How to Check if a Website Is Shopify

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Ecommerce SEO Services and have developed comprehensive guidance on how to check if website is shopify.

If you’ve ever visited a website and wondered whether it’s built using Shopify, there are several quick ways to find out. Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world, known for its clean design, secure checkout, and user-friendly setup. Many successful online stores use it, but the platform can be difficult to identify at first glance. This article explains how to check if a website is powered by Shopify using simple tools, visual clues, and a few technical checks.

Why you might want to know if a site uses Shopify

There are several reasons someone might want to check what platform a website uses. Competitors may want to see what tools successful stores rely on, developers might need to understand a client’s setup, and marketers may want to confirm whether Shopify-specific SEO strategies apply. Knowing a site’s platform also helps identify compatible apps, integrations, or customisation options.

Visual clues that a website uses Shopify

The easiest way to tell if a site uses Shopify is to look at its layout and functionality. While Shopify stores can be heavily customised, many share common design and user interface elements.

Some signs include:

• Product pages that use “Add to Cart” and “Buy It Now” buttons with Shopify’s familiar layout.

• URLs that include “/products/,” “/collections/,” or “/cart.” These structures are typical of Shopify stores.

• A checkout process hosted on a “checkout.shopify.com” domain, which appears when completing a purchase on many Shopify sites.

• The presence of Shopify-related terms in the footer or page source, such as “Powered by Shopify.”

These indicators are not foolproof—some store owners remove branding or use custom domains—but they provide a strong initial clue.

Checking the website source code

A more reliable method is to inspect the website’s source code. This gives you direct insight into what platform the site is built on.

To do this:

1. Visit the website in your browser.

2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select “View Page Source” or press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on Mac).

3. Once the code appears, use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F) to search for the word “Shopify.”

If you see terms like “cdn.shopify.com,” “shopify_assets,” or “shopify_theme,” it’s a clear sign the site is using Shopify. These lines indicate that the website’s assets (such as images, scripts, and stylesheets) are being hosted on Shopify’s servers.

Using online website technology checkers

Several free online tools can detect whether a site uses Shopify and provide additional technical details. These platforms analyse a website’s structure and return information about its CMS, ecommerce platform, and analytics tools.

Simply enter the website’s URL into one of these tools, and it will display the underlying technology stack. Most will identify Shopify instantly and may even list which theme or apps the site uses.

Inspecting network requests

If you have basic technical knowledge, you can check network requests in your browser’s developer tools. This method shows what files are being loaded when the site runs.

To do this:

1. Press F12 or right-click and select “Inspect.”

2. Go to the “Network” tab and refresh the page.

3. Look for files that include “shopify.com” or “cdn.shopify.com.”

If these appear, the site is almost certainly powered by Shopify. This is a more advanced method but useful for confirming results if visual and source code checks are inconclusive.

Common Shopify features that give it away

Even without looking at the code, certain Shopify features are unique enough to identify the platform:

• The standard checkout layout, which is consistent across all Shopify sites.

• Shopify’s built-in customer login pages with URLs ending in “/account/login.”

• Cart URLs ending in “/cart” or containing AJAX cart updates.

• Automatic image URLs generated with parameters like “_600x600” for resized product photos.

Once you’re familiar with Shopify’s patterns, it becomes easy to spot them across different stores.

Why identifying Shopify websites matters for SEO

From an SEO perspective, understanding which platform a website uses helps marketers and developers plan more effective strategies. Shopify has its own set of technical SEO features and limitations, such as structured URLs and theme-specific schema markup.

Knowing whether a competitor’s site uses Shopify allows you to analyse how they structure categories, optimise product descriptions, and manage metadata. For businesses migrating to Shopify, studying other stores can also reveal design ideas and performance benchmarks.

How Shopify differs from other ecommerce platforms

Shopify is a hosted platform, meaning it handles hosting, security, and updates for you. This is different from open-source systems like WooCommerce or Magento, which require manual setup and maintenance.

Because Shopify is fully managed, it offers convenience and reliability—but less flexibility in terms of backend customisation. Identifying a Shopify site helps you understand what design and functionality limitations may be in place.

The role of SEO in Shopify website success

Once you confirm that a site uses Shopify, the next step for any store owner is to optimise it for search. Shopify is designed with SEO best practices in mind, but additional work is often needed to compete effectively.

Key areas of focus include:

• Customising title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs.

• Improving site speed and mobile responsiveness.

• Using structured data to enhance product visibility in search results.

• Optimising category and collection pages for internal linking and keywords.

A well-optimised Shopify site not only performs better in Google rankings but also delivers a smoother user experience, which directly supports conversion rates.

How Lillian Purge helps ecommerce businesses optimise Shopify sites

At Lillian Purge, we help Shopify store owners build SEO strategies that drive measurable growth. Our approach covers technical optimisation, keyword research, content strategy, and link building—ensuring your store ranks competitively and converts visitors into customers.

We also provide platform audits to assess performance, user experience, and site architecture. Whether you’re launching a new Shopify store or improving an existing one, we deliver strategies that strengthen your online visibility and sales performance.

We have also written in depth articles on How to do SEO on Shopify and How to Dropship on Shopify as well as our Shopify Hub to give you further guidance.