Most of my work is for online stores, and most of those run on Shopify. In the last 12 months, FalseEyelashes.co.uk, condoms.uk, Kwiat and GaraDry’s UK and US stores generated more than 64 million impressions and 540,000 clicks from Google between them. None of them won by out-spending the marketplaces. They won by being the most useful result for the searches a specialist can own.
The search challenges online stores face
Marketplaces and big retailers own the broadest terms. Amazon, the national chains and brand sites rank for single-word product searches, and a specialist store rarely beats them there in the short term. The realistic opportunity sits in specific product searches, comparisons and the questions people ask before they buy.
Collection pages are the commercial heart, and often the weakest pages. A grid of products with a one-line introduction gives Google little reason to rank it over a competitor’s. Collection pages that explain the differences between products, help people choose and answer common questions tend to perform much better.
Product descriptions are shared with every other stockist. Manufacturer copy appears on dozens of sites. The stores that stand out add what shoppers actually need to know: sizing, compatibility, how it’s used, who it suits.
Platforms create duplicate URLs. Shopify makes products available at both /products/ and /collections/[collection]/products/ addresses, with a canonical tag pointing to the main one. Filters, tags and variants add more. It’s usually handled well by default, but themes and apps can break it, and internal links often point to the non-canonical versions.
AI search is answering the simple questions. Google’s AI Overviews and assistants such as ChatGPT now answer many pre-purchase questions directly. Stores need content clear and specific enough to be the source those answers draw on, and product information accurate enough to be recommended.
Paid and organic are managed apart. Many stores pay for clicks on searches they already rank for, while valuable searches are covered by neither channel.
How I approach ecommerce SEO
| Area | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Technical foundations | Crawl, indexing and canonical checks, redirects, structured data, speed |
| Collection pages | Rewrites with buying guidance, comparisons and FAQs, built around what people search |
| Product pages | Unique detail for the products that matter most, accurate product data and schema |
| Question-led content | Guides that answer pre-purchase questions better than anything ranking |
| AI search visibility | Direct answers, clear product explanations and tracking of AI Overview mentions |
| Paid and organic together | Search Intelligence analysis joining Google Ads and Search Console data |
| Tools | Quizzes, size guides and product builders that help people choose |
Results from online stores
| Store | Market | Impressions (last 12 months) | Clicks (last 12 months) | Top-three search terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FalseEyelashes.co.uk | UK beauty | 31,505,781 | 218,604 | 791 |
| condoms.uk | UK sexual wellness | 17,035,407 | 204,121 | 388 |
| Kwiat | US luxury jewellery | 9,291,582 | 55,410 | 305 |
| GaraDry UK and USA | Home and garage products | 6,517,509 | 65,909 | 115 |
Figures are from Google Search Console, 15 September 2025 to 14 September 2026. Top three means an average position of three or better with at least 100 impressions and at least one click.
A few things stand out across these stores. FalseEyelashes earns most of its search footprint from guides answering questions before people buy, with one guide alone bringing 92,000 impressions. condoms.uk earned more than 1,400 clicks for “does lube expire” in the past 12 months, by answering questions people would never ask in a shop. Kwiat’s education content is cited in Google’s AI Overviews in the US. GaraDry is named first in Google’s AI Overview for “best garage door threshold seal” in the UK.
Platform notes
Shopify. The stores above all run on Shopify, Kwiat on a headless Hydrogen build with Sanity as its CMS. Shopify handles a lot of SEO basics well, but URL structure is fixed (/products/, /collections/, /pages/, /blogs/), apps can add weight and duplicate markup, and headless builds need rendering, sitemap and canonical checks that standard themes do for you. See Shopify development and Shopify migrations.
Magento. Magento stores tend to have large catalogues, layered navigation and duplicate category paths to control. I’ve worked on Magento stores including LR Parts. See Magento SEO.
WordPress. The same principles apply to stores and content sites built on WordPress, covered in my WordPress work.
Services for online stores
- Technical SEO audit
- Schema markup
- Content strategy
- Google AI Overviews
- Paid and organic search planning
- Magento to Shopify migration
FAQ
Is Shopify good for SEO?
Shopify is a solid platform for SEO. It handles hosting, security, sitemaps and canonical tags by default. Its limits are a fixed URL structure, duplicate product URLs through collections, and apps that can slow pages or add conflicting markup. Most successful Shopify stores win on content and collection pages rather than platform settings.
How can a small online store compete with Amazon in Google?
By targeting searches a marketplace answers poorly: specific product types, comparisons, sizing and how-to questions. Collection pages with real buying guidance, detailed product information and honest guides give a specialist store the edge. Broad single-word searches usually stay with marketplaces, and Google Ads can cover them where it pays.
Do collection pages need text for SEO?
Usually, yes. A collection page with only a product grid gives Google little to judge relevance by. A short introduction, guidance on choosing between products and a few answered questions help it rank and help shoppers decide. The text should help buyers, placed so it doesn’t push products out of view.
Does AI search affect ecommerce stores?
Yes. AI Overviews and assistants now answer many pre-purchase questions and recommend products directly. Stores with clear, specific product information and helpful guides are more likely to be cited. It also means some simple informational searches send fewer clicks, so tracking impressions and clicks together matters more.
Running an online store?
Get in touch with your store and what you’d like it to achieve, or start with a free assessment. Should you bid on your own brand? is a good read if you run Google Ads alongside SEO.