Fixing Shopify's Default Blog Design: How to Make It Look and Perform Better
Fixing Shopify's Default Blog Design: How to Make It Look and Perform Better
Introduction
Let’s face it: Shopify’s default blog design is basic—visually outdated, hard to navigate, and not optimized for engagement or SEO. But if you want to build trust, boost traffic, and rank on Google, you need a high-performing, modern-looking blog.
In this blog, you’ll learn how to improve Shopify’s default blog layout, both visually and technically, without relying heavily on paid apps.
Why Fix Shopify’s Default Blog?
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📉 Low time-on-page due to poor readability
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🧭 No clear navigation between posts or categories
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🧱 Rigid layout with limited customization
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❌ No proper SEO structure (like breadcrumbs or schema)
1. Improve the Blog Layout Using Sections and Blocks (Online Store 2.0)
If your theme supports Online Store 2.0, you can use sections on blog templates.
✅ How:
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Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize
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Navigate to a blog post template
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Add sections like:
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Related Posts (custom or manual)
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Author bio block
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Email signup block
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Table of contents
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This boosts both UX and conversion.
2. Use Custom CSS to Improve Readability
Default fonts, spacing, and line height can make your content hard to read. Try these changes in your theme’s theme.css or base.css file:
.blog-article {
font-size: 18px;
line-height: 1.7;
color: #333;
max-width: 750px;
margin: auto;
padding: 20px;
}
Bonus: Add font-family: serif; for a more elegant reading feel.
3. Add “Related Blog Posts” Manually or via Metafields
There’s no native “Related Posts” feature, but here’s how to do it:
Option A: Manually
Add links inside your content using a “You may also like” section.
Option B: Use Metafields
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Create a blog post metafield (type: blog post reference or list)
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Assign related posts per article
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Display them in the template using Liquid:
{% for related in article.metafields.custom.related_posts %}
<a href="{{ related.url }}">{{ related.title }}</a>
{% endfor %}
4. Add Navigation Between Posts
At the end of each blog post, let users jump to the next or previous one:
{% if article.previous %}
<a href="{{ article.previous.url }}">← {{ article.previous.title }}</a>
{% endif %}
{% if article.next %}
<a href="{{ article.next.url }}">{{ article.next.title }} →</a>
{% endif %}
Great for engagement and internal linking.
5. Use Blog Categories (Tags or Multiple Blogs)
Shopify doesn't support real categories, but you can:
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Use Tags as categories (e.g., “SEO”, “Product Tips”)
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Or create multiple blogs like:
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/blogs/marketing -
/blogs/news -
/blogs/tutorials
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Use filtering or sorting to make these accessible.
6. Improve SEO with Proper Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Each post should have:
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✅ Custom meta title
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✅ Meta description (155–160 characters)
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✅ Optimized H1, H2, and paragraph hierarchy
Go to the bottom of each blog post in the admin and fill the Search engine listing preview.
7. Enable Breadcrumbs for Better Navigation & SEO
Breadcrumbs help both users and Google understand structure.
Basic code:
<a href="/">Home</a> /
<a href="/blogs/news">Blog</a> /
{{ article.title }}
Use JSON-LD to mark up breadcrumbs for SEO.
8. Optional: Use an App for Advanced Design
If you still want drag-and-drop:
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PageFly or GemPages can help
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But beware of code bloat and slower speed
Use them only if your theme doesn’t allow blog template edits.
Conclusion
Your blog is more than just an add-on—it's a traffic magnet and trust builder. By improving Shopify’s default blog design with custom layout, navigation, SEO best practices, and a better reading experience, you turn it into a powerful asset for your brand.