One of the biggest SEO mistakes I see so many ecom brands make: Using filter pages. Example: A brand will have a product category page for Cookware. And then their Frying Pans page will just be their Cookware page with with a frying pan filter. These filter pages do not rank well... at all. It's very difficult to update their meta title, meta description and H1 tag, so you can't even properly optimize the page for a target keyword. And the URL structure is an absolute catastrophe. The solution? Noindex the filter pages, that way users can still use them when they land on a product category page. But build dedicated product category pages for each possible filter page, and link that page in your main navigation menu. It'll be the difference between being invisible for hundreds of transactional keywords. And ranking #1.

Here's how I got ecom brand's core product to appear as the #1 recommendation in AI for "best toothpaste for plaque removal" in less than 30 days:

I work with an ecom founder who keeps on increasing his spend with me because his sales from AI have just been ballooning ever since we started working together. They're even outperforming traditional Google search. The funny thing is that I haven't even done any AEO/GEO-specific strategies. No listicles. No PR. I just optimized their product pages. Published topically relevant blog content. And built a ton of backlinks. In other words, I did regular SEO. And now their product pages are being cited. Their blog content is being cited. And the revenue from that is giving them the ability to invest in other marketing channels and further grow their business. (Which is a bit backwards because usually brands get all of the other marketing channels going, and then use that to fuel SEO). The whole thing is crazy because there was a time when I genuinely thought AI was going to kill Google search. But the reality is that the strategies that help your ecom brand rank in Google also help you appear in AI. Sure, there are other things you can do to improve AI visibility. But traditional SEO is still the backbone of AI visibility. Without it, you'll be invisible to AI models.

I ranked an ecom brand in the top-3 spots of Google for the keywords "cbd gummies" and "thc gummies." And their organic traffic doubled. Here's the exact 3 step process I followed to make this happen: 1. I updated content on the product category pages. I searched each of the keywords in Google, looked at the top-3 sites ranking for each, and analyzed the content on their pages. What topics did they cover? What H2 tags did they use? How many words were written? Then I created content for each page that modeled that, and added it below the list of products. 2. I optimized internal linking. I used Ahrefs to identify every page on the website that had dofollow links with a DR of 30+. I then edited each of those pages and added internal links pointing to the CBD Gummies and THC Gummies product category pages. This helped transfer authority to those pages. 3. I build a lot of backlinks. The CBD/THC space is unique for SEO in that there's no overdoing it with link building. You can hammer product and product category pages with links, be aggressive with anchor text, and still see results. So I did just that. I built 5-6 backlinks each month to the CBD Gummies and THC Gummies product category pages. And that's it. 6 months later, both pages are ranking in the top-3 positions for their respective keyword. And organic revenue has doubled year-over-year. The funny thing is that this is actually the 2nd time I've ranked a brand at the top for "thc gummies." There was another ecom brand I ranked a few years back, but they eventually paused services, made some changes to the page and lost the rankings. (You can probably find the case study if you search for it) They considered bringing me back on to fix it, but their founder decided to use the budget elsewhere. And so I moved this brand to the top for the keyword instead. I'd say my SEO process works pretty well.

I was looking at a client's GA4 data, and it attributed $93,845 in revenue from organic search over the last 30 days. But Shopify attributed $280,537. Massive difference. This isn't a one time thing either. I've consistently seen GA4 under report data. That's why I've been building a brand new reporting dashboard for clients that capable of pulling organic search data directly from Shopify. The amount of detail it provides is insane. You can see accurate organic traffic and revenue on a page-by-page basis. (GA4 mistakenly attributes so much revenue to "checkout" pages) AI traffic and revenue on a page-by-page basis. Daily organic revenue per page. Keyword rankings. And your top search terms that are driving traffic and revenue from each AI model. It's going to be the gold standard of SEO reporting for Shopify brands. I just might have to make it available to non-clients too. It's that good.

My first SEO client paid me $2,000/month in 2019. Last week, I onboarded an enterprise client that's paying me $12,000/month. That wasn't by luck. Had that opportunity come to me in 2019, zero chance it would've worked out. A lot has happened between then and now for me to even be capable of closing a deal of that size. The way in which I do SEO now is completely different. Honestly, I'm a bit embarrassed by some of the work I did in the early years of my agency. Since then, I've invested so much into mentorship and coaching to help perfect our processes and just be better at SEO. Not to mention, at this point I've worked with hundreds of brands, so I've seen enough to immediately know what works and what doesn't. Because of that, the results we've been delivering are pretty incredible. Like, I'm genuinely proud to put my name on my agency. And those results have compounded into massive amounts of social proof. People vouch for the service I provide. CEOs and founders regularly refer me to their friends. Our testimonials are amazing. And that gives me the confidence to know that I can have an impact on businesses. I can talk to enterprise-level brands that are households names and tell them: "No, that's wrong. This is how you're supposed to do SEO." All of the wins, all of the losses, all of the experiences I've had running my agency... They've truly molded me into a completely different person. And, look... I'm not naive. I know $12,000/month isn't that big of a deal size in the grand scheme of things. But it's cool to look back and see the progress. Sometimes it's hard for me to notice how much I've changed as a business owner over the years. But the numbers don't lie.

I was talking to a client recently and he mentioned that our SEO efforts sold a $55,000 product. I asked him which product. He told me, and I looked up the keyword we targeted. We had just hit the #1 spot for it. But then I saw its search volume and was a bit shocked. It was 10. Literally 10 searches a month. And it generated $55,000 in revenue. The lesson? If you sell a high-ticket product, you should completely ignore search volume when picking keywords to target. SEO delivers extremely high-intent traffic. So one additional click can be the difference between an average month and a 6-figure month.

I ran an audit of HexClad, the 9-figure cookware brand backed by Gordon Ramsay. And their SEO is absolutely terrible. They barely get any non-branded, purchase-intent traffic. Here's the exact strategy I'd use to fix that and 2x their revenue from organic and AI search: 1. Build actual product category pages for each product line. Right now, most of the product category pages in their main navigation menu are filter pages, which are difficult to optimize for target keywords and don't rank well in Google. So I'd build real pages for each product line: - Cookware Sets - Pots - Pans - Woks - Griddles Optimize each for a target keyword like "cooking pot", "wok" and "pots and pans set." Add the keyword to the page's meta title, meta description, and H1 tag, then add around 500 words of keyword-optimized content below the list of products that internally links to other relevant product category pages. Then replace the filter links in the main navigation menu with links to these real pages. 2. Build additional product category pages targeting more relevant keywords: - sauce pan - frying pan - stainless steel pan - non stick pans - stainless steel cookware - stock pots This gives the entire product line keyword coverage, and lets us target long-tail keywords that are easier to rank for in the beginning. 3. Write blog content targeting "best" keywords: - best nonstick pans - best stainless steel pans - best pots and pans sets - best pots and pans for gas stove - best frying pans HexClad listed #1, obviously. But instead of publishing these on HexClad's blog, I'd do PR outreach and pay to place them on high-authority cooking blogs. These keywords are competitive, so they'll have a better chance at ranking on 3rd party sites. And since they're listicles, they'll get HexClad mentioned in AI search for these exact phrases and relevant variations. 4. Write competitor "vs" articles: - hexclad vs all clad - hexclad vs caraway - hexclad vs henckels - hexclad vs greenpan With HexClad appointed the superior brand. These articles are a bit weird for a brand this size to host on their own site, so I'd place these on 3rd party cooking blogs with decent authority too. Not major PR sites, just regular cooking blogs. They'll still rank, and direct people to purchase from HexClad. 5. Use the actual HexClad blog for branded keywords: - is hexclad non toxic - is hexclad worth it - does hexclad have teflon - what is hexclad made of - where is hexclad made Yeah, they're branded and informational. But they still capture users at the very end of the buyer's journey, so it'll drive revenue. And they're terms HexClad needs to own, as it'll help them control the narrative around their brand. Besides, it's much better than their current blog strategy which is currently getting them ranked for keywords like "types of kitchen knives" and "how to steam without a steamer", which I'm sure drives no revenue. 6. And lastly, a lot of link building. Links to their homepage. Links to their product category pages. Links to their blog content. And links to the "best" and "vs" articles, since those internally link to HexClad, so any authority they gain flows to the brand. If HexClad implemented all of this, they could turn organic and AI search into an extremely profitable customer acquisition channel.

A brand I stopped working with 10 months ago has made $100k+ from AI search. And I never even did any AEO/GEO work. I just ranked them #1 in Google for all of their main terms... The owner was telling me about it today as I was onboarding his new brand. He couldn't believe how well that channel has been performed for him, despite him not specifically investing in it. Now, don't get me wrong... Listicles and PR placements are still important for AI visibility. But the backbone for AEO/GEO is strong traditional SEO. Rank at the top of Google for your main terms, and AI models will start mentioning your brand on their own. And then layer on listicles and PR placements as fuel for the fire.

Guest posting is so overrated. I build 550+ links a month across the ecom brands I work with. And every single one is a niche edit. Think about what you're actually getting with a guest post: A brand new article on a page that isn't indexed, has no backlinks, no rankings and no organic traffic. It could take months for that page to get indexed. If it ever does at all. A niche edit is a link placed inside an article that's already indexed and ranking. It often has pre-existing backlinks and organic traffic. So the link starts working much quicker and much more effectively. Just make sure that the site you're getting a niche edit from has real organic traffic. And that the page the niche edit lives on is relevant to your brand. You'll see faster improvements in your SEO than ever before.

Someone scheduled a consultation call with me, claiming to be working for a brand that needed SEO help, had me send him an audit and proposal, and then proceeded to pitch me on his lead generation services for SEO agencies. I'm thinking he doesn't actually work for the brand.

There's no better e-commerce platform for SEO than Shopify. Yeah, it has its issues. The URL structure could definitely be improved. But I've had far more success rankings sites on Shopify than sites that are custom developed or on another platform. I recently brought on a brand that migrated from a custom CMS to Shopify a few months ago. Since migrating, their transactional keywords have absolutely taken off. They're now ranking on the 1st page of Google for keywords like "face wash" and "moisturizer" (outside of the USA). And that's strictly from the migration. There were no metadata changes. No on-page adjustment. No new content. No new backlinks. There's a reason why so many major brands are either already on Shopify or planning to migrate to it. It's the best all-around CMS for e-commerce. And it's the best for SEO, too.

Black Friday is right around the corner and if you want to take advantage of it with SEO, you need to get set up now. Here's exactly what to do: Build a product category page for each of your main product lines. Set the meta title and H1 tag as: Black Friday [YOUR PRODUCT] Deals 2026. Set the URL slug as: Black Friday [YOUR PRODUCT] Deals. (Don't include the date in the URL so you can update the page and use it again next year) Add content below the list of products detailing the deals you'll be offering. And build a few backlinks to each page to get them ranking. These product-specific Black Friday keywords aren't that competitive, so ranking shouldn't be hard. Come Black Friday, the search volume for those keywords will explode. You'll get all of the clicks. And your Black Friday sales will go through the roof.

An ecom brand I work with has seen organic traffic decline almost every single month since I started with them in March. In August, organic traffic was down 55% year-over-year. Yet organic revenue was up 33%. How is that possible? Historically, this brand focused purely on informational blog content as their core SEO strategy. That made the organic traffic graph look great for years. But it never actually drove new revenue. Then AI overviews rolled out, and several Google core algorithm updates hit blog content hard. All of that blog traffic started to decay. When I came onboard in March, I told them: We're going to ignore the decline in blog traffic entirely and focus on ranking your product and product category pages. They were onboard. 6 months in, the majority of their product and product category pages rank #1 on Google for their target keywords. So while the traffic graph keeps declining as blog traffic decays... Those #1 transactional keyword rankings are driving more organic revenue than ever. Successful SEO isn't just about increasing traffic. It's about increasing the right type of traffic that converts.

Let's say you have a brand that sells dog beds and you want to grow your organic revenue in Google and AI. Here's step-by-step how you'd go about doing that: First you set up product category pages targeting all transactional "dog bed" keywords that you have inventory for: > dog beds > elevated dog bed > large dog bed > indestructible dog bed > outdoor dog bed The list honestly goes on and on... Easily 100k+ in search volume. Add the target keyword to the page's meta title, meta description, H1 tag and URL slug. Then add around 500 words of content below the list of products that introduces the product line, mentions its unique selling points, answers any frequently asked questions, and internally link to the other product category pages. And lastly, add the important product category pages to your main navigation menu. Okay, let's move onto content. Target all "best" keywords: > best dog beds > best waterproof dog bed > best dog bed for older dogs > best washable dog beds > best dog bed for large dogs > best elevated dog bed Write 6-7 listicles for each with your brand ranked #1, but don't publish it on your blog... Pay to get them published on a relevant, high-authority 3rd party sites with solid keyword rankings of their own. They'll still rank and generate sales, AND they'll help you get mentioned in AI for the keyword as well. Target all competitor "vs" keywords: > casper dog bed vs big barker > casper dog bed vs barney > gorilla dog beds vs k9 ballistics Write a comparison guide between the two brands for each, but then mention your brand as a better alternative to both. You can publish these directly on your own blog. They'll help you steal sales that would have otherwise gone to the two brands being compared. Lastly, let's get into link building. Pick 3-4 competitors with a DR of 39 or below that are ranking in the top-3 spots for these keywords. (Their are quite a few, which is why these keywords are pretty easy to rank for) See how many DR 30+ links they're building to their homepage. See how many DR 30+ links they're building to each product category pages. And copy it. Then continue to build more and more relevant, high-quality links to your homepage, and build some links to the content you published until it starts ranking. If you follow these steps... You'll start ranking in the top-3 spots for keywords that have a combined search volume of 200k+. That should get you 20-25% of the clicks. That's 40-50k organic visitors a month. With a 1% conversion rate, you're easily clearing $100k/month organically. Don't sleep on SEO.

Here's the SEO strategy I use to almost guarantee increases in organic traffic and revenue for ecom brands I work with: 1. Find a competitor with a Domain Rating of 39 or under 2. Input their URL into a tool like Ahrefs 3. Click on "Organic keywords" 4. Add filters so you only see non-branded keywords they rank for in the top-3 positions with a search volume over 100 5. Build out pages (blog posts, product category pages, or whatever page type the competitor is using to rank) to target keywords that are relevant to your brand and will produce revenue. The idea is that these are all keywords that a competitor with a low domain authority is able to rank for. And if they're able to rank for them, you should be able to too. Just optimize the pages you created for each target keyword, build some backlinks to them, and once they start ranking in the top-3 positions... You'll see a pretty serious lift in your organic traffic and revenue.

Bad SEO agency: Our client wants to rank for "dog beds" So let's build 4 backlinks a month to the dog beds product category page until we reach the #1 position. Good SEO agency: Building too many backlinks to a product category page looks unnatural and will likely get the page penalized. Let's build the majority of the backlinks to the site's homepage to grow its overall authority. Build 1-2 backlink every other month to the dog beds product category page. And build the remaining backlinks to supporting blog content. This will look natural to Google. Avoid penalties. And achieve #1 rankings that actually last.

I had a client pause SEO services late last year. This was right after I got him ranking #1 on Google for his main keyword. And almost immediately after he paused, his rankings completely tanked. I felt so bad. He'd spent all of this money to rank #1 and had nothing to show for. So I sent him an email and told him I'd do SEO for free for a few months and recover rankings. He was extremely grateful. I dug into the issue and found that a recent Google algorithm update was the reason for the drop in rankings. Historically, the pages ranking for the main keyword didn't have any backlinks pointing to it, so I never built backlinks to his page. However, the recent Google algorithm update had changed that. Pages ranking at the top now had 4-5 backlinks. So I built 4 super high-quality backlinks to the page over the course of the next 3 months. And without fail, 4 months after the drop in rankings, rankings and organic traffic completely recovered. Traffic then proceeded to double few months later. The client was extremely appreciative and told me he'd be back to continue SEO soon, but with a different brand. And he kept his word. A few days ago, we onboarded his new brand with double the spend of his previous brand. Do right by people even if there's nothing in it for you, and they'll do right by you.