Adding Links To Shopify Collections

How Do You Add a Collection Link to Your Shopify Navigation Menu?

The navigation menu is the most impactful place to link to collections. Changes apply site-wide, so every page shows the updated menu immediately after saving.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Navigation.
2. Click the menu you want to edit (usually Main menu).
3. Click Add menu item.
4. Enter a name for the menu item (this is what customers see).
5. In the Link field, click the dropdown and select Collections. Choose the specific collection from the list.
6. Click Add, then Save menu.

The collection link appears in your store's navigation bar immediately. You can drag menu items to reorder them, and nest items under a parent to create dropdown submenus (for example, a "Shop" parent item with individual collection links nested inside).

For stores with many collections, consider grouping them under a single top-level menu item. This keeps the main navigation clean while giving customers a structured way to browse. Most Shopify themes support one level of dropdown nesting natively, without any code changes.

What's the Difference Between Automated and Manual Collections?

When you select a collection to link to, you will find two types in your Shopify admin:

• Automated collections add and remove products automatically based on conditions you set (products tagged "summer," priced under $50, etc.). These update in real time and work well for large catalogs or seasonal promotions.
• Manual collections only include products you specifically add. They give you precise control over what appears, which is useful for curated product sets, gift guides, or bundles. The trade-off is that you need to update them yourself as inventory changes.

For navigation menu links, both collection types work the same way. The type determines how the collection's contents update, not how it is linked to.

What Is the URL Format for a Shopify Collection?

Every Shopify collection has a URL built around a "handle," which is Shopify's URL-friendly identifier for the collection. The format is always:

/collections/your-collection-handle

For example, a collection called "Summer Sale" gets the handle summer-sale, making its URL yourstore.myshopify.com/collections/summer-sale. Handles are auto-generated from the collection title when you create it: spaces become hyphens, uppercase becomes lowercase, and special characters are dropped.

How to Find a Collection's Handle

To find or edit a collection's handle, open the collection in your Shopify admin and scroll to the bottom of the page. Under the "Search engine listing" section, click "Edit website SEO." The URL handle field shows the current handle and lets you change it.

You can also read the handle directly from the collection's admin URL. When you open a collection in your browser, the admin URL ends with /admin/collections/[ID]. The storefront handle appears in the "URL and handle" field in the SEO section, not in the admin URL itself.

Why Use the Handle Path for Internal Links

When adding collection links inside pages or blog posts, use the relative path (/collections/your-handle) rather than the full URL (https://yourstore.com/collections/your-handle). Relative paths:

• Work correctly across development, staging, and production environments
• Do not break if your domain ever changes
• Are shorter and cleaner in the editor

One important implication: if you ever change a collection's handle (by editing the URL handle field in the SEO section), every internal link you built using that handle path will break. Shopify does not automatically update links when handles change. This is covered in more detail in the restructuring section below.

Shopify Collection URL vs. Other Resource URLs

Shopify uses a consistent URL structure across resource types:

• Collections: /collections/handle
• Products: /products/handle
• Pages: /pages/handle
• Blog posts: /blogs/news/post-handle

Knowing this pattern makes it easy to build collection links manually when you know the handle, without having to navigate through the admin to find the full URL.

How Do You Add a Collection Link Using the Shopify Online Store Editor?

Shopify's Online Store Editor (available in all OS2 themes like Dawn, Sense, and Craft) lets you add collection links as section blocks without writing code. This is the recommended method if you want a collection to appear as a featured section on your homepage or any page that uses the editor.

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize.
2. Navigate to the page where you want to add the collection link (homepage, a landing page, etc.).
3. Click Add section and choose a section type that supports collection links, for example "Featured collection," "Collection list," or a button block.
4. In the section settings panel on the right, click the Collection field and select the collection you want to link to.
5. For a button link specifically: add a Button block within any section, set the button label, and in the Link field select the collection.
6. Click Save.

The Online Store Editor renders the link live as you build, so you can see exactly how it appears before saving. This method gives you full control over design (image, heading, button style) without touching any theme code.

How Do You Add a Collection Link Inside a Page or Blog Post?

To link to a collection from within body text in a page or blog post, use the rich text editor:

1. Go to the page or blog post you want to edit in your Shopify admin.
2. Highlight the text you want to turn into a link.
3. Click the link icon in the editor toolbar.
4. In the URL field, type or paste the collection's path. You can find this by opening the collection in your storefront and copying the URL. It will look like /collections/your-collection-name. Use the relative path (without the full domain) to keep links portable across environments.
5. Click Insert link, then Save.

For a button link inside a page, use Shopify's section editor in the theme customizer rather than the rich text editor. The theme customizer lets you add styled button blocks with collection links that match your store's design system.

How Do You Link to a Collection from a Shopify Product Page?

Linking from a product page back to its collection keeps customers browsing within a category instead of leaving the site. Most Shopify OS2 themes include a breadcrumb trail automatically, which shows the collection the product belongs to as a clickable link. To check or enable this:

1. Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
2. Navigate to a product page in the editor.
3. Look for a Breadcrumbs toggle in the product template settings. If the theme supports it, turn it on.
4. The breadcrumb displays as: Home > Collection Name > Product Name, with the collection name linking back to the collection page.

For themes without built-in breadcrumbs, you can add a "Back to [Collection]" button using a product page block in the editor, or link to the collection in the product description text using the rich text editor method described above.

How Do You Add Collection Links in Shopify Email Campaigns?

Email is one of the most common channels for driving traffic to specific collections, whether you are running a seasonal promotion, launching a new product line, or re-engaging subscribers. The mechanics are straightforward but there are a few details that matter for tracking and deliverability.

Using Shopify Email

Shopify's built-in email tool (Shopify Email) lets you insert collection links directly from its template editor. When building an email, add a button block or image block and set the link to your collection URL. Use the full URL format with your domain: https://yourstore.com/collections/your-handle. Shopify Email does not support relative paths in email templates because emails are read outside your store's context.

Using Klaviyo or Other Email Platforms

If you use Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or another email platform, the process is similar. Add a button or linked text block and paste your collection's full URL. In Klaviyo, you can also use dynamic variables to personalize the URL (for example, linking to a collection that matches a subscriber's browsing history), but for most campaigns a static collection URL is all you need.

Adding UTM Parameters to Email Collection Links

Plain collection URLs tell you nothing about which email drove the visit. Add UTM parameters to track performance in Google Analytics or Shopify Analytics:

https://yourstore.com/collections/summer-sale?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=summer-launch

Use consistent naming conventions across campaigns so your reports stay clean. At minimum, set:

• utm_source: the platform (email, klaviyo, shopify-email)
• utm_medium: the channel type (newsletter, promotional, abandoned-cart)
• utm_campaign: the specific campaign name (summer-launch, black-friday, reengagement)

In Google Analytics 4, these parameters appear as session source/medium dimensions, letting you see exactly which email campaigns sent traffic to which collections and whether those sessions converted. In Shopify Analytics, UTM data appears in the "Sales by traffic source" and "Sessions by traffic source" reports.

Direct Collection URL vs. Tracked Link

Some email platforms offer click tracking by wrapping your URL in a redirect (for example, email.klaviyo.com/tr/cl/abc123). This is separate from UTM parameters: the platform's wrapped link tells you whether someone clicked in the email, while UTM parameters tell you what happened after they arrived on your site. Use both together for complete visibility from email open to purchase.

How Do You Add Collection Links Using the Shopify Mobile App?

The Shopify app for iOS and Android supports navigation editing. Open the app, tap Online Store, then Navigation. Tap the menu to edit, add a new menu item, and select Collections as the link type. Changes save and apply to your live store immediately, which is useful for quick updates when you are away from a desktop.

How Do You Track Which Collection Links Are Driving Traffic?

Adding collection links is only half the job. Knowing which ones customers actually use helps you prioritize navigation structure and merchandising decisions.

In Shopify Analytics, go to Analytics > Sessions by location or use the Navigation summary report if your theme supports it. You can see which pages customers land on and what they click next.

UTM Parameters for Internal Collection Link Tracking

For collection links you share externally (in emails, social media posts, or paid ads), add UTM parameters so Google Analytics or Shopify Attribution captures the source. The basic format:

/collections/your-handle?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spring-drop

For internal navigation links (links inside your Shopify store), UTM parameters are not typically used because they can create duplicate sessions in analytics and confuse attribution. Instead, track internal link performance through Google Analytics 4's enhanced measurement (which captures click events automatically) or by reviewing the "Sessions by landing page" report to see how often collection pages are the first page a customer visits.

GA4 Click Tracking for Navigation and Page Links

Google Analytics 4's click tracking (via event data) tells you exactly which links customers interact with on any given page, including collection links in your navigation menu and in-page sections. Set up a GA4 property and connect it via the Shopify Google and YouTube channel if you want this level of detail. Even basic reporting tells you quickly if a collection you linked in the main nav is getting zero clicks, which is a signal to revisit the naming or placement.

What Happens to Collection Links When You Restructure Your Store?

Reorganizing your Shopify catalog is one of the most common causes of broken collection links, and it is a scenario that catches many store owners off guard. Here is what actually happens and how to fix it.

When You Rename a Collection

When you rename a collection (for example, changing "Summer Dresses" to "Dresses"), Shopify may or may not change the handle depending on whether you manually edit the URL handle field. If the handle changes, every link pointing to the old URL breaks immediately. Shopify does not automatically create a redirect from the old URL to the new one, and it does not update any navigation menus, page body links, or blog post links that used the old path.

To avoid this, edit the collection name without changing the handle. In the collection's SEO section, leave the URL handle exactly as it was. Customers and search engines see the new name on the page, but the URL stays the same so all existing links keep working.

When You Delete and Recreate a Collection

Deleting a collection and recreating it with a new name or structure is even more disruptive. The new collection gets a new handle (and therefore a new URL), which means all links built around the old URL return 404 errors. Shopify does not carry forward any link equity, navigation references, or internal links automatically.

How to Set Up 301 Redirects for Changed Collection URLs

If a collection URL has already changed and links are broken, set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one:

1. Go to Online Store > Navigation in your Shopify admin.
2. Scroll down to the URL Redirects section and click View URL redirects.
3. Click Create URL redirect.
4. In the "Redirect from" field, enter the old collection path (for example, /collections/summer-dresses).
5. In the "Redirect to" field, enter the new collection path (for example, /collections/dresses).
6. Click Save redirect.

The 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that the old URL has permanently moved to the new location. This preserves any external links pointing to the old URL and prevents 404 errors for customers who bookmarked or shared the original collection link.

Audit Checklist After a Collection Reorganization

After any significant catalog restructure, run through this checklist to catch broken collection links before customers do:

• Open Online Store > Navigation and click through every menu item that links to a collection. Confirm each one loads the correct page.
• Search your Shopify pages and blog posts for any text that manually links to collection paths. Update any that reference old handles.
• Check your email platform's template library for any saved collection URLs. Update them to the new paths or the redirected URLs.
• In Google Search Console, check the Coverage report for any 404 errors on collection URLs after the restructure.
• Set up URL redirects for any changed handles before deleting the old collection.
• Update any external links (social profiles, ads, partner sites) that point to the old collection URLs.

How Do You Test Collection Links After Adding Them?

After saving any collection link, test it on both desktop and mobile before driving traffic to the page. In your Shopify admin, click Online Store > Open preview to view your store as a customer. Click every collection link you have added and verify it loads the correct collection page. Then open the store on a phone. Mobile rendering can differ from desktop, and a link that works on desktop sometimes fails on mobile themes.

If a link leads to a 404 page, the most common causes are:

• The collection was deleted or the handle was changed after the link was created
• A typo in a manually entered URL path
• The collection is set to "Draft" status and is not yet published

Shopify does not auto-update navigation or page links when a collection is renamed or deleted. You need to update those links manually. Run a full navigation audit after any large catalog restructure.