Vintage Folk
Uncovering SEO Barriers and Shopping Friction Through an In-Depth Shopify Audit
69 Pages
A detailed audit completed in February 2025, covering technical SEO, content, search visibility and the ecommerce shopping experience.
3-Month
An SEO content strategy informed by keyword, audience and competitor research, helping shoppers discover, compare and choose vintage clothing.
12-Month
A prioritised implementation roadmap giving Vintage Folk a clear sequence of technical fixes, content improvements and ongoing SEO activity.
Project overview
- Client
- Vintage Folk
- Industry
- Fashion
- Website
- vintage-folk.com
- Audit completed
- February 2025
- Services delivered
Project team
-
Lucy ClowesHead of Operations & Search
- Jonathon Roberts
Technical SEO Lead
- Charlie Fletcher
Technical SEO Executive
- Jessica McMillan
Key Account Manager
-
Jessica SimpsonSEO Executive
Executive Summary
Client Overview
Vintage Folk is a vintage clothing retailer selling second-hand fashion through Shopify and in-person warehouse events. Its online range features predominantly one-off pieces, each requiring individual photographs, sizing, condition details and descriptions. The team manages this changing inventory through a master spreadsheet, importing product information into Shopify to create listings. This established workflow was an important consideration when developing practical SEO recommendations.
Main Challenge
Vintage Folk wanted to understand what was holding back its organic search performance and where to focus its efforts. Although the website offered an extensive range of collections, shoppers did not always have clear routes to relevant clothing. Declining search visibility, technical issues and gaps in content added to the challenge. The team had the capacity to implement improvements but needed expert guidance on which changes to prioritise and how to approach them.
Services Provided
We completed an in-depth SEO audit covering search performance, keyword opportunities, technical SEO, collection content, product pages, backlinks and competitors. Alongside this, we reviewed desktop and mobile shopping journeys, navigation and customer trust signals. Our recommendations accounted for Vintage Folk’s unique stock and spreadsheet-based upload process, with supporting datasets, content examples and a three-month SEO content strategy to help the team move from findings to action.
Audit Deliverables
Delivered in February 2025, the 69-page report gave Vintage Folk a detailed explanation of the issues identified, their significance and recommended next steps. Supporting spreadsheets documented opportunities at page and query level, while a prioritised 12-month roadmap organised the work into foundational improvements, further development and ongoing maintenance. The project provided Vintage Folk with a practical framework for its own team and developers to improve the website.
About the Client
Vintage Folk is a second-hand clothing retailer offering vintage fashion through its Shopify website and in-person warehouse events. Its collections span different brands, styles and clothing types, with most products available as individual, one-off pieces. Each listing needs to reflect the specific garment, including its size, condition, colour and distinctive details, helping shoppers understand exactly what they are buying.
To manage its constantly changing stock, Vintage Folk uses a master spreadsheet containing product names, photographs, descriptions and other attributes, which is imported into Shopify to create listings. Alongside online retail, its warehouse events attract students and buyers sourcing vintage clothing to resell at lower purchase prices. Vintage Folk approached Fly High Media to understand what was limiting its SEO performance and obtain a clear plan for improving search visibility and making its extensive collections easier to shop.
Objectives.
Our objective was to give Vintage Folk a clear understanding of the issues limiting its organic search performance and the opportunities available to improve its website. The audit needed to examine technical SEO, keyword targeting, content and the shopping experience, explaining how these areas connected. We aimed to identify ways to make collections easier to discover, help shoppers choose suitable products and strengthen the website’s search visibility. Each recommendation needed to account for Vintage Folk’s one-off inventory and spreadsheet-based Shopify upload process. The final deliverable would provide the team with supporting evidence, practical guidance and a prioritised implementation roadmap.
Challenges.
Vintage Folk’s constantly changing inventory created a different challenge from a retailer selling repeatable product lines. Most garments were unique, with individual sizes, conditions and details that needed to be accurately represented. Recommendations for product content had to be realistic for a team regularly processing new stock. We therefore needed to understand how information moved from the master spreadsheet into Shopify and identify improvements that could fit into that workflow.
The website offered a substantial range of collections, but the routes into those collections were not always clear or easy to use. Navigation, filtering and internal linking needed closer examination to understand how shoppers discovered relevant clothing. Search visibility also presented challenges: the audit identified declining keyword performance and examples of size-filtered collection pages appearing for broader searches. These pages could send potential customers to a narrower selection of products than they expected.
The investigation also needed to distinguish technical issues from content gaps and opportunities to improve the shopping experience. Broken internal links, canonical inconsistencies and unsuitable structured data sat alongside recommendations for stronger collection descriptions, clearer purchase buttons and more visible trust signals. Vintage Folk had the capability to make changes, but needed a manageable sequence of work. Our challenge was to translate these findings into an evidence-based plan that explained what to address, why it mattered and when to prioritise it.
What the Audit Covered.
We examined how Vintage Folk’s website performed in search, how customers navigated its collections and what could prevent visitors from purchasing. Using Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, SEMrush, PageSpeed Insights, GA4 and Shopify, we combined data analysis with a detailed review of the shopping experience. The findings were supported by examples, spreadsheets and practical recommendations.
Search Performance & Keyword Opportunities
We analysed clicks, impressions and keyword rankings to understand where Vintage Folk had lost visibility and which searches offered opportunities. This included reviewing more than 480 lost keywords, queries with low click-through rates and terms already ranking close to the top positions. We also examined which pages appeared for important searches, identifying examples where size-filtered collections ranked for broader clothing queries. Supporting spreadsheets documented lost keywords and existing ranking opportunities, alongside recommendations for targeting, metadata and content.
Search Visibility Review
Historical performance, lost keywords, ranking opportunities, search intent and landing page relevance.
Ecommerce Experience & Collection Navigation
We reviewed how effectively the homepage and navigation introduced the range and directed shoppers towards relevant collections. The audit covered the visibility of offers, brand benefits, customer reviews and featured clothing categories, alongside collection sorting and filtering. Recommendations included a clearer mega menu, more prominent links to popular brands and collections, and a homepage that better communicated Vintage Folk’s identity. Competitor screenshots illustrated how these ideas could work in practice.
Product Discovery Review
Homepage layout, mega menu, collection filters, sorting, promotions and routes into the range.
Desktop & Mobile Conversion Review
We assessed desktop and mobile shopping journeys to identify friction between finding an item and completing a purchase. This covered search functionality, cart access, calls to action, product recommendations and delivery information. We suggested improvements such as useful alternatives for unsuccessful searches, clearer access to the basket and estimated delivery dates. The audit also explored live chat and recommended behaviour tracking to help Vintage Folk evaluate how real customers used the website before deciding on further changes.
Shopping Journey Review
Mobile usability, on-site search, cart access, delivery messaging and customer support options.
Product Pages & the Stock Upload Workflow
We reviewed whether product pages gave customers enough information and reassurance to buy a unique, second-hand garment. This included descriptions, customer feedback, shipping benefits, payment information and the visibility of the Add to Cart button. Example copy demonstrated how descriptions could communicate more about an item’s style and distinctive features. Recommendations accounted for the spreadsheet-based Shopify import process, including ways to improve product information within that workflow and add an alt text field for future uploads.
Product Information Review
Individual garment descriptions, purchase buttons, reassurance and practical changes to spreadsheet imports.
Content Analysis & On-Page SEO
We assessed collection descriptions, existing articles, headings, metadata and internal links to identify missing information and opportunities for stronger keyword targeting. The audit highlighted collections without descriptions, gaps in buying guidance and issues with how some content displayed. We supplied example collection copy and FAQs, together with a three-month content strategy based on keyword, audience and competitor research. This included two pillar articles and supporting topics designed to help shoppers research vintage clothing and explore relevant collections.
Content Review
Collection copy, FAQs, metadata, headings, internal links and a three-month editorial strategy.
Technical SEO & Shopify URL Structure
Our technical review examined crawlability, canonical tags, internal links, URL structure, image alt text, page speed and structured data. We identified collection links pointing to alternative product URLs, canonicals referencing non-indexable pages, five internally linked pages returning 404 errors and 1,748 images missing alt text. We also found FAQ markup being generated for homepage content that was not a set of questions and answers. Supporting URL lists and implementation guidance explained where changes were needed, including considerations for Shopify breadcrumbs and product links.
Technical Review
Canonical URLs, broken links, redirects, image accessibility, page speed, breadcrumbs and schema.
Competitor Analysis, Backlinks & Customer Trust
We reviewed Vintage Folk’s backlink profile and competitors to identify opportunities for relevant outreach, content development and stronger brand presentation. The audit also assessed how the website demonstrated experience and trust through customer reviews, business information and authorship. Examples from other vintage retailers illustrated ways to present reassurance throughout the shopping journey. Recommendations extended to comparison content, brand mentions and repurposing articles for social video, reflecting the different ways customers discover and evaluate vintage clothing businesses.
Authority & Trust Review
Competitor benchmarking, backlink opportunities, customer reviews, authorship and brand discovery.
Prioritised SEO Implementation Roadmap
We brought the findings together in a 12-month action plan, giving Vintage Folk a suggested sequence for implementation. The first three months covered foundational technical work, content improvements and shopping experience recommendations. Months four and five focused on further content development, internal linking and outreach, followed by ongoing monitoring and maintenance. References back to the relevant audit sections helped the team find the supporting explanations, while recommended Shopify apps and a glossary made the report easier to use.
Implementation Guidance
A phased action plan, supporting spreadsheets, practical examples, app suggestions and an SEO glossary.
Our Solution
We brought our findings together in a tailored implementation roadmap, giving Vintage Folk a clear sequence for improving its website. The plan connected technical SEO, content and the shopping experience, helping the team understand where to focus its resources and how individual recommendations supported the wider strategy.
The roadmap covered three phases. The first focused on strengthening the website’s foundations and addressing priority issues. The next concentrated on developing content, improving connections between pages and building relevant authority. The final phase outlined ongoing monitoring and maintenance, allowing the strategy to evolve with search performance, competitors and Vintage Folk’s changing inventory.
Each phase referenced the detailed guidance within the audit, supported by spreadsheets and practical examples. Recommendations also accounted for the team’s existing Shopify upload process, making the plan relevant to how the business operated. This gave Vintage Folk a structured framework to guide implementation decisions over the following 12 months.
What We Delivered.
Vintage Folk received a detailed assessment of its website and a structured plan for addressing the issues identified. Delivered in February 2025, the audit connected search performance, technical findings, content opportunities and the shopping experience, giving the team clear guidance for its next steps.
A Comprehensive SEO Audit
69 Pages
A tailored report explaining what we found, why it mattered and how to approach improvements, supported by page examples, competitor comparisons and practical implementation guidance.
Actionable Data
Supporting spreadsheets identifying affected URLs, keyword opportunities and content gaps, helping the team locate and assess the work required.
3 Months
A research-led editorial plan with pillar articles and supporting topics to address customer questions and connect readers with relevant collections.
12 Months
A phased sequence of recommendations covering foundational improvements, further development and ongoing SEO monitoring and maintenance.
Conclusion.
Our SEO audit gave Vintage Folk a clearer understanding of its website’s challenges and a practical plan for addressing them. We connected technical findings with content opportunities and improvements to the shopping experience, tailoring our recommendations to its unique vintage inventory and Shopify upload process. The 69-page report, supporting spreadsheets and phased roadmap provided the team with the evidence and direction needed to prioritise website improvements with greater confidence.
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