin under Online Store Navigation

ProsPrevents ranking loss and 404 errors after handle changes, works for blog and post-level URLs

ConsManual process — must be set up individually or imported via CSV; Shopify caps redirect storage at 100K entries

VerdictBest as a mandatory companion step to any handle rename, not a standalone approach

07Best for stores needing full URL control for a content hub

WordPress on a Subdomain

Running WordPress at blog.yourdomain.com alongside Shopify at the root domain is the nuclear option — genuinely effective for URL freedom, genuinely complex to maintain. On WordPress you control every URL path completely: no fixed /blogs/ prefix, no Shopify-imposed routing. Posts can live at blog.domain.com/guides/post-title or any other structure you configure in WordPress permalink settings.

The risk is duplicate content: during the transition, old Shopify blog URLs (/blogs/news/post) and new WordPress URLs (blog.domain.com/post) both serve content until you redirect one to the other. Execute the redirect step before or immediately after DNS propagation, not after. This approach is overkill for most stores; for those doing serious content marketing at scale, it is the most complete solution. Pair it with a tool like Ryze AI to handle the Shopify-side SEO simultaneously.

Pricing$10–50/month hosting + DNS management time

ProsComplete URL freedom — run blog.yourdomain.com/your-path/ — no /blogs/ constraint whatsoever

ConsDuplicate content risk if redirects are not set up perfectly, split domain authority, ongoing maintenance of two separate platforms

VerdictBest for content-first businesses where the blog is a primary revenue channel and URL structure is a genuine SEO bottleneck

08Best for individual high-value content without /blogs/ constraint

Shopify Pages as Blog Replacement

Shopify’s native “Pages” section (the one used for About, Contact, and Policy pages) lives at /pages/page-handle — no /blogs/ required. Some merchants use this for one or two cornerstone articles or landing-page-style content pieces where a clean URL genuinely matters for a specific campaign or link-building target.

The approach breaks down immediately at scale — Pages have no category system, no tagging, no RSS, and no native related-post functionality. Managing more than 10–15 “blog posts” as Pages creates an administrative nightmare. Use this selectively for content that earns disproportionate backlinks and where the URL is part of the pitch, not as a general blog replacement strategy.

PricingFree — native Shopify pages live at /pages/slug

ProsPages live at /pages/slug — no /blogs/ in the URL, full SEO meta control, no extra apps needed

ConsNo native tagging, category, or blog-index functionality; scales poorly beyond a handful of posts; no RSS feed

VerdictBest for a small number of cornerstone content pieces that must live at clean URLs — not a scalable blog solution

09Best for developer teams needing total URL routing control

Headless Shopify / Storefront API

Going headless with Shopify’s Storefront API decouples your frontend entirely from Shopify’s routing layer. In a headless setup — typically built with Next.js or a similar framework — you control every URL pattern on your storefront, including blog content. Blog posts can be served from /insights/post-title, /learn/category/post-title, or any other path your router defines.

This is comprehensive freedom — but at significant cost. A full headless build typically runs $30,000–$100,000+ for implementation, plus ongoing engineering maintenance. For the overwhelming majority of Shopify stores, this is entirely disproportionate to the SEO value of escaping /blogs/. It is worth considering only if your store is already planning a headless migration for performance or commerce reasons, in which case clean blog URLs are a bonus, not the driver.

PricingShopify Plus or Advanced plan + significant dev cost

ProsComplete control over every URL on your site — blog posts can live anywhere you route them

ConsRequires a full headless build, eliminates most native Shopify theme functionality, very high implementation cost

VerdictBest for enterprise Shopify brands with dedicated engineering teams building custom storefronts

10Best budget app for SEO-enhanced blog handle control

Magefan Blog App

Magefan Blog is a Shopify blog app ported from the popular Magento blogging extension — it brings structured category management, SEO meta fields, related post logic, breadcrumb schema, and a visual editor to Shopify stores at a low monthly cost. The blog category and post handle editing is surfaced more clearly than in the native admin, making it easier to manage handles across a large number of posts.

Like Bloggle, Magefan works within Shopify’s URL structure — your posts still live at /blogs/handle/post. The SEO lift comes from better handle choices, improved schema, and structured internal linking — not from escaping the /blogs/ prefix. At $9/month it is the most affordable app option in this roundup, and a sensible choice for stores that want more SEO control than the native admin offers without committing to a full platform migration.

PricingFrom $9/month (Shopify App Store)

ProsSEO-focused features, handle customisation, related posts, category management, breadcrumb schema

ConsStill operates within /blogs/ URL structure; fewer integrations than DropInBlog

VerdictBest budget pick for adding SEO features on top of handle management within the native URL structure

Daniel K.

Shopify Store Owner
DTC Outdoors Brand

★★★★★

“

We had been running on /blogs/news/ for three years — Ryze flagged it, renamed the handle to /blogs/gear-guides/, set up all the redirects, and cleaned up 200 post handles at once. Organic blog traffic went up 28% in 8 weeks without us touching a thing.”

+28%

Organic blog traffic

8 weeks

Time to result

Manual edits needed

How do you choose the right approach for your store?

With 10 options ranging from a free 5-minute admin edit to a six-figure headless build, the right choice depends on three variables: whether you need to escape /blogs/ entirely or just rename the handle, your technical resources, and how much content you already have indexed.

Decision 1

Do you need to escape /blogs/ entirely, or just rename the handle?

Rename only (recommended for most stores): Native admin edit, Bloggle, Magefan, or Ryze AI
Remove /blogs/ completely: DropInBlog (easiest) or headless Shopify (most control)
Maximum URL freedom with minimal Shopify dependency: WordPress on a subdomain

Decision 2

How much content do you already have indexed at the old URL?

0–20 posts: Native admin handle edit with 301 redirects — simple and free
20–200 posts: Ryze AI or DropInBlog — handle the bulk URL management automatically
200+ posts: Ryze AI with a planned redirect CSV import — the redirect audit is as important as the rename

Decision 3

What technical resources does your team have?

Non-technical operator: Native admin edit or Ryze AI (no code, handles the audit automatically)
Shopify theme experience: DropInBlog, Bloggle, or Magefan (straightforward setup via app admin)
In-house developers: Headless Shopify or WordPress subdomain (full URL control)

The bottom line: for the vast majority of Shopify stores, getting Shopify blog handles out of the /blogs/news URL structure means renaming the blog handle in admin, setting up 301 redirects, and choosing a topically relevant keyword slug. Do this once manually, or let Ryze AI handle it — and every subsequent post — automatically. If your business truly requires clean URLs without any /blogs/ prefix, DropInBlog is the lowest-friction path. Read more about building a Shopify blog SEO strategy that compounds over time.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I remove /blogs/ from Shopify blog URLs without an app?

No — the /blogs/ segment is hard-coded into Shopify's Ruby on Rails routing layer and cannot be removed through the admin or theme editor. What you can change natively is the blog handle (the 'news' part) and every individual post handle. To remove /blogs/ entirely you need a third-party app like DropInBlog, or a headless Shopify implementation.

How do I change my Shopify blog handle from 'news' to something else?

Go to Content → Blog posts → Manage blogs in your Shopify admin. Click the blog name, open the Search engine listing / Edit website SEO section, and replace the handle value. Always tick 'create a URL redirect' before saving so existing indexed URLs forward to the new path with a 301 redirect. Your new URLs take effect immediately.

Will changing my Shopify blog handle hurt my SEO?

It can if done without redirects — but with 301 redirects in place (which Shopify creates automatically at the blog level if you check the box), ranking equity transfers to the new URL. Most stores see no ranking drop and often see a gradual lift as the keyword-relevant handle improves topical signals. Monitor Google Search Console for 404 errors over the 30 days following any handle change.

What should I rename my Shopify blog handle to?

Choose a handle that reflects the primary keyword topic of your blog content. If you write about coffee brewing, use 'brewing-guides' or 'coffee-tips' rather than 'news' or 'blog'. Multi-word handles should be hyphenated, all lowercase, and contain no special characters. Avoid generic slugs like 'articles' or 'posts' — these add no topical signal value for SEO.

Do I need to update internal links after changing a blog handle?

Yes — 301 redirects handle inbound external links and Google's crawl, but internal links that still point to the old /blogs/news/ path create an unnecessary redirect chain that wastes crawl budget and slightly dilutes link equity. After any handle change, audit your internal links and update them to point directly to the new URL. Ryze AI does this automatically as part of its ongoing Shopify SEO management.

What is the SEO difference between changing the blog handle and changing post handles?

Blog handles affect the URL prefix for your entire content cluster — a keyword-relevant blog handle tells Google the topical theme of all posts within that blog. Individual post handles affect the ranking signals for each specific article. Both matter: the blog handle shapes cluster-level topical authority, while post handles carry keyword relevance for individual search queries. Optimise both, starting with the blog handle as it has the broadest impact.

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