Improving the SEO of a Shopify store

By Josh Highland in internet, Tech

Shopify SEO

I love Shopify. It’s an amazing e-commerce SaaS (Software as a service) application. Shopify is basically an online solution for people who want to run an e-commerce store, but don’t want to deal with the headache of maintaining secure servers and source code. I’ve used them for years, and have built several stores based on their platform.

One of the things I really like about Shopify is their pro-developer attitude. They have a robust API and they want people to build thing on their platform. They even have an app store where developers can create and sell plugins to extends their platform. http://apps.shopify.com/

Recently, I launched a Shopify app to help store owners improve their stores SEO. “SEO Meta Manager” allows users to easily modify their products titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords. This allows Shopify store owners to control how search engines see and list their products in search result pages. For $5 a month, it’s a must have add on for anyone who is serious about their store.

SEO Meta Manager is an powerful tool for any Shopify store owner.
Better search results = More visits to your store = More sales = More $$$ for you!

http://SEOMetaManager.com
http://apps.shopify.com/seo-meta-manager

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTtdbvvkd3Q[/youtube]

Instagram iPhone App Cache Size

By Josh Highland in iPhone

Recently, I tired to use my iPhone to take a picture of my new born son. Instead of capturing a priceless memory, I received an error saying “Your iPhone out of storage space” or something to that effect.

I check my data storage, I went to “settings” -> “general” ->”usage”, and found that Instagram was taking up 1.4 GB of storage space. 1.4 GB! That’s insane!

I believe that Instagram saves or “caches” every image that you view on your iPhone, so you only have to download the image once. This is great, but what’s the limit to this?

I can’t find any options on the phone, or in the app to clear the cached files or set a limit on the cache size.

The best workaround I found was to delete the app from the phone, then to re-install it. This is less then ideal, but it works.

You may need to restart your iPhone before the iPhone starts reporting the newly cleared space.

I believe that Apple should allow a way for iPhone users to manage application cache sizes, or require app developers to report cache sizes along with clean up tools for the end user.

I love Instagram, but what would happen if I continued to use the app (and cache images) for the next year? My 32 GB iPhone would have 10+ GB of Instagram images on it.

Follow me on instagram – “JoshHighland”

My Goals For 2012

By Josh Highland in Josh's Rambling

Every year I posts a list of things I want to accomplish in that year. I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a big year for me. Here is a list of some of the goals that I have for myself:

  • Reduce the amount of “stuff” that I have. I need to make room for my new son (due in march!)
  • Delegate responsibilities and tasks better. I have too many projects and not enough time, I need to let other people take over a few things, (4-hour work week style of course)
  • Automate more of my life (income / shipping / bill payments / etc)
  • Launch a Shopify.com app
  • Promote my clothing line Wolves Clothing more
  • Launch my first iPad application and get my 10th iPhone app into the store
  • Continue to improve my fitness (strength & muscle mass)
  • Move more of my projects / data to “the cloud”.
  • Improve my SEO skillz (nothing fancy, just gain a better knowledge of what I should be doing as best practices)
  • Build an app that uses the instagram API
  • Promote my design company, MerchDesign.com, more aggressively
  • Contribute more to charitable causes