The eCom Ops Podcast: Strategies That Propel Your Business
In this installment of the eCom Ops Podcast, our host, Norbert Strappler, welcomes Matt Janaway, the distinguished CEO of Marketing Labs, renowned for his expertise in SEO, Adwords, Growth, and E-commerce Marketing. Matt delves into his rich e-commerce journey, which commenced when he launched his first online venture at just 16, and spans over 23 years of industry experience. Throughout this episode, he provides an array of valuable insights and practical advice, dissecting various facets of the e-commerce world.
Listen to the full conversation here or watch the episode on our YouTube channel.
About Matt Janaway: A Beacon in eCommerce Excellence
Matt Janaway stands as a veteran in the eCommerce arena, steering Marketing Labs, a UK-based digital marketing powerhouse. His agency specializes in SEO and paid advertising, leveraging his extensive experience in eCommerce entrepreneurship and a profound grasp of marketing strategies and data analysis.
Under his guidance, Marketing Labs has been instrumental in propelling numerous businesses forward, optimizing their online marketing approaches. They delve into advanced Google advertising techniques and emphasize continual learning within their team to stay ahead in the ever-evolving eCommerce industry.
Marketing Labs: Dynamism and Passion
His agency, Marketing Labs, resonates with dynamism and a passion for each project they undertake. The agency, known for its award-winning team, spans a wide range of expertise, including SEO, PPC, CRO, branding, content creation, social media, and website design. They are seasoned in handling diverse commercial websites, always ensuring their strategies are in line with the business goals of their clients.
A standout feature of Marketing Labs is its commitment to transparency and a bespoke approach to client service. They are dedicated to fostering sustainable and effective growth in online businesses, focusing on enhancing digital strategies for measurable success.
Evolution of E-commerce Platforms
Matt Janaway shares his expertise on the evolution of e-commerce platforms, spanning from HTML templates to advanced systems like OsCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, and BigCommerce. He advises businesses to select platforms based on their unique needs and discusses Shopify’s popularity and potential limitations, guiding businesses on recognizing when they might outgrow such platforms.
Gamification in E-commerce
The episode delves into the recent trend of gamification in e-commerce, exploring its potential impacts on business operations. Matt Janaway discusses the dual nature of gamification strategies, highlighting how they can significantly influence a business either positively or negatively, depending on their execution.
AI in E-commerce
Focusing on the role of AI in e-commerce, Matt raises concerns about using AI for content generation due to accuracy issues and potential negative impacts on search visibility. He shares insights from an experiment on AI-generated content across approximately 100 websites, showing a general decline in search visibility, and advocates for using AI as a supportive tool rather than a standalone solution.
Optimizing Product Descriptions and Names
Matt emphasizes the importance of carefully crafting product descriptions and names to enhance search visibility. He advises on creating intent-driven, less competitive product names and including specific details to improve search rankings and conversion rates. A strategy of altering product names in Google Shopping feeds is also discussed, showcasing how it can broaden audience reach and outperform competitors.
Balancing SEO and Conversion Rates
In this section, the challenges of maintaining a balance between search engine visibility and conversion rates in e-commerce are addressed. Matt highlights the crucial role of technical SEO and sheds light on common pitfalls like canonical issues and pagination errors, emphasizing the need to view each marketing channel as part of a larger strategy.
Link Building and Expert Roundups
Matt discusses the effectiveness of proper link-building in enhancing revenue, cautioning against tactics that may portray a site as a link farm. He also talks about the concept of expert roundups, underlining their benefits for brand awareness, and shares his personal strategy for contributing to these roundups to build trust and showcase expertise.
Brand Search Volume and SEO Performance
This section touches on a Google patent example to illustrate how brand search volume can influence SEO performance. Matt discusses how increasing brand search volume can send strong signals to search engines, potentially improving search result visibility.
Unique Approach of Matt’s Agency
Matt elaborates on the distinctive approach of his agency, Marketing Labs, emphasizing the importance of building a team of highly experienced professionals. This focus on expertise and experience is key to the agency’s ability to scale and succeed in the competitive digital marketing landscape.
The №1 eCom Operations hack
“You’ve really gotta allow more time to gather that data, to make decisions and test. You can’t make a decision on a few hundred clicks. You’ve got to have enough data to make decisions.”
In Conclusion
In this enlightening episode of the eCom Ops Podcast, Matt Janaway offers a wealth of knowledge gleaned from his extensive experience in e-commerce. His insights into evolving platforms, the role of AI and gamification, and the nuances of SEO and digital marketing strategy provide invaluable guidance for anyone looking to excel in the dynamic world of online business.
These key takeaways serve as a roadmap for businesses striving to navigate the ever-changing landscape of e-commerce.
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Be Our Next Guest!
Are you an expert in e-commerce or digital marketing with insights to share? We invite you to join us on the eCom Ops Podcast as our next guest! This is your opportunity to share your experiences, strategies, and success stories with a vibrant community eager to learn and grow. Connect with us to be a part of this exciting journey and contribute to the collective wisdom of the e-commerce world.
