70% of Shopify Sites Are Missing Basic SEO—Here’s How Kevin Wiles Fixes Them

Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands and Links with Linkifi! Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder and CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs.

In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Wiles, ecommerce SEO consultant and former in-house lead for major brands like Halfords, Les Mills, and Air New Zealand. We cover everything from Shopify SEO foundations to AI-enhanced customer experience, modern content workflows, and how the definition of trust and branding is shifting in search.

Key Talking Points:

🧠 Is SEO Dead? Not Even Close. The noise around SEO dying is louder than ever—but Kevin explains why smart brands are simply adapting.

📦 Shopify & Ecommerce Search in 2025 Why most Shopify sites still lack SEO basics, and how to build SEO workflows that scale—without drowning in technical debt.

🛍️ TikTok vs Google for Product Discovery The new generation shops on social first, then searches. Here’s how brands should adapt their channel strategies.

🧰 AI Workflows that Actually Work Forget one-click content. The best brands use AI to enhance—not replace—smart workflows across UX, content, and product.

🔨 Case Study: AI-Powered Window Sales App An offline experience turned online: Kevin walks through how a traditional window company is using AI and AR to create a zero-pressure, high-conversion buyer journey.

💬 Voice Search & Visual Intent Why voice still isn’t the search disrupter people expected—and how visual search is where the real UX gains lie.

🔗 Link Building & Brand Authority From Halfords’ weather crime map to data-led PR, Kevin shares why links still matter—and what kinds move the needle for ecommerce SEO.

Quotes from Kevin Wiles:

“People don’t want a pushy window salesman on their sofa. Brands that remove friction from that process will win.”

“You can’t fix technical debt with AI content. SEO still starts with the basics—site health, intent, and trust.”

“The SEO agencies that won’t survive are the ones that refuse to adapt. Search behavior is changing—your strategy should too.”

“Branding is what earns links. Links are still vital—but they’re easier to earn when people actually like your brand.”

“To become a market leader, you’ve got to find a way to be cool. People don’t just buy products—they buy into brands.”

Takeaways & Strategy Highlights:

✅ User Experience is the New SEO Don’t optimize for rankings—optimize for how people actually shop.

✅ Stop Blindly Publishing Content SEO content without product understanding or brand voice is just noise.

✅ AI Should Enhance, Not Replace Use AI to streamline research, enrich PDPs, and build smarter systems—not to mass-generate thin content.

✅ Marry SEO with Product, PR & UX SEOs who collaborate across brand and content teams will lead the next wave of ecommerce growth.

✅ Don’t Chase Gimmicks—Build Trust Cool brands build audiences. Trustworthy brands drive repeat business. SEO only works when the product delivers.

About Kevin Wiles:

Kevin Wiles is a seasoned ecommerce SEO consultant with in-house and agency experience across global brands like Halfords, Les Mills, and Air New Zealand. He specializes in Shopify SEO, technical audits, data-driven content strategies, and brand-integrated SEO consulting.

🔗 https://kevwiles.com 🔗 Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinjwiles/

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