Reading your SEO check
· 3 min read · MAALI team
MAALI's SEO check reads your homepage and a sample of product and collection pages, plus your sitemap and blog, the way a search engine would. It's free every time, doesn't use credits, and never changes anything on your store.
How the score works
The check starts at 100 and takes points off for each issue it finds, more for high-impact ones. Issues are listed highest impact first, each with example pages and how to fix it. Fix the top few and the score moves the most.
A sample is enough to find patterns: if three of five product pages have no meta description, most of your catalog probably doesn't either. Fix the pattern, not just the examples.
The issues, and where to fix them
Page titles
What it means: a page has no title, a title long enough to be cut off in results (roughly over 60 characters), or the same title as another page.
Where to fix it: on a product or collection, scroll to Search engine listing and click Edit. For the homepage: Online Store → Preferences → Title and meta description.
Tip: lead with what the page is, then your store name: "Sage Linen Wrap Dress | Juniper & Pine".
Meta descriptions
What it means: missing, too short to give anyone a reason to click, or so long it's cut off.
Where to fix it: the same Search engine listing section. Aim for 140 to 160 characters: what it is, one benefit, and a reason to click. If you leave it empty, Shopify uses the start of your description, which is often a single line.
Main headings (H1)
What it means: a page has no main heading, or several. Each page should have exactly one, naming the product or collection.
Where to fix it: usually in your theme. Products and collections normally get the right H1 automatically; custom homepages and landing pages built with sections often don't. In Online Store → Themes → Customize, check that a heading block on the page uses the main heading style, or ask your theme developer.
Image alt text
What it means: most images on a page have no description for search engines and screen readers.
Where to fix it: open the product, click an image in Media, and add alt text. Describe what's in the photo: "Sage linen wrap dress, back view". Don't stuff keywords.
Thin product pages
What it means: product descriptions with too little text to rank or to sell.
Where to fix it: the product's Description. Aim for 150 to 300 words on your main products: what it is, materials, fit or size, how to use or care for it, and who it's for. See How to write Shopify product descriptions that sell.
Collection descriptions
What it means: a collection page is just a grid of products, with no text explaining what's in it.
Where to fix it: Products → Collections, open the collection and add two to four sentences in Description. Most themes show it above the grid. This is one of the quickest wins on most stores.
Social share images
What it means: when the page is shared on social media or in a chat, no picture appears.
Where to fix it: Online Store → Preferences → Social sharing image sets the default. Products use their first image automatically, so this mostly affects the homepage and pages.
Sitemap
What it means: search engines can't find a sitemap.xml listing your pages. Shopify creates one automatically at yourstore.com/sitemap.xml, so this usually means something is blocking it.
What to do: open the sitemap in your browser to check it loads, then submit it in Google Search Console.
Blog
What it means: your store has no blog, or hasn't published in a long time. Product pages rank for product searches; a blog lets you rank for the questions shoppers ask before they buy.
What to do: click Find article ideas below the check. MAALI suggests 8 topics based on what your customers search for, and writes any of them in your voice. See Article ideas and the Writer.
Checking again
After you've made fixes, click Check again. Fixed issues disappear from the list and the score updates. Search engines take longer: depending on how often they visit your store, changes can take days or weeks to show in results.
Keep reading
How MAALI chooses article topics for your store, how to pick the right ones, and how to edit an article so it's ready to publish.
From signup to your first published article in about 15 minutes: build your Store Brain, run the SEO check, and turn one idea into an article.
Step by step, how to copy a MAALI article into your Shopify blog with the right title, meta description, URL handle and featured image.
How workspaces, owners and members work in MAALI, how to invite your team, and how to manage more than one Shopify store or client.