Which empty collections are holding your store back
I scanned 669 established UK Shopify stores for empty, thin and duplicate collection pages. What I found, which of those pages actually matter, and a free way to check your own store.
(SPEAKING_)
Ecommerce and Shopify SEO speaker
I'm an ecommerce SEO consultant in the North East, and I talk about ecommerce and Shopify SEO at conferences, on panels and as a podcast guest. Real examples from real stores, and things people can go and use the next day.
Talks I can give
Each one works as a talk, and most work on a panel or a podcast too. Happy to shape one around your audience.
Traffic's dropped and everything looks urgent: what to fix first
After a migration, a Google update or a redesign, the audit finds fifty problems and you can fix about three this week. How I rank them by the clicks they cost, using free Search Console data.
One product or twelve? Splitting colours the right way
Variants or a separate product for every colour, and what each choice actually does in search. Spoiler: colour searches are a much smaller reason to split than most people think.
What AI search means for online shops
How shoppers are using ChatGPT, AI Overviews and AI browsers, and what a store can do about it without chasing every new tool.
Where I've spoken
brightonSEO
The ecommerce SEO masterclass
I led the Shopify masterclass at brightonSEO, the UK's biggest SEO conference: URL structure, canonicals, thin collection pages and the platform quirks that cost stores rankings.
- The State of MarTech in the North East Panel, Sunderland
- North East Expo What AI means for your website, your content and your customers
- brightonSEO Ecommerce SEO masterclass: optimising Shopify for search
- North East England Chamber of Commerce Online lunch and learn: E-E-A-T and AI, the new frontier of content strategy and SEO
- Harton Primary School, South Shields Year 6 workshop on how websites get visitors, and using AI to spark ideas
- Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle Free ecommerce SEO and digital marketing seminars, up to 100 people a session
Photos are thin on the ground, because I always forget to ask anyone to take them. These are the ones that made it.
Podcasts and livestreams
What organisers say
“He was a super panel member, giving useful insights when prompted in a concise and informed manner but also adding to the conversation as he felt appropriate as the panel developed!”
Read the full recommendationClose
Ian was a guest on a panel I curated about MarTech in the north east. Ian is a really respectful guest and it was great working with him.
For organisers
Bio
Ian Ferguson is an independent ecommerce SEO consultant who helps Shopify brands get found, with a focus on platform migrations, technical SEO and the on-page experience that turns visits into sales. He has 15 years in ecommerce, most of it agency side working with brands including Barbour and Montane, before setting up Ferguseo. Outside SEO, he's usually doing up the house, tinkering with his smart home or keeping up with his two boys.
Remote or in person, anywhere in the UK. The quickest way to reach me is the form below, or LinkedIn.
Ask me to speak
Tell me about your event
Send me the date, the audience and roughly what you’d like covered, and I’ll come back with a topic that fits.