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You’re losing high-intent traffic and don’t even know it
Most SEO plans are bloated and misaligned. Here's a better way.
Kody Nordquist
June 24, 2025
Welcome back to the 122nd edition of Nord Media
I’m about to hit you with a hard truth.
The typical SEO strategy wasn’t built for your brand.
It was built for blogs.
For content farms.
For publisher-style sites chasing backlinks and pageviews.
Not for DTC operators trying to move product or for teams that need performance, not just rankings.
I learned this the hard way.
Paid was driving revenue.
Email was converting.
But SEO felt like a side quest.
We were shipping content that looked good on a spreadsheet but didn’t move the needle where it mattered:
The dashboard.
That’s when it hit me:
If your SEO strategy doesn’t connect to conversion, you’re not doing SEO.
You’re just blogging with extra steps.
In this email, I’m breaking down:
Why traditional SEO timelines don’t match DTC growth cycles
The hidden cost of “informational” content that doesn’t convert
How smart brands are using CRO-informed content to turn rankings into revenue
A better way to structure SEO if you're running on Shopify and speed matters
Let’s dive in.
Exclusive Sponsor - QCK
Traditional SEO is DEAD.
Or is it just finally evolving?
If you're still clinging to outdated keyword stuffing and static blogs, you're wasting time.
If your strategy stops at “ranking,” you’re missing the point. SEO isn’t about vanity metrics. It’s about revenue.
This is not your average SEO service. We’re the growth partner behind:
17x ROI in 12 months for an 8-figure wellness brand
13x ROI in 3 months for a 7-figure CBD company
4x ROI in 60 days for a 9-figure automotive brand
What's Our Secret?
✅ Full-Funnel Content Strategy – We build out Knowledge Centers, Collection Pages, Blogs, that match search intent of top, middle, and bottom of funnel searchers.
✅ Real-Time Technical Audits – Fix crawl issues, schema, and internal links before they kill your rankings (Also the secret to GEO or ranking on Chatgpt…)
✅ CRO From Day 1 – Conversion optimization is critical to ensure our new SEO traffic converts to revenue which is why we are obsessed about maximizing your conversion rates everywhere.
✅ Monthly Testing + Scaling – We obsessively track performance and double down on what drives revenue
✅ Sales Attribution Reports – Live ROI tracking from SEO and all our efforts because if an agency can't show you exactly where they are making you money then they aren’t!
✅ No Term Deals – We work month-to-month and let the results do the talking
This is SEO done right — collaborative, adaptive, data-backed, and built to scale with your brand.
💥 SEO Results — or You Don’t Pay.
We’ll map out your strategy, do the work, and show the results.
The SEO Plan That Slows You Down
SEO agencies tend to pitch a 6–12 month roadmap.
Sounds strategic, until you realize it doesn’t match how DTC brands actually grow.
Here’s why:
DTC growth cycles move fast.
You're launching SKUs, testing offers, and spinning up landing pages.
Waiting 6+ months for traffic just doesn't fit the pace.
SEO timelines are slow.
Agencies build quarterly content calendars, obsess over backlinks, and optimize for rankings… not revenue.
Most SEO content doesn’t convert.
You get keyword-stuffed how-to blogs and industry explainers.
Great for pageviews, terrible for your Shopify dashboard.
It pulls focus from what actually moves the needle.
While your team grinds to hit CAC targets and scale, SEO becomes a background task that eats time and budget.
Traditional SEO creates the illusion of progress, but under the hood, it’s just expensive content marketing.
What Performance-First SEO Actually Looks Like
DTC brands don’t need more content. They need content that actually drives sales.
Performance-first SEO treats organic traffic like a revenue channel, not just a visibility play.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
1. CRO comes first, not keywords.
Before anything is written, the team asks:
Where is this content going to live?
What does the user need to see to convert?
The focus shifts from just ranking to driving measurable action.
2. Execution moves at the speed of the brand.
New pages are scoped, written, and launched quickly.
Content isn’t frozen in a six-month backlog.
It flexes with product drops, offer testing, and seasonal moments.
3. Content is designed to convert, not just inform.
Instead of pumping out generic top-of-funnel blogs, brands are building high-intent pages.
Think PDP comparisons, collection-level SEO, and search-optimized landing pages.
The writing speaks directly to buyers (people with intent) not casual browsers.
4. There are no clunky handoffs.
Performance-first SEO sits inside growth, not next to it.
Strategy, content, and CRO work together as one system.
No waiting on three different teams to agree on copy edits.
This is how leading DTC brands are treating SEO today.
Less theory, more action, and a direct line between rankings and revenue.
A Smarter SEO Setup for Shopify Brands
Shopify brands don’t have time for bloated SEO playbooks.
You need an approach that drives results fast and fits directly into your growth workflow.
Here’s a streamlined structure that works:
Start with your highest-impact pages
Prioritize collection pages, product pages, and landing pages. These are the ones tied closest to revenue. Not blog posts buried 3 clicks deep.
Map keywords to actual buying intent
Skip the vanity keywords. Focus on search terms people use when they’re ready to compare, decide, or purchase.
Think “best [product type] for [use case],” “[brand] alternatives,” or “[product type] reviews.”
Pair every SEO play with a CRO plan
Don’t just optimize for traffic.
Ask how the content will convert once it ranks. Add clear CTAs, comparison tables, bundles, and trust elements to every page.
Build in weekly iteration cycles
Your SEO should move like paid. Review rankings, click-throughs, and conversions weekly. Adjust copy, test new pages, and drop what isn’t working.
Tighten the loop between SEO, content, and creative
Keep one person or team accountable for performance.
The closer SEO is tied to growth (not separated into its own silo) the faster you’ll see traction.
Shopify brands win when SEO isn’t treated like a side project.
It works best when it's built like a performance engine from day one.
Every brand throws ads at the wall. Webtopia builds a system to figure out what sticks - and scale it.
At Webtopia, they don’t chase trends or rely on one-hit wonders. Thjey build high-volume creative that’s grounded in insight and sharpened by data. Every month, they produce over 100 ad placements - tested, tracked and optimised.
Our process is simple but deep:
→ Human insight first
→ Big ideas follow
→ Fast, flexible execution
→ Tailored to each channel
→ Iterated based on live performance data
That means less guesswork, fewer creative dead ends, and a system that gets smarter every week.
Are you a high-growth ecomm brand who wants speed and structure?
Final Thoughts
DTC brands hit a point where growth slows, and every channel starts getting scrutinized.
That’s when SEO either proves itself or gets cut.
If you're serious about building something durable, your organic strategy can't live in a separate world from your performance goals. It needs to drive real results, not just check a box.
Shopify brands that win are the ones that treat SEO like part of the growth engine.
Not later, not eventually, but now, right alongside paid, retention, and conversion.
The opportunity is there for brands willing to build it right.
Want growth that looks like this👇?
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HOW??
We Use Strategies and Systems that Produce Consistent Results.
We’ve helped 100+ brands—from early-stage DTC startups to global brands—scale smarter, grow faster and get profitable. Whether your goal rapid growth, consistency at scale or just to be profitable again, we've built systems and strategies to achieve that for hundreds of brands over the years.
The results? You get reliable and consistent growth without sacrificing your profitability.
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