Struggling with Your SEO Health Score?

Wondering why every guide says something different? Want to hear the truth from a founder’s journey — not an agency pitch? And yes… this is 100% free and shared with no intention of selling anything.

Sometimes the most valuable lessons don’t come from experts selling a service — they come from someone who had to fight through the confusion, contradictions, and chaos of SEO in real time.

This is a transparent, data‑driven look at how a modern jewellery brand performs across search engines, AI systems, and traffic analytics.

Before We Begin: The Essential Optimisation Terms Every Shopify Store Owner Should Know

Before we dive into the results, let’s get technical for a moment — but in a way that actually makes sense for a Shopify store owner. Whether you’re doing SEO yourself or paying an agency to handle it, you still need to understand the core optimisation terms that shape how your store is discovered, ranked, and recommended.

Agencies often talk in jargon, but these “EO” concepts are simply different layers of visibility: how search engines read your site, how AI assistants interpret your content, how customers experience your pages, and how well your store converts traffic into sales. When you understand these terms, you can ask better questions, avoid being overcharged, and make smarter decisions about where to invest your time and budget. So before we look at the data, here’s a quick breakdown of the optimisation types that actually matter in 2026.

How We Calculated the 222% Organic Growth

To calculate the 222% increase, we compared JewelHub’s organic search sessions in Shopify Analytics before and after the site‑architecture rebuild. We used a 30‑day baseline period prior to the rebuild and compared it with the most recent 30‑day period after the new structure went live. The percentage increase was then cross‑validated using 12 independent SEO and AI visibility tools, including Ahrefs, Semrush, Ubersuggest, TinySEO, Visible2AI, and amivisibleonai.com, all of which showed significant improvements in crawlability, indexing, and AI search exposure.

How JewelHub Achieved a 98/100 Technical Health Score on Shopify — A Data‑Driven SEO Journey

SEO was supposed to be straightforward. Even with more than 25 years of experience in e‑commerce — building platforms, teaching digital media, and running online stores long before Shopify existed — the modern SEO landscape still felt like a puzzle with missing pieces. Every tool claimed to be the solution, every guide contradicted the next, and every “quick fix” seemed to create new problems.

Despite decades of expertise, the founder of JewelHub still found herself staring at dashboards wondering why something as fundamental as search visibility had become so fragmented and confusing.

Yet after months of rebuilding JewelHub from the ground up, auditing every corner of the site, and learning how today’s SEO and AEO ecosystem actually behaves, something remarkable happened: Ahrefs scanned 20,501 URLs and returned a 98/100 technical health score. No shortcuts. No hacks. Just structure, clarity, and a willingness to rethink everything.

The JewelHub System: The Hidden Layer Behind the SEO Score

JewelHub wasn’t built like a typical Shopify store. It was built as a system — a structured, layered architecture that connects product naming, collection logic, metadata, internal linking, blog content, and a jewellery classification framework.

This system ensures that every product, every category, and every blog post reinforces the others. It’s the same system used to build the JewelHub Jewellery Classification Framework.

More Than 1,000 Pieces — A Scale Rare in Jewellery

Most independent jewellery stores carry between 150–300 products, and even large boutique brands rarely exceed 500 SKUs (Shopify Retail Benchmark Report, 2024).

JewelHub is building a catalogue of more than 1,000 pieces — a scale designed to reflect the diversity of modern identity. Every material, every symbol, every collection adds another layer to this global language of jewellery.

This system is the real reason JewelHub’s SEO foundation is so strong — the 98/100 score simply confirmed it.

Why Shopify Was the Right Foundation

Shopify removes a huge amount of technical debt that slows down small brands. Its infrastructure quietly handles the heavy lifting — hosting, security, CDN, and clean URLs — so founders can focus on products, content, and customer experience instead of server errors and code maintenance. But here’s the part most store owners don’t realise: every extra app you install adds weight to your theme, injects scripts, and increases load time.

More apps doesn’t mean more power — it means more risk. Slow pages, duplicate tags, conflicting scripts, and bloated code can destroy your SEO score long before you notice anything is wrong. The smartest Shopify stores grow by keeping their tech stack lean, choosing apps intentionally, and letting Shopify’s built‑in infrastructure do what it’s designed to do: keep your store fast, stable, and search‑friendly.

The Tools That Supported the Journey

Some tools helped; others created more problems than they solved. The key was learning which ones to trust — and which ones to quietly retire.

Tool	What It’s Used For
TinySEO	Quick checks and early clean‑ups for Shopify products and pages.
IndexGPT	AI‑era discoverability and AEO — measuring how visible your store is to AI systems.
Google Analytics	Real user behaviour, engagement, and conversion paths.
Ubersuggest	Keyword validation and on‑page SEO opportunities.
Ahrefs	Deep technical audit, crawlability, and final health score.

The Data Story: 20,501 URLs, 235,232 Links, and a 98/100 Score

Here’s what Ahrefs actually saw when it crawled JewelHub:

The JewelHub SEO Scoreboard

SEO is not one number. Every tool measures something different — technical health, on‑page optimisation, performance, structure, or user experience. Instead of hiding the variations, JewelHub shows all scores openly so readers can understand how SEO tools interpret the same website through different lenses.

Together, these scores show the full picture: JewelHub has excellent technical health, strong content optimisation, and outstanding usability — with performance and structural refinements being the next areas to improve. This multi‑tool approach gives a more honest and complete view than relying on a single score.

Reference on scores: 

Frequently Asked Questions for Shopify Store Owners

1. I’m a Shopify store owner — what exactly is SEO?
   SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of making your store easier for people to find when they search on Google, Bing, or other engines. For Shopify, that means clear product names, structured collections, fast pages, and content that answers what customers are actually searching for.
   Good starting point: Shopify’s SEO basics guide
2. What is a “technical health score” and why should I care?
   A technical health score (like the 98/100 from Ahrefs) measures how clean and crawlable your site is — broken links, redirect chains, duplicate pages, missing tags, and more. A high score doesn’t guarantee sales, but it removes technical friction so your content and products can actually rank.
   More on technical SEO: Google Search SEO Starter Guide
3. What is a “good” SEO health score for a Shopify store?
   Most small stores sit somewhere between 60–85 on technical audits. Anything above 90 usually means your structure is solid and you’re not being held back by obvious technical issues. From there, growth comes more from content, links, and brand than from fixing errors.
4. Does a 98/100 technical score mean I’ll rank #1?
   No. Think of the technical score as “road quality,” not “destination.” A clean, fast, well‑structured site makes it easier for search engines to crawl and understand your content — but rankings still depend on relevance, competition, backlinks, and user behaviour. Technical SEO removes friction; it doesn’t replace strategy.
5. How often should I run a technical SEO audit on my Shopify store?
   For most stores, every 1–3 months is enough. You should also run an audit after big changes: new theme, new apps, major navigation changes, or bulk product imports. Shopify apps can quietly add scripts, pages, and parameters that clutter your crawl.
6. What causes most SEO problems on Shopify?
   The biggest issues usually come from:
   • Too many apps injecting scripts and code
   • Duplicate URLs from filters, tags, and pagination
   • Unlinked pages (orphan products, hidden collections)
   • Slow images and heavy themes
   None of these are “mystery penalties” — they’re structural issues that can be fixed with a system.
7. Does Shopify automatically handle SEO for me?
   Shopify gives you a strong base: clean URLs, canonical tags, sitemaps, and hosting. But it does not write your titles, descriptions, product copy, internal links, or blog strategy. Think of Shopify as the road — you still have to decide where you’re driving and what you’re delivering.
8. What’s the fastest way to improve a low health score?
   Start with the highest‑impact fixes:
   • Fix broken links and 404 pages
   • Remove or replace unused apps that inject scripts
   • Compress and resize large images
   • Clean up duplicate or thin pages (old test products, empty collections)
   Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Sitechecker will usually group these issues by priority.
9. What is AEO and why does it matter now?
   AEO (AI Engine Optimization) is about making your content understandable to AI systems — not just search engines. As more shoppers use AI assistants to discover products, your structure, clarity, and internal linking help AI models “read” your store and recommend it correctly.
   Example: tools like IndexGPT measure how visible your site is to AI‑driven traffic.
10. Why does internal linking matter so much for SEO?
    Internal links tell search engines which pages are important and how your content is related. On Shopify, that means:
    • Products linking to relevant collections and blogs
    • Blogs linking back to products and key categories
    • Navigation that reflects your real product logic
    Strong internal linking improves crawl depth, distributes authority, and helps both humans and bots find what matters.
11. What is the “JewelHub System” in simple terms?
    It’s a layered way of building a store where product names, collections, metadata, internal links, and a jewellery classification framework all work together. Instead of random product titles and disconnected blogs, everything is structured so search engines can understand the site like a catalogue, not a pile of pages.
12. Does a jewellery classification system really help SEO?
    Yes. When you describe products consistently (e.g. “stainless steel charm ring” vs “cute ring”), search engines can:
    • Match your pages to more specific searches
    • Understand relationships between products and collections
    • Index your site more accurately
    Semantic consistency is a quiet ranking advantage over time.
13. Should every product have a long description?
    No. Long does not equal good. For Shopify, the priority is:
    • Clear product name and variant naming
    • Key details above the fold (material, size, use)
    • Scannable bullet points
    • Optional story or context if it genuinely helps the buyer
    Clarity beats fluff — for both humans and search engines.
14. Do blog posts really help SEO for a small store?
    They can — but only if they’re connected. A blog post that never links to products or collections is just an article. A blog post that answers a real question and links to relevant products becomes part of your sales and SEO system.
    Example: “How to stack stainless steel bracelets” linking to your bracelet collection and specific products.
15. Should I install lots of SEO apps to fix everything?
    No. Too many apps can slow your site, create duplicate tags, and clutter your code. Use a small number of well‑chosen tools:
    • One for on‑page/technical checks
    • One for keyword research
    • One for AI/traffic insights (optional)
    Your system and structure matter more than the number of apps you install.
16. Does my Shopify theme really affect SEO?
    Yes. Themes differ in:
    • Code quality and bloat
    • How they handle headings (H1/H2)
    • Mobile performance
    • Core Web Vitals (speed, layout shift)
    A heavy theme can drag down performance scores even if your content is perfect.
    More on performance: Core Web Vitals by Google
17. How important are product images for SEO?
    Very important. Large, uncompressed images slow down your store, which hurts both rankings and conversions. For Shopify:
    • Use compressed images (WebP or optimised JPEG/PNG)
    • Add descriptive alt text (e.g. “gold stainless steel charm bracelet”)
    • Avoid huge hero images on mobile
    Tools like TinySEO or image optimisers can automate a lot of this.
18. Does keyword stuffing still work?
    No — and it can backfire. Repeating the same phrase unnaturally (“gold bracelet gold bracelet gold bracelet”) makes content harder to read and can reduce relevance. Instead:
    • Use natural language
    • Include related phrases (e.g. “stackable bracelet”, “stainless steel jewellery”)
    • Focus on answering the searcher’s intent
    Search engines are much better at understanding context than they used to be.
19. Should I worry about duplicate content on Shopify?
    Yes, but in a focused way. Common problem areas:
    • Collection filters creating multiple URLs for the same products
    • Variants with separate URLs but identical content
    • Copied manufacturer descriptions
    Shopify’s canonical tags help, but it’s still worth cleaning up unnecessary duplicates and making key pages unique.
20. What’s the most important SEO advice for Shopify in 2026?
    Stop chasing hacks and start building a system. That means:
    • Clear, consistent product naming
    • Logical collections and navigation
    • Structured metadata (titles, descriptions)
    • Thoughtful internal linking between products, collections, and blogs
    • Regular technical audits to keep the foundation clean
    When the structure is right, every new product and blog post has a better chance to rank — without you reinventing SEO every time.

A Final Word

If you’re building a Shopify store and feeling lost in the SEO maze, this journey is proof that clarity is possible. Not through hacks or shortcuts — but through structure, data, and a willingness to rebuild when things don’t make sense.

When the structure is right, the numbers follow.