"What apps should I use on my Shopify store?" is a question we hear all the time. Leighton and Patrick break down how to decide between a Shopify app and custom development, the trade-offs of each, and the apps they install on almost every store, from reviews and subscriptions to CRO, SEO, and indexing.

Links Mentioned

• Shopify Search & Discovery: https://apps.shopify.com/search-and-discovery
• Judge.me Product Reviews: https://apps.shopify.com/judgeme
• Microsoft Clarity: https://apps.shopify.com/microsoft-clarity
• Matrixify: https://apps.shopify.com/excel-export-import
• Ilana's JSON-LD for SEO: https://apps.shopify.com/json-ld-for-seo
• Frequently Bought Together (CBB): https://apps.shopify.com/frequently-bought-together
• Rebuy Personalization Engine: https://apps.shopify.com/rebuy
• Awtomic Subscriptions: https://apps.shopify.com/awtomic
• InstaIndex: IndexNow for Bing: https://apps.shopify.com/instaindex
• AI image alt text app: [URL TO BE ADDED]

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:46 App vs Custom Question
• 3:02 The Three App Categories
• 5:57 Must-Have Review Apps
• 10:03 App vs Custom Trade-offs
• 16:33 Theme Updates & Maintenance
• 18:36 Reviews & Subscription Apps
• 21:22 Should You Build Your Own?
• 23:09 Microsoft Clarity Deep Dive
• 30:31 Matrixify & JSON-LD SEO
• 31:52 Bought Together & Rebuy
• 36:21 Apps That Hijack Collections
• 38:46 SEO Apps & Bing IndexNow
• 44:00 AI Alt Text & Sitemaps
• 45:25 Wrapping Up

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work with Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.

Shopify keeps telling you a new theme version is available, but should you actually update? Leighton and Patrick break down when to update your Shopify theme, when to switch to a new one, and when leaving it alone is the smarter (and cheaper) move.

Links Mentioned

• Shopify Theme Store: https://themes.shopify.com
• Ilana's JSON-LD for SEO (structured data app): https://apps.shopify.com/json-ld-for-seo
• Theme Updater & Backups by Out of the Sandbox: https://apps.shopify.com/theme-updater-by-out-of-the-sandbox
• Google PageSpeed Insights: https://pagespeed.web.dev

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:29 Adjust or start over?
• 2:21 Two real client examples
• 3:59 Cost, effort & maintainability
• 6:31 Where store owners should start
• 10:29 Custom work traps
• 11:58 Speed & SEO surprises
• 13:52 Protecting your nav & links
• 16:42 What if your traffic tanks?
• 19:21 The cost of playing it safe
• 20:25 How to approach the decision
• 21:51 The Online Store 2.0 cutoff
• 24:03 Finding the right theme
• 27:22 Testing before you commit
• 29:59 To update or not to update?
• 33:18 Wrapping Up

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work With Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.

Migrating your store to Shopify can tank your organic traffic if you're not careful. In this episode, Leighton Taylor and Patrick Rice walk through the exact pre- and post-launch checklist that protects your SEO, ad tracking, and conversion rate when making the switch.

Links Mentioned

• Microsoft Clarity (free heatmaps & session recordings): https://clarity.microsoft.com
• LambdaTest (cross-browser & device testing): https://www.lambdatest.com
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
• Matrixify (Shopify data import/export): https://apps.shopify.com/excelify
• SEMrush: https://www.semrush.com
• Patrick's Post-Launch SEO & Ads Checklist: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yVGNMzXcDhBkHCDsX05dqO7tmEqd8XHPT6fP3ecx-b4/edit?usp=sharing

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:48 Why Merchants Move to Shopify
• 3:41 Shopify's Analytics & AI Advantages
• 6:09 How Migrations Go Wrong: SEO
• 8:02 Pre-Launch SEO Checklist
• 10:06 Ad Tracking & Conversion Setup
• 12:35 Using Microsoft Clarity
• 13:54 Redesign & Modernize Your UX
• 14:51 Dev Mistakes to Avoid
• 16:51 Keep Your Content During Migration
• 18:07 Testing Checkout & Fulfillment
• 19:53 Cross-Device & Browser Testing
• 24:31 The Three Migration Phases
• 25:49 Pre-Launch Design & UX Planning
• 27:58 Pre-Launch SEO Crawl
• 30:21 Blog on a Subdomain: SEO Impact
• 32:49 Post-Launch Day-One Checklist
• 37:23 Protecting Your Google Merchant Center Data
• 39:08 Monitoring Revenue After Launch
• 41:40 Importing Products & Customer Data
• 44:29 Wrapping Up & How to Get Help

Book a Call

• Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call
• Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast

Work With Us

• Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/
• Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io

You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.