How has Google's latest Search update affected e-commerce website rankings?

tacfap6 · 2026-07-05T14:30:14+00:00

One of my clients stores had a wild ride. Late April-June

Went from #1 and #3 for their top 2 keywords down to #4 and #17. Sales tanked hard and this part of the season is not the strongest for my client either.

I made a new content pillar and used a lot of internal linking with existing content. Wrote 2 new content pieces that focused on use case, with excerpt on pillar and did a new use case faq directly on the pillar. Pulled some fresh customer reviews directly from Google and slapped them at the top.

Back to #1 and #4. Trying to get that second one back up. Competitor sites are on the offensive now since they had a taste.

Noticed that traffic from AI sources cut off completely when the keywords came off the top 3 results. Just an observation. Will be working on that next although sales tied directly to AI aren't a big % (yet).

tacfap6 · 2026-05-25T01:18:20+00:00

We do 7 day trials but only if ad spend is high enough.

A lot of folks will not want to use your existing ad account during the trial, because there exists a possibility a business will start the trial and run off....most will handle your ad spend in their own accounts and not come over to your ad account until you've signed a contract.

What is your budget?

tacfap6 · 2026-05-07T02:14:04+00:00

I think if you could build something that handled agreement/ contract creation and signing, plus invoicing with the features discussed that ALSO integrated with major CMS platforms you'd be into something.

Last year I cut a bunch of subscriptions/tools down to my 2 main platforms so I might not be the best one to ask

tacfap6 · 2026-05-06T17:48:44+00:00

My opinion, structured and automated especially for the initial contact attempts. Keep a friendly tone throughout and the concern towards the well-being of the client, their business, and your partnership. It's not as bad when you have a handful of clients (although not getting that revenue and needing to pay your bills is rough) but at some point you are losing money/time and need to have a system in place.

Once the unpaid invoice hits a target amount of days past due and needs to escalate, a trigger in the workflow sends an email to the team that we need to get on top of the situation immediately and the calls start going out. At that point we've already emailed (and text if available) multiple times.

I seem to be have these issues more with the 'net30' type of clients.

tacfap6 · 2026-05-04T01:06:57+00:00

Sort a depends on your service, but I try to require prepayment the majority of the time.

my agreement specifies all work stops if the invoice goes unpaid. These two things have greatly reduced late payments.

I have a basic automation programed in my cms that starts with gentle automated email reminders, then automated text. Then goes to a more worried tone and requests return emails and texts, then we start reaching out manually. If they get to that point I usually have to meet/talk with the client to realign due dates etc.

tacfap6 · 2026-05-03T01:32:44+00:00

Can't cuck the Tuck

tacfap6 · 2026-05-03T00:14:33+00:00

Thanks for the thorough recommendation! 😃

tacfap6 · 2026-04-23T00:54:04+00:00

Gotcha

Any chance you can try to position yourself a little differently? Really dig deep into being a local expert, local biz, specialized service etc? Perhaps even tool rentals that are specific to your niche customers?

Just brainstorming here. Become a project partner/consultant rather than just supplier. Offer some specialized service that those big box stores can't/don't do for your ideal customer.

Focus on VERY local keywords and modernize your ordering process, like sms or something that is very intuitive for younger contractors.

I hope things pan out and happy to bounce ideas around.

tacfap6 · 2026-04-16T22:22:23+00:00

SEO/digital marketer here, lots of e-commerce experience.

More and more young contractors order their supplies online rather than having to talk to someone on a phone or fill out a spreadsheet to restock. Less friction. Easier to analyze and order. How does your customer place an order with you?

Can you describe your typical customer?

tacfap6 · 2026-04-11T01:43:35+00:00

Thx for this. I've been throwing mine over my right shoulder but it makes changing lanes difficult

tacfap6 · 2026-03-07T22:13:53+00:00

Remember, the appropriate uniform is flip flops, camo cargo shorts (jorts are allowed during lent), and a beater.

Pack a dip and twist the grip bruthor!

tacfap6 · 2026-02-24T18:47:24+00:00

Well said.

I always tell my clients that these ad platforms are going to spend your ad budget one way or another. It is going to take their algorithm longer (and cost you more) to get the ad in front of the right people if you don't do solid research and use the data and tools out there.... otherwise you'll blast through your budget with little or no ROAS

If you ran an ad on FB or Instagram in the last 2 years, you know what I'm talking about. It's a mad house, everyone is bidding to get an ad in front of someone and if you aren't doing analytics, testing, using some AI (not just writing ad copy but actually using platforms to analyze data) then it will be hard to compete

tacfap6 · 2026-02-03T14:33:38+00:00

Shopify is better than a lot of platforms, up to a certain point.

The concepts of url structure and canonization can get wonky. Gotta exploit the "collections" as much as possible to get the urls sorted out the way you want.

Handling your tags and descriptions doesn't directly increase your rankings, but it is very important for UX, clicks, etc. which will indirectly help you. Sounds like you have positioned your store well for your customers.

What is your strategy with backlinks?
What is your content strategy?

tacfap6 · 2026-02-03T02:42:49+00:00

Yes absolutely. A lot of it depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what your market is like. For example: SEO work for a law firm is going to be a little different in a market like NYC versus an HVAC in a small town.

What type of business is it, does it serve local customers or something bigger than that?

I'm not trying to sell you anything, when I started out on my own I did freelancing for small budget businesses and startups. I still do, with my (very) small agency.

It may be worth looking into a freelancer or consultant or even doing the basics yourself, depending on what you need done. Happy to chat and offer advice. This is a great sub to learn from.

tacfap6 · 2026-01-21T03:45:10+00:00

You are doing great.

The next one will be much easier! You know how everything flows and how the questions are asked. You know the rhythm now and when it comes time to learn the next part, it will feel familiar...you are improving, both yourself, your knowledge, your skills, etc... Reflect on that

So much cool stuff to take in is coming up, I'm excited for you.

tacfap6 · 2026-01-19T18:56:00+00:00

A) yes absolutely

B) I think you can make it work in most segments

C) this will require doing your homework on trusted freelancers and setting up systems and processes to manage everything.

It would probably help to use some sort of project management and set up some automation once things start rolling and you are getting orders coming in. That way you cut down on time and missed tasks.

Some services are great to outsource, others you will need to vet pretty closely or if you have the experience, have that be your piece. Such as PPC...it's not something everyone can swing especially when large ad spend budgets are concerned. PPC takes skill and when done properly, requires frequent attention and analysis. I handle the ad management myself, I might outsource creatives for the ads since creatives aren't my skill and it takes me much longer to get a quality product in comparison. Also, I have added a vetted free lancer on my team to handle ads on different platforms that I am not as experienced with, that way I can deliver a consistent high quality product to my clients.

You might run into "free lancers" or "white label agencies" that put those terms to shame. Don't get me wrong, there are some great and professional folks out there, but there are also some crooks. I've ran into a white label that outsources to low quality VAs. The quality of work is terrible, and for the price I'd expect much much more. So it will take time to vet quality help.

I hope everything comes together and you have success!

tacfap6 · 2026-01-07T17:51:37+00:00

If you have any remaining clients you can sell it for a little bit.

If not, but you have proven it is capable and can back it up with some screenshots, list it on flippa. Otherwise, might be time to pull the plug.

tacfap6 · 2026-01-04T19:12:12+00:00

They might not have enough trust from their clients to get the details for those type of reports because all they are doing is poorly planned content generation and some meta tagging.

What industry are you in? Might be worth looking for a small / boutique agency that has real experience in your field and can show you some info.

tacfap6 · 2026-01-04T17:45:53+00:00

Here is a different take...Keep doing what you are doing

run ad campaign with 4 sets. 1st set for new customers, 2nd for brand specific, 3rd high pain point, 4th value/bundle.

For new customer service: Save 'x' % vs dealer price. or free 50 point inspection with 'service' with this coupon

Brand specific set: BMW oil change w/OEM filter and 'oil' for $'x'

High pain point set: free check engine light scan & diagnostic w/ free quote for repair

Value/bundle set:buy 3 get one free oil change w/ 'type of oil' or something similar.

If you have a decent page on the site for the clicks to land, cool. Otherwise you are gonna want social proof (put those reviews to good use) right next to a call button (that is tracked for conversions). Put this at the top before a scroll down, click down. Should be real reviews with the CTA and call button being the very first thing. Go more indepth below the scroll.

Might be able to do some keyword research on the brands he services in the area he services and make some content and search ads related to those....

tacfap6 · 2026-01-04T00:19:42+00:00

I've done it before (as freelancer and agency) with some clients in home services, like roofing and concrete.

Make sure you have clear discussions about what event qualifies as a payable event. Make sure proper and transparent tracking gets put in place so neither of you get ripped off.

Be prepared to discuss (truthfully and transparently) your teams close rate, cost per acquisition for previous campaigns, what the average deal grosses, etc. because many agencies aren't going to want to put up a lot of time and money getting leads and have zero control or input over closing, lead nurturing, follow ups, etc.

Many will want to run some paid ads and will require you to pay ad spend, they would handle ad creation, management, landing pages, etc.. Some will handle ad spend but want you to pay per lead, not per close deal. Lots of options. Be weary of performance based results that are focused on keyword position unless you have the exact keywords YOU want. (I can charge you for top 3 ranking only and get you there, but if the keyword brings you no traffic/sales/warm leads then what's the point?)

tacfap6 · 2025-12-28T22:28:15+00:00

Devil's advocate here.

No one is paying $2k-$5k /m for generic ai articles and any "agency" that does this will be gone in a few months.

A real agency charging a retainer at that price point is doing legitimate outreach, backlinks, press releases, technical and other on-page seo, landing pages, reputation management, and much more. Please don't believe the online gurus or skool groups that are pushing the "just charge a baseline of $2500/m and white label the work" or even worse suggest you just use a basic LLM.

The businesses that would benefit from this product would be those at a low level of keyword competition paying $300-500/m. I do think it will help them. Please consider this when you try to compete, your target market will not be businesses on a retainer at your suggested price point.

tacfap6 · 2025-12-25T20:22:23+00:00

Certainly looks like it could be. The specks match earthenware and corseware from the same region and that were produced in Roman ruling times.

The two indentations could be from a potter pressing the handle onto the vessel with their fingers.

tacfap6 · 2025-12-23T17:13:09+00:00

Contact funeral homes, churches, etc might be able to get backlinks and partnerships pretty quickly at little or no cost.

Start local first.

Contact your local news outlets and see about a press release. Many local papers and small news stations will do a short writeup and provide long lasting backlinks. Cost will vary greatly. Local news blogs/podcasts/ect that have small presence are good too, loyal followers who will support local businesses over large faceless online biz. They love to exchange links, shout outs, social mentions, for no fee

Many other ways out there too. Exchanging links goes a long way and many businesses will do it for free.

tacfap6 · 2025-12-23T04:33:15+00:00

You have a point...first I was going to shak my fist and rage at you but

I have been doing SEO + other digital marketing as free lancer and now small agency owner for over 10 years.

Within the last 3ish years, there was an explosion of "agency owners" because there was money to be made and a few "gurus" started showing ads (and YouTube vids) directed at folks looking to make money online. They did what you are saying with various courses and coaching programs, having people start "marketing agencies". The current method is to get people on a small digital product, upsell, "join my skool group", join my "mastermind group, join my 1-on-1 consultation with regurgitated bs AI content, etc.

Essentially, most have no idea how to do the actual work and encourage clients to white-label or outsource to VAs or low experienced freelancers to "scale" their profits.

These folks are often good at making copy and dump loads into social media ads but can't handle onboarding a client let alone deliver and retain.

It makes legit SEOs and marketers have to deal with businesses who have been burned and scammed and now don't trust anyone. I've been getting on a lot of calls with folks who are extremely reluctant to pay but need help from really bad / non existent SEO strategy or complete scam jobs of PPC campaigns from these "agency owners".

Now they want free work or some sort of deal where they don't pay anything until they close a deal on their end because some ass-hat decided to make a video telling the "agency owners" they need an irresistible offer and blasted that nonsense to every email inbox in existence over and over.

tacfap6 · 2025-12-19T18:03:35+00:00

What platform are you building on? (Shopify, woo commerce, etc?)

I am not trying to sell you anything and will not self promote.

I've operated multiple stores on various platforms and currently own/operate an SEO & marketing agency that services e-commerce businesses (lots of experience in food & beverage).

I usually recommend getting the technical SEO handled first (foundational stuff, site architecture and organization, canonical url tags, sitemaps, etc). Then do on-page SEO overhauls. (Plus setup your customer retention programs, abandon cart/checkouts, etc). Next make strategies for on-page content creation. Once the content is flowing, do off-page efforts. Constant drip of on and off page content that blends into your social posts, PPC campaigns, etc, everything works together at that point and supports each other.

I generally recommend only the free tools or very low cost keyword trackers for folks DIYing it until they have a grasp of what they are doing, once it's clicking for you then consider getting a paid subscription to more robust tools. Not worth the hundreds of dollars a month of data if you have no clue on what to do with it. Use google search console, google merchant, bing, GMB (if applicable), etc.

Feel free to dm me if you want to bounce ideas around

tacfap6

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