How to find Shopify stores that need help

A Shopify store owner is a different kind of lead. They pay for the platform every month, they probably pay for apps, and every improvement to their store can be measured in sales. When you pitch them, you're not selling a nicer website. You're selling more revenue, and they can see the result.

Why Shopify stores are easier to pitch

Shopify takes care of hosting, security and checkout, so the owner isn't worried about the site breaking. What they worry about is conversion: people visit, browse and leave. Most of the work on a Shopify store is about making that path smoother, and it's work owners are used to paying for.

Signs a store needs work

• Slow pages. 47% of the stores we checked took more than 3 seconds to respond. Too many apps and oversized images are the usual suspects, and slow product pages cost sales.
• Missing basics for search and social. Stores without meta descriptions or social preview images lose clicks from Google and from every link shared to them.
• No analytics. A store that isn't measuring anything can't tell what's working. Setting this up properly is a small, valuable first job.
• A dated look. Older themes that haven't been touched in years are common, and a theme refresh is a well-understood project for store owners.

What to offer

Shopify owners respond best to offers framed around sales, not design:

• A speed audit with fixes. Remove apps that aren't earning their keep, compress images, lazy-load what's below the fold.
• A product page rebuild. Better photos, clearer shipping and returns information, reviews in the right place.
• Conversion tracking. Analytics and ad pixels set up properly, so they know what their marketing is doing.

Pick a product category

Shopify stores vary hugely, from one-product brands to large catalogues. Choosing a niche helps: if you've worked on fashion or food stores before, filter for that niche and lead with what you know. The owner will notice that you understand their business, not just their platform.