- Resources
eCommerce Guides You Can Actually Run
Three kinds of resource, all published in full. Complete guides are evergreen, chapter-length references on one subject. Short guides are single procedures with a defined output. Comparisons settle a choice between two options. Nothing is gated, there are no email walls, and everything is written by the team running the accounts.
- Written as procedures, not opinion pieces
- Every threshold stated, so you know what clears and what does not
- Runnable in-house with a spreadsheet and admin access
1
complete guide
3
short guides
2
comparisons
- Complete guides
The Complete Guide to Shopify SEO
Chapter-length, evergreen, and the reference we point Shopify clients at before we quote for anything.
Shopify makes a set of decisions about URLs, duplication and templates before you write a word. Eight chapters cover what those decisions are, which you can change, which you cannot, and where the effort actually pays.
- URL structure, collection pages, product duplication and thin content
- Technical foundations, internal linking, structured data and international
- Three printable checklists and two frameworks you can keep
- 32 minutes, eight chapters, nothing gated
Chapter one starts with the URL decisions Shopify has already made for you.
- Short guides
One procedure, one output
Each of these is a single procedure you can work through in an afternoon. They are cross-listed under Insights, so you will find them in both places.
Operations · 7 min
The diagnosis we run before touching a budget. Twelve points in sequence, each with a threshold.
- Output: one named constraint, ranked, with evidence
- Best used before committing new budget
Marketplaces · 8 min
What has to be true before you open a second marketplace, from catalogue readiness to pricing policy.
- Output: a go or no-go decision with five owned gates
- Best used four to six weeks before launch
Conversion · 8 min
Nine elements that reliably move conversion, four that rarely do, and a test for telling them apart.
- Output: your top 20 pages scored against a standard
- Best used before a redesign, not after one
- Comparisons
Comparison resources
When the question is which of two options to choose, a comparison answers it faster than a guide does. Each one ends with a decision and a route to the page that follows.
Platforms
Hosted guardrails or open-source control, compared across cost of ownership, SEO, checkout, apps, scale and the cost of leaving.
- Eight dimensions, each with a named winner
- A weighted decision framework
- Routes on to the platform and service pages
Marketplaces
Where the demand actually is, what each channel really costs, and what running one or both asks of your team.
- Demand, fees, listings, advertising, fulfilment
- Sequencing advice for running both
- Written from live seller accounts
Index
The full comparison index, including the platform and marketplace comparisons currently in production.
- One consistent method across every pair
- Planned comparisons listed, not linked
- Updated when pricing or policy changes
- How this differs
Insight, short guide, complete guide
Three kinds of writing, distinguished by what you are meant to do with them rather than by length.
Insight article
Short guide
Complete guide
Argues a position
Gives one procedure
Covers a whole subject in chapters
You finish understanding something differently
You finish holding a document or a decision
You return to it as a reference
7–8 minutes
7–8 minutes
30 minutes or more
Read once, when the topic comes up
Worked through, then repeated
Read in order once, then used as an index
All three are published in full. The distinction is editorial, not commercial — nothing is held back for a longer version.
- Suggested order
How they fit together
They are independent, but run in this order they answer four questions in the sequence a business usually needs them.
01
Diagnose first
Run the twelve-point audit and name the binding constraint in one sentence. Most teams discover the work they were about to commission is not the work that matters.
02
Fix conversion before buying more traffic
If the constraint sits on the storefront, the product page standard is the cheapest revenue in the account, because releasing it does not require buying anything.
03
Then earn the traffic
If the constraint is demand rather than conversion, the Shopify SEO guide is the long version: collection architecture, indexation control and internal linking, in priority order.
04
Expand only once the base is stable
A second marketplace multiplies operational load immediately and revenue eventually. The launch checklist exists to stop that happening before you are ready.
Each guide names the point at which you should stop and do something else instead.
- In production
Guides we are writing next
Listed so you know what is coming. None of these are published yet, so none of them are linked.
The Complete Guide to Amazon Account Management
Catalogue, content, advertising and account health as one chapter-length reference.
The lifecycle coverage map
Which flows a store should have live at each stage of maturity, and the order to build them in.
A contribution margin model
A working spreadsheet structure for pricing to margin rather than shelf price across channels.
A page speed budget for eCommerce
Setting and holding a performance budget on the templates that carry your revenue.
- Elsewhere in Resources
Where to go next
Guides are one of four branches. The rest of the library is here.
The parent index: insights, guides, case studies and what is coming, in one place.
Ten articles on operations, marketplaces, SEO, paid media, conversion, retention and AI search.
Six engagements with the constraint we found, the work we did and the numbers that moved.
Twelve engagements in brief, across Shopify, Amazon, Walmart and BigCommerce.
- Questions
About these guides
Short answers on how they are written, what they cost and what they are not.
What is the difference between a complete guide and a short guide?
A complete guide covers a whole subject in chapters and is written to be returned to — the Shopify SEO guide runs to eight chapters and about thirty minutes. A short guide is one procedure with one output, worked through in an afternoon. Both are published in full; the difference is scope, not how much we held back.
Are these gated? Do I have to give you my email?
No. Every guide is a complete, published page. There is no download form, no email wall and no shortened version. If a guide is useful you are welcome to print it, share it or hand it to your team.
Can I run these without hiring an agency?
Yes, and each guide says so explicitly. The audit guide includes a six-step version you can run with a spreadsheet and admin access. We would rather you ran it yourself and came to us with a named constraint than appointed anyone blind.
How often are they updated?
Each guide carries an updated date. We revise them when the underlying practice changes — a platform policy shift, a fee change, a measurement change — rather than on a content calendar.
Can you run a guide with us rather than for us?
Yes. Several clients start with a working session where we run the audit alongside their team so the framework stays in the building afterwards. Get in touch if that is the shape you want.
Can I republish or quote a guide?
Quote it freely with a link back. If you want to reproduce one in full — for an internal training deck, say — ask us and the answer is almost certainly yes.
Run a guide, then talk to us
The most useful first conversation is one where you already know your constraint. Work through a guide, then bring us the sentence.