Shopify Logo Link: How to Customize Your Header Logo URL (and Why You Might Reconsider)
Hey there, fellow store owners! As a Shopify migration expert, I spend a lot of time diving into the community forums, and every now and then, a discussion pops up that's just too good not to share. It's often about those little tweaks that can make a big difference, or sometimes, a customization that makes us pause and think about the bigger picture.
Recently, a store owner, WCBH, using the popular Dawn theme, asked a seemingly simple question: "I want my store logo in the header to link to www.westcoastbathhouse.com" instead of their main store URL (www.westcoastbathhouse.shop). Now, this might sound straightforward, but it sparked a great discussion about how to do it and, more importantly, whether you should.
Customizing Your Shopify Header Logo Link: The How-To
Let's get into the nitty-gritty of how to make this change, drawing from the excellent advice shared by community members like websensepro, emilyjhonsan98, Moeed, and devcoders. This involves a bit of code editing, so always remember to duplicate your theme first as a backup before making any changes!
Step 1: Access Your Theme Code
- From your Shopify admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes.
- Find your active theme (in WCBH's case, it was Dawn). Click the three dots (…) next to it.
- Select Edit code.
Step 2: Locate and Modify the Header File
You'll be working in the header.liquid file, which is usually found under the Sections folder.
- In the code editor, open the
sections/header.liquidfile. - Press Ctrl + F (Windows) or Cmd + F (Mac) to open the search bar.
- Search for:
routes.root_url You're looking for a line of code that looks something like this:
Now, here's an important tip from the community (shoutout to emilyjhonsan98 and Moeed!): this line often appears twice in the Dawn theme's
header.liquidfile. One instance might be for a centered logo, and another for other header layouts. You'll want to change both occurrences to ensure consistency across your store.Replace
{{ routes.root_url }}with your desired custom URL. For WCBH, that was https://www.westcoastbathhouse.com. So, the updated line (or lines) should look like this:Pro Tip for External Links: Moeed brought up an excellent point about user experience. If you're linking to an external site, you probably don't want to pull your customers completely out of your Shopify store. To open the link in a new tab, add
target="_blank" rel="noopener"to your link. This keeps your store open in the original tab, making it easier for shoppers to return. The final code would then look like this:
Step 3: Save and Test
- Click the Save button in the top right corner of the code editor.
- Visit your store (
www.westcoastbathhouse.shopin WCBH's case) and thoroughly test the logo on both desktop and mobile to ensure it now links to your custom URL and behaves as expected (e.g., opening in a new tab).
Beyond the Code: The User Experience Angle
While the technical solution is clear, Laza_Binaery from the community raised a really important point that we, as store owners, need to consider. Most people are hard-wired to expect that clicking a website's logo will take them back to the home/index page of that site. It's a fundamental navigation pattern.
If you change your Shopify store's header logo to link to an entirely different domain, you could confuse your customers. Imagine someone browsing your products, clicking the logo expecting to go back to your main store page, and suddenly landing on a completely different website! This can be disorienting and might even make them feel like they've left your brand's experience.
Laza_Binaery's question "how would customers get back to that page? Changing domain in address bar?" really hits home. You don't want to create unnecessary friction for your shoppers.
So, before you implement this change, ask yourself:
- Why do I want my logo to link externally? Is it part of a larger multi-brand strategy, or is there another way to achieve your goal (e.g., a prominent link in your navigation menu or a call-to-action banner)?
- Will this truly benefit my customers? Or will it add a layer of confusion?
- Is there an alternative? Perhaps linking to a specific landing page or collection *within* your current store, if the goal is to direct traffic to a particular part of your shop, would be a better UX choice.
If you do decide to proceed with an external link, definitely use Moeed's suggestion of adding target="_blank" rel="noopener". This way, your original store tab remains open, giving your customers an easy way to return without having to navigate back or remember your store's URL.
Ultimately, the power of Shopify lies in its flexibility, allowing us to customize almost anything. But with great power comes great responsibility, especially when it comes to user experience. The community discussion around WCBH's question perfectly illustrates how important it is to balance technical solutions with thoughtful consideration for our customers' journey. Always test, always consider your users, and don't be afraid to ask the community for their insights – you never know what valuable perspectives you'll uncover!