SEO Scams

As someone who runs an e-commerce store, you’ve probably been bombarded with search engine optimization (SEO) pitches promising guaranteed page-one rankings, secret algorithms, or instant traffic.

The truth, as you might expect, is that most of these offers are scams designed to take advantage of busy Shopify and BigCommerce merchants who don’t have time to dig into the finer technical details. But bad search engine optimization doesn’t just hurt your wallet; it can also harm your store by bloating pages and injecting broken Shopify product schema.

The first step to avoiding these scams is understanding them. With that in mind, below is everything you need to know as to why they’re so prevalent, what they look like, and why Shopify store owners fall for them.

Why E-Commerce Stores Are Easy Targets

First and foremost, it’s vital to recognize that e-commerce businesses, especially Shopify stores, are frequent targets for SEO scams because their operators are often juggling multiple responsibilities simultaneously. They simultaneously deal with customer support, products, and marketing, leaving them with limited time to fact-check an agency’s claims about quick fixes or guaranteed rankings.

Scammers, in turn, prey on these three factors:

• Confusion: SEO is technical, making it easy to sell otherwise nonsensical jargon
• Urgency: Promises of instant traffic sound attractive
• Low Accountability: Results are often vague, so underperformance hides behind excuses

Think about your Shopify store for a moment. If you’ve yet to gain a strong grasp of technical SEO terms but are eager to boost traffic, you must be wary anytime someone promises big results without providing any solid details.

Common SEO Scams in the E-Commerce World

Some common scams you might encounter as a Shopify store owner are as follows:

1. Guaranteed Rankings

In Shopify, empty promises often come in the form of “guaranteed page-one product keywords.” No agency can guarantee your store will earn that glorious number one spot on any search engine results pages (SERPs), though, as these platforms regularly update their algorithms.

The reality is that your ranking depends on how authoritative and healthy your site is. You’ll also need structured data and technical SEO mastery to get noticed and climb the rankings; don’t let any of these unscrupulous marketing “agencies” convince you otherwise.

2. Link Farms and PBNs

Scammers push low-quality backlinks from private blog networks (PBNs). While you may see a short-term boost, your site will eventually be penalized if the links are deemed untrustworthy or irrelevant. For instance, a Shopify store selling apparel doesn’t benefit from backlinks on irrelevant “news” sites spun up for link drops.

Cutting corners with backlinks will always come back to haunt you, but there are, fortunately, plenty of legitimate ways to earn reputable backlinks. They take time and effort. As you’ve likely heard before, search engine optimization is a marathon, not a sprint, and that same rule applies to Shopify.

3. Keyword Stuffing in Product Pages

Old-school SEO scammers still recommend shoving as many keywords as possible into product descriptions. However, the act of keyword stuffing can lead to rank penalties, the exact opposite of improved visibility. Unnatural or clunky product descriptions will also frustrate customers and hurt your conversion rates.

Shopify product templates should prioritize clean, structured markup. Insert one or two keywords where you can, making sure you use them naturally. Forcing words into product descriptions is bad for business, and besides, keyword usage (as important as it is) is only part of the larger SEO puzzle.

4. Fake Shopify Product Schema Promises

Another common scam sees bad actors offering “schema setup” that adds incomplete or outdated markup. For Shopify, it may involve injecting broken code that fails validation. Scammers may also toss in some false promises for good measure, such as earning product-rich results.

Proper Shopify product schema consists of the following:

• Name
• Image
• Description
• SKU
• Brand
• Offers
• Review
• “aggregateRating” markup

Though those last two are optional, the rest are non-negotiable; if an agency is leaving out any of these pieces of structured data, your markup strategy is going to fall flat, and your store will pay the price.

5. “Secret” Algorithms

Lastly, if an agency is claiming to know hidden ranking factors or have “special access” to Google, it’s a scam. Google doesn’t sell SEO shortcuts; in fact, it is continuously improving its algorithm to better align results with user intent. It’s why brands must keep pace with ever-evolving SEO strategies.

Climbing the rankings means adding Shopify product schema and meticulously addressing the technical elements of your site.

What Actually Works: Technical SEO for Shopify

Instead of chasing scams, focus on technical SEO best practices, such as the following:

• Implement Shopify product schema correctly with JSON-LD snippets to ensure you are eligible for enhanced search features
• Use Shopify JSON-LD so your prices and inventory update in real time
• Prioritize Core Web Vitals and strive to hit benchmarks (i.e., LCP of less than 2.5s, CLS under 0.1, and INP under 200ms)
• Eliminate duplicate pages and block crawl waste
• Run a Rich Results Test after each deployment to verify that your schema is error-free

These are tangible, defensible actions that improve traffic and revenue, unlike the empty promises that SEO scammers make.

How to Hold Shopify JSON-LD and SEO Work Accountable

If you are going to work with an SEO agency to boost the visibility of your Shopify store, make sure that you take these measures:

• Ask for validation evidence that shows schema passing Rich Results Tests
• Request ecommerce case studies
• Look for technical examples and the correct use of terminology
• Avoid generic answers

For an agency that checks all the boxes, Net Profit Marketing has got you covered.

Level Up Your Visibility With Net Profit Marketing

Winning at Shopify SEO is much easier when you work toward that success with a results-oriented partner. Contact Net Profit Marketing today for a technical audit.