Whenever you move a page from one url to another, you should setup redirects so the old url still works. This is even more important when you switch domain names, as that's a chief cause of sudden SEO loss.
Shopify has built-in URL redirects but sometimes developers will reach for a JavaScript based redirect instead of the built-in ones. While JavaScript ones can work, they come with their own problems:
- they are much slower that regular url redirects
- they can artificially inflate your page views and deflate your bounce rate, painting a too rosy of a picture
- they require a search engine to use JavaScript which means some niche ones might not work
- oftentimes there are bugs in the code or there are technical problems that break the redirect without anyone knowing
- and most importantly, you now have to maintain that code and redirect forever until the old page disappears from the Internet.
There are a few cases where JavaScript based redirects are appropriate (e.g. country switchers, based on user interaction) but they should be avoided as a tool for SEO.
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Eric Davis