PrestaShop store migration: SEO, 301 redirects, robots
PrestaShop's official documentation explains how to migrate store data, but its migration guide does not cover URLs, 301 redirects or SEO preservation. Robots.txt is handled on another page, and I did not find a sitemap procedure in the pages I read. To migrate a store without avoidable SEO loss, combine PrestaShop's data guide and its SEO and URLs settings with Google's site move guidance, and build the old to new URL map yourself. No migration can guarantee your rankings, and Google itself expects temporary fluctuation.
I handle redesigns and migrations, so I have an interest in this topic. All statements below rest on the official pages linked, read on 1 November 2026, and I note where the docs are silent.
What the official documentation does and does not cover
| Topic | Where it is documented | What you still have to do |
|---|---|---|
| Moving data | PrestaShop 9 migration guide | Choose your tools, run test imports |
| URL formats | SEO and URLs page | Compare old and new formats |
| Mapping old to new URLs | Not in the migration guide | Build it, using Google's method |
| Product level 301s | Managing products page | Decide the target for each removed product |
| robots.txt | SEO and URLs page | Re-add custom rules after generation |
| Sitemap procedure | Not in the pages I read | Check your module, then submit in Search Console |
The data migration guide, and why it matters for SEO
The PrestaShop 9 migration guide describes a manual process that extracts, transforms and loads data into a fresh store rather than changing the old database. It covers products, categories, brands, customers, carts, orders, stock, images and attachments. Tables such as configuration, lang and currency are to be ignored or handled separately, so settings do not simply follow you. The guide offers back office CSV, phpMyAdmin, mysqldump and the Webservice API as tools.
The SEO consequence comes from a detail elsewhere. According to the SEO and URLs page, the default product route is {category:/}{id}-{rewrite}{-:ean13}.html. The ID is part of the address. My own reading, not a statement from the docs: an import that assigns new product IDs changes every product URL, even if the slug stays the same. If you use a CSV import, check whether your IDs are preserved. If you use a direct table copy, confirm the same thing on a sample, and include categories in the check. Also, the back office export only includes displayed columns, so it may miss fields you need, such as meta titles or link rewrites.
Build the URL map: the step PrestaShop leaves to you
Google's site move documentation gives the method: list the old URLs from sitemaps, server logs, traffic reports and Search Console, then map each one to its new address. For a store, sort this list by value. Your top categories, products that earn organic visits and pages with backlinks come first. Faceted filters and session URLs rarely deserve individual attention.
Then apply Google's rules. Use server side permanent redirects (301 or 308). Do not redirect everything to the home page. Avoid chains: Googlebot follows up to 10 hops, but Google suggests staying ideally at 3 at most, and in the worst case under 5. For a page with no equivalent, return 404 or 410. Keep redirects for at least one year. My article on Google's guide walks through this sequence in more detail, in French.
PrestaShop settings to check before launch
Friendly URLs need a server that supports URL rewriting, and the docs warn that enabling them without it can make the shop completely unavailable. Test this on staging first. The same page explains the "redirect to the canonical URL" option: no redirect, 302 or 301. It recommends the 301 once your modifications are done, while "no redirection" can leave you with duplicate URLs.
On robots.txt, the warning is simple. Clicking "Generate robots.txt" replaces the existing file, so custom rules must be added afterwards. Save the old file, compare it with the new one and make sure no staging block remains. Google's checklist also asks you to remove any blocks used during development.
For individual products, the Managing products page offers no redirect (404), 301 or 302 in the SEO tab, with a warning that a 301 is permanent. Be careful with bulk actions: a GitHub issue reported that products disabled in bulk did not receive the 301 field. I could not confirm whether that still applies to your version, so test it. If you are coming from PrestaShop 1.6, note that the migration guide says existing redirect type values must be updated.
Sitemap, Search Console and launch
I did not find a sitemap procedure in the pages read here, so check the sitemap module available on your version. Generate a fresh file on the live store and verify that it contains final URLs only, not redirects. Then, following Google, submit the new sitemap in Search Console. Use the change of address tool only if the domain or subdomain changes: it is not needed when only paths change on the same domain. Launch during a low traffic period if possible, and regenerate thumbnails and the search index, as PrestaShop's guide requires.
Afterwards, expect some movement. Google says that a significant change can make rankings vary for several weeks. Watch your server logs for 404 errors on URLs that used to earn traffic, and fix those first.
When this is not the right project
If you are only upgrading a store on the same domain with identical URLs, you may not need any mapping, just a comparison test. If your store has thousands of multi-language URLs, several shops or heavy custom modules, choose a specialist with a demonstrable PrestaShop track record, and ask anyone, me included, for a proof that matches your case. My guide to the PrestaShop database will help you frame that conversation.
If your plan is ready but you want it checked, or if you need the migration carried out, use my redesign and migration page. I reply within 24 working hours, and you will be speaking directly to the person who writes the code.