Stop burning money on ads and grow your SaaS or eCom with SEO

Today's guest Pete Pucilowski aka Pete the SEO Wizard joins the show to give us a full rundown of SEO for eCom (and not only)

We get into:

• Why websites should rely more on SEO for sales than ad driven traffic

• How eCom has changed as consolidation and platforms like Amazon keep growing

• What new sites should do to start off on the right foot with Google Search

• Where to use AI generated content and images on your site

And much more.

Pete's recently shipped a new community around all things SEO & AI — check it out here on Skool (it's free to join)

What’s New with Pete?

To kick things off, Pete shared some exciting news about his latest project—a new school course and community on Skool.com. This platform is designed to help individuals improve their SEO and AI game. The community offers SEO audits, small courses on AI, and SEO fundamentals, making it a fantastic starting point for anyone looking to elevate their SEO skills.

Pete mentioned that while there are some areas for improvement on the platform, overall, it’s quite effective. For instance, the lack of a direct video upload feature means users need to upload videos to YouTube or another platform first, but this is a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

The Challenge of Backlinks

One of the hardest parts of SEO, according to Pete, is acquiring quality backlinks. It’s not just about getting links but getting the right ones.

Pete strongly advises against buying backlinks from platforms like Fiverr, as these are often low-quality links from link farms that can harm your site’s SEO rather than help it. Instead, Pete recommends using tools like Ahrefs to analyze competitors’ backlinks and reach out to those sites.

Be prepared to invest some money, as quality backlinks can cost anywhere from $50 to $500 each. Pete also suggests sending out at least ten outreach emails per month, though a higher volume might be necessary for those just starting.

The Saturation of Ecommerce

Ecommerce is a saturated market, often dominated by giants like Amazon. Pete advises new ecommerce founders to find their niche and focus on it.

Trying to be a jack-of-all-trades will only lead to frustration and failure against well-established competitors. Pete’s journey into this space began almost twenty years ago when he started selling video games on a Finnish platform similar to eBay.

Over the years, as competition grew, Pete had to pivot and now offers consultancy services to ecommerce brands. His services range from full-service SEO management to one-on-one consultancy, ensuring that businesses get the personalized help they need.

SEO vs. Ads

Pete is a strong advocate for SEO over paid ads for several reasons. Ads are expensive and their costs can skyrocket during peak times like Black Friday or Christmas. SEO, on the other hand, doesn’t have seasonal cost increases. Pete shared a case study where a company reduced its ad spend from $4,000 per month to almost zero, while still increasing sales through improved SEO.

Starting on the Right Foot

For new websites, Pete recommends starting with a topical map to create clusters of content that establish topical authority. This approach is easier with a new site as there’s no existing content to reorganize. Pete’s audits often reveal a common theme: the need for more backlinks.

He suggests focusing on high-quality backlinks and avoiding the temptation to buy large quantities of low-quality links.

Content is King

Text content is crucial for ecommerce sites. Google’s algorithms are better at reading text than images, so having detailed, well-written content can significantly improve your rankings.

Pete advises placing text below product images on collection pages to maintain a good user experience. He also emphasizes the importance of inline images in blog posts to break up text and improve readability.

The Role of AI in SEO

AI is becoming increasingly important in SEO. Pete uses tools like Claude for content generation and SwiftBrief for creating detailed content briefs. While AI can help with volume, Pete stresses the importance of editing AI-generated content to avoid errors and plagiarism.

He’s also excited about new AI features being integrated into search engines and believes that voice search will become more prevalent with the advent of wearable tech.

The Future of SEO and Ecommerce

Looking ahead, Pete sees AI and voice search as significant trends in SEO. Google’s AI features are still in the early stages, but they have the potential to change how we search for information.

Pete advises staying adaptable and always testing new strategies to stay ahead of the curve.

Final Thoughts

In closing, Pete shared some insights he’s gained over the years. He used to believe that catering to a broad audience was the key to success in ecommerce. However, he’s since realized the importance of targeting a specific buyer persona. In terms of SEO, Pete was initially skeptical about AI but now sees it as an essential tool.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Ship It and Sip It. We hope you found Pete’s insights as valuable as we did.

Until next time, keep shipping and sipping!