Shopify doesn't have "categories" in the way some platforms do. Instead, you group products into collections, which become your store's category pages, sale pages, new-arrival pages and more. A clear collection structure makes products easy to find and gives you strong pages for search.
Manual vs automated collections
| Manual | Automated | |
|---|---|---|
| How products are added | You choose each product | Products that match conditions are added automatically |
| Best for | Small, curated selections | Most category pages and any large catalogue |
| Example | "Staff picks" | Product type = Jacket AND tag = waterproof |
Automated collections save time and stay accurate as you add products, so they're the better default.
Creating a collection
- Go to Products → Collections → Create collection.
- Enter a title and a short, useful description.
- Choose Automated and set conditions, such as product type, tag, vendor, price or metafield values, or choose Manual.
- Add a collection image if your theme shows one.
- Fill in the Search engine listing: title, meta description and URL handle.
- Choose which sales channels it's available on, and save.
Plan the structure first
- Start from how customers think: by product type, use, audience or occasion.
- Keep the main menu to your most important collections, with one or two levels.
- Add supporting collections for attributes people search for ("waterproof jackets", "gifts under 50").
- Use consistent product types and tags so automated rules work.
Add collections to the menu
Go to Online Store → Navigation (shown as Menus in some admin versions), open the main menu and add links to collections. Drag items under a parent to create dropdowns.
Filters
With Shopify's free Search & Discovery app you can add filters on collection pages for availability, price, product type, vendor, variant options such as size and colour, and metafields. Keep filters relevant to each catalogue.
Optimise collections for search
- A title that matches what people search for
- A short introduction that helps shoppers choose, placed so it doesn't push products too far down
- A unique meta description
- Internal links from blog posts and related collections
More in our Shopify SEO guide.
Large catalogue or messy structure? We can plan and set it up as part of our store setup or SEO services.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between product type, category and collection?
The product category is Shopify's standard taxonomy, used for things like tax and marketplace channels. Product type is your own label. Collections are the groups shoppers browse on your store, and can be built from either.
Can a product be in several collections?
Yes. A product can belong to as many collections as needed, for example 'Women's jackets', 'Waterproof' and 'New in'.
Do collections create duplicate content?
Products reached through a collection URL point their canonical tag to the main product URL, so search engines treat the product page as the original.
Author
Uğur KeskinFounder @ShopiuzmanFounder of Shopiuzman. He builds, migrates and grows Shopify stores for brands in Türkiye, Europe and the US, and leads the development of our apps on the Shopify App Store.
