Managing Collection Indexing

Control how search engines discover and display your product collections. You can set different indexing rules for each collection in your store.

Overview

The Collections page allows you to:

• View all collections in your store
• See the current indexing status of each collection
• Apply NoIndex/NoFollow rules to one or multiple collections
• Search for specific collections by title

Accessing the Collections Page

1. From the dashboard, click the Collections card in Quick Settings

OR

2. Click Collections in the left sidebar navigation

Understanding the Collections List

The collections list shows:

Status Badges

Searching for Collections

Use the search bar at the top of the page to find specific collections:

1. Type the collection title in the search field
2. The list will filter automatically after you stop typing
3. Click the X button to clear your search

Changing Collection Indexing Status

Selecting Collections

1. Check the checkbox next to each collection you want to update
2. To select all collections on the current page, check the checkbox in the header row
3. The number of selected collections will appear above the table

Applying an Index Status

After selecting one or more collections:

1. Click the Actions dropdown button that appears
2. Choose one of the following options:

3. The status will be applied to all selected collections

Understanding Each Index Option

Index (Default)

• Collection page appears in Google and other search engines
• Links to products within the collection are followed
• This is the normal setting for collections you want customers to find

NoIndex + NoFollow

• Collection does not appear in search engine results
• Search engines do not follow links to products on this page
• Use for: Internal collections, staff-only collections, or deprecated collections

NoIndex + Follow

• Collection does not appear in search engine results
• Search engines still follow links to products
• Use for: Collections that organize products but should not rank as landing pages

NoSitemap + NoIndex + NoFollow + NoSearch

• Complete removal from all search visibility
• Hides from your store’s internal search
• Applies NoIndex and NoFollow
• Use for: Test collections or collections that should be completely hidden

Pagination

If you have many collections, they will be split across multiple pages:

1. Use the Previous and Next buttons at the bottom of the list
2. The page scrolls to the top automatically when changing pages

Tips and Best Practices

When to NoIndex a Collection

Consider hiding collections from search when:

• The collection is used for internal organization only
• The collection duplicates another collection’s content
• The collection is empty or has very few products
• You are testing a new collection before launch

When to Keep Collections Indexed

Keep collections indexed when:

• The collection groups products in a way customers search for
• The collection has a clear theme or category (e.g., “Women’s Shoes”, “Summer Sale”)
• You want the collection to appear as a landing page in search results

Collection vs. Product Indexing

Remember that NoIndexing a collection does not affect the products inside it:

• Products in a NoIndexed collection can still appear in search results
• If you want to hide products too, you must update them on the Products page
• Consider whether hiding the collection or the products better serves your goal

Troubleshooting

Collections not showing in the list

1. Make sure collections exist in your Shopify admin
2. Try clearing the search field
3. Check if collections are on a different page (use pagination)

Status not updating after selection

1. Wait a few seconds for the change to save
2. Refresh the page if the status does not update
3. Check for any error messages