In this episode of the eCom Ops Podcast, the host, Norbert Strappler, introduces Matt Janaway, the CEO of Marketing Labs and an expert in SEO, Adwords, Growth, and E-commerce Marketing. Matt shares his extensive background in e-commerce, starting his first online business at the age of 16 and working in the field for 23 years. Throughout the episode, Matt discusses various aspects of e-commerce, providing valuable insights and advice.
About
Matt Janaway is a seasoned eCommerce expert, currently serving as the CEO of Marketing Labs, a UK-based digital marketing agency specializing in SEO and paid advertising. Matt brings a wealth of knowledge to the table with a background in eCommerce entrepreneurship and a keen understanding of marketing strategy and data analysis.
Under his leadership, Marketing Labs has helped many businesses unlock growth potential by optimizing their online marketing strategies. From exploring advanced Google advertising features to emphasizing the importance of team learning in staying up-to-date with industry evolution, Matt’s insights make him a guiding light in the world of eCommerce.
Marketing Labs is a dynamic digital marketing agency passionate about every project. As a boasting award-winning team, their expertise covers a broad spectrum, including SEO, PPC, CRO, branding, content, social media, and website design. They have experience across various commercial websites and understand the importance of aligning their work with clients’ business goals.
With a commitment to transparency, they ensure clients are involved every step of the way. What sets Marketing Labs apart is their tailored approach to each client – every action they undertake is aimed at growing online businesses sustainably and effectively. They thrive on helping companies to improve their digital strategies and achieve measurable results.
The Key Takeaways
Evolution of E-commerce Platforms:
- Matt shares his experiences with different e-commerce technology platforms from HTML templates to OsCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce.
- He advises businesses to choose a platform based on their specific needs and discusses the growth of Shopify as a popular choice in the industry.
- Matt also highlights the limitations of Shopify and when businesses might outgrow it.
Gamification in E-commerce:
- The episode explores the recent trend of gamification in e-commerce and its potential impact on businesses.
- Matt discusses how the execution of gamification strategies can either positively or negatively affect a business.
AI in E-commerce:
- The role of AI in e-commerce and its impact on personalization is examined.
- Matt warns against using AI to generate content for e-commerce stores due to concerns about accuracy and potential adverse effects on search visibility.
- He shares the results of an experiment with AI-generated content on around 100 websites, which revealed a decline in search visibility for most sites.
- Matt suggests using AI as a supportive tool within a broader process rather than relying on it as the sole system.
Optimizing Product Descriptions and Names:
- Matt emphasizes the importance of tailoring product descriptions and names to increase search visibility.
- He recommends creating intent-driven, less competitive product names and adding specific details (e.g., material, target audience) to improve search rankings and conversion rates.
- The strategy of changing product names in the Google Shopping feed to target a broader audience and outperform competitors is discussed, with an example of a client’s significant revenue increase after implementing this tactic.
Balancing SEO and Conversion Rates:
- The challenges of balancing search engine visibility and conversion rates in e-commerce are explored.
- Matt highlights the critical role of technical SEO and provides insights into common pitfalls such as canonical issues and poorly implemented pagination.
- He emphasizes the importance of considering each marketing channel as part of a bigger picture and prioritizing technical SEO to drive revenue and improve user experience.
Link Building and Expert Roundups:
- Matt discusses the effectiveness of link building when done correctly, citing successful campaigns that led to substantial revenue increases for clients.
- The deceptive nature of growth reports that claim large traffic increases without considering established backlinks or content production is addressed.
- Factors for determining a good link, including anchor text, placement, and relevance, are outlined, with a caution against engaging in tactics that may make a site appear as a link farm.
- The concept of expert roundups is discussed, highlighting their benefits for personal and business brand awareness rather than purely link-building purposes.
- Matt shares his personal approach to roundups, contributing when invited and leveraging the inclusion to build trust and showcase his insights.
Brand Search Volume and SEO Performance:
- An example of a Google patent is mentioned, indicating how brand search volume can impact SEO performance.
- Increasing brand search volume can serve as a strong signal to search engines, potentially leading to better visibility in search results.
Unique Approach of Matt’s Agency:
- Matt explains the unique features of his agency’s approach, focusing on building a team of highly experienced individuals rather than solely scaling
The No.1 eCom Operations hack
“You’ve really gotta allow more time to gather that data, to make decisions and test. You can’t make a decision on a few hundred clicks. You’ve got to have enough data to make decisions.”
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