When hyper focusing on SEO goes too far

SEO, while important, isn't the be-all-end-all.

What really matters to your Shopify store is sales.

To get sales, you need customers placing orders.

To get orders, you need traffic.

SEO can bring traffic at a low-cost, but like all traffic strategies it has diminishing returns.

Over-optimization

Focusing too-heavily on SEO will cause you to over-optimize and waste time and money. What I mean by that is watching for the slightest ranking movements, going crazy implementing every search enhancement Google offers, and setting up complex linking plans. All the while you haven't emailed your mailing list in six months.

If every other aspect of your marketing is running perfectly at the highest level, then sure making your SEO run perfectly is a fine goal. Most stores are nowhere near that though.

Missing the forest because of the trees

Too intense of a focus on SEO can make you act like a squirrel on a sugar high constantly moving their nuts around. Should I bury it here? How about here? This is a bit better over here? Let's dig this one up and move it. No wait, over here.

Here?

Here?

Here?

(Okay, I'm exhausted just typing out that example)

You may be so focused on the minute details in SEO that you miss bigger improvements elsewhere. No SEO consultant will ever tell you "you're good enough with your SEO". Just like no advertising consultant will say you ever have "enough" advertising.

Squeezing out a 1% improvement vs a 50% vs a 300%

It can be really hard but if you can quantity improvements in terms of revenue or even traffic, that can help separate out the effective activities.

Optimizing a page for the sixth time to move from position four to three for a mid-tail keyword? You might spend hours and only get a handful more visitors.

Writing halfway decent email copy about your upcoming sale? Same amount of time with the potential to get a moderate amount of traffic and actual orders.

Or setting up a loyalty program to reward your best repeat customers? Huge potential for long-term revenue gains.

Putting numbers, even if they are just best-guesses, towards your actions can help you see when you should stop tinkering with your SEO.

Your path forward is prioritization

You can probable figure out, though I'm writing about SEO, this applies to any marketing activity. You can just as easily over-optimize in email, social media, advertising, or in-person events.

It's a problem of prioritization. Prioritize resources into the areas that will pay you back the best and delay/ignore everything else.

Quick SEO wins

There are some quick SEO wins though. These I've found every Shopify store should have or be doing, as their value is high for everyone. Other marketing activities still might be higher (e.g. setting up an email list) but these can help get you started with SEO:

• Customize the meta description on your top ten selling products
• Collect reviews on products by using a review app that shows the reviews on the page
• Making sure your top ten products have enough detail and 2-4 headers to make their descriptions scannable
• Add structured data for your products at least

Knock those out and then focus on SEO only when it's the most effective.