Read the full blog post here: http://www.alexrascanu.com Shopify is a internationally respected brand and an eCommerce powerhouse that’s driving $1.5 billion in sales for its platform users in 2013 alone, but it could do a lot more to dominate the global eCommerce space. Here are some of my quick thoughts on Shopify's opportunities in organic search, paid search, content marketing, and marketing automation, as well as 9 ideas on how to dominate eCommerce globally. More on this: http://www.alexrascanu.com/shopify-global-ecommerce/

1. What is Shopify missing
from its digital strategy?
Alex Rascanu
alex@alexrascanu.com
digital marketing strategist

2. A thought experiment from Alex Rascanu

3. Shopify is a internationally respected brand and an
ecommerce powerhouse that’s driving $1.5 billion in
sales for its platform users in 2013 alone
Image source: www.ottawaphotographerblairgable.com

4. … but it could do a lot more to
dominate the global ecommerce space

5. What we’re going to cover:
1. quick thoughts on opportunities in:
a. organic search
b. paid search
c. content marketing
d. marketing automation
2. 9 ideas on how to dominate ecommerce globally

6. 1 a. Opportunities in organic search
- All links in the client site footers should be nofollow and point to various
resource pages on the Shopify site, not just the homepage.
Shopify is currently at a very high risk of getting penalized by Google. This hasn’t happened yet
because of our Domain Authority. The nofollow to dofollow ratio is very small and raises red
flags. This should be fixed as soon as possible to avoid a Google penalty.
Google sees “widely distributed links in the footers of various sites” as a “link scheme” that can
“negatively impact a site’s rankings in search results.”
Images source: Ahrefs

7. 1 a. Opportunities in organic search
(continued)
- Keywords to place more emphasis on, by key market:
a. USA: ecommerce and ecommerce web design
b. Canada and Australia: ecommerce, ecommerce hosting, ecommerce platform, ecommerce
software, ecommerce web design
c. UK: ecommerce, ecommerce hosting, ecommerce software, ecommerce web design
USA
UK
Australia
Canada
Image sources: Positionly and Google Keyword Planner

8. 1 b. Opportunities in paid search
- Improve the position of our PPC ads for terms such as Magento, website
design, how to build a website, and webstore, but also write long-form
blog posts on these topics and rank them on the first page of SERPs
Note: Landing pages are
currently not set up for PPC
campaigns, so lots of these
visits are leaking out without
becoming leads.
Image source: SEM Rush

9. 1 c. Opportunities in content marketing
- Link to blog from the homepage
- Get guest posts from experts in different niches within the digital
marketing space. Feature interviews and event recaps. Aim for at least
five articles per week.
- Regularly write guest articles in business media (Globe and Mail,
Financial Post, Profit Magazine, etc.)
There is lots of great content on the site, but some of it is not linked to from the
homepage and is hard to find. A site architecture redesign, at least in the footer
section, would be worthwhile.

10. 1 d. Opportunities in marketing automation
- Develop more top and middle of the funnel content (webinars,
whitepapers, etc.), require email submissions for resource downloads,
then create landing pages and email marketing campaigns.
Image source: digital relevance

11. 1 d. Opportunities in marketing automation
(continued)
- Add Call to Action buttons at the bottom of each article and use
landing pages to collect email addresses
- Also add at least one Call to Action (with a top or middle of the
funnel offer) on the every page of the site (incl. the homepage)
Image source: HubSpot

12. 2. 9 ideas on how to dominate ecommerce globally
How Shopify can “own” ecommerce and win against Magento and Bigcommerce:
- Develop a series of annual studies titled “State of eCommerce.” The
studies are to be conducted at the global, Canada, USA, UK, Australia,
and New Zealand level. (see HubSpot’s 2013 State of Inbound Marketing and
Powered by Search’s 2013 Inbound Marketing in Canada Study.) Results: lead
generation, increase in organic search rankings, and increased brand equity.
- Develop an annual eCommerce Summit/Conference (see MozCon,
Inbound, and InboundCon).
- Conduct more webinars featuring eCommerce best practices and
answering questions live. Partner with eCommerce experts on this (here
are some examples of such experts, plus see what KISSmetrics does).

13. 2. How to dominate ecommerce globally
(continued)
- Create Shopify Academy. Give certifications: eCommerce
Certified, Shopify Certified, Shopify Partner (see what Magento and
HubSpot are doing). Shopify currently has a Shopify Experts section, but how
those individuals/companies get selected is not clear. Developing a certification
process would boost the site traffic considerably, build lots of natural backlinks
as people will put their certifications on their sites, and boost the brand as
people will add them to their LinkedIn profiles and sites.
- Develop local user groups in each city where Shopify is popular. Each one
of them can have a Meetup page and LinkedIn group. Their owners will be able
to add their meetings in a Google Calendar that will be public on the Shopify
site (see what HubSpot is doing).
- Have an „ideas‟ section on the site where customers can post ideas (see
what Bigcommerce and Starbucks are doing).

14. 2. How to dominate ecommerce globally
(continued)
- Develop a eCommerce Learning section and have a link to it from the
homepage. Have all the whitepapers there (see what KISSmetrics and
HubSpot are doing).
- Develop an eCommerce store grading tool that can produce a report
when a visitor enters their website and email address. See
marketing.grader.com. This is another top of the funnel offer that can
generate lot of leads. It should be linked to from the footer in the homepage.
- Develop a long-form page on the site that answers the question “What
Is eCommerce?” That’s the page that we can focus on ranking for
“eCommerce”. It will be linked to from the homepage.

15. has aced…
•
•
•
•
product quality
branding
site design
social media

16. … now is the time to take full advantage of the digital
marketing ideas mentioned in this presentation and
dominate the global ecommerce space
Image source: www.ottawaphotographerblairgable.com

17. brought to you by
Alex Rascanu
alex@alexrascanu.com
digital marketing strategist