Lesson 1 of 12 · Module 1 · Start with your customers
Define your brand positioning
What it is
SEO helps search engines discover and understand useful pages. AI discovery is another route: a shopper may ask an assistant for recommendations, then compare products on Google or a retailer's website. It does not replace traditional SEO or guarantee a sale. Start with one customer group and one page; expand at your own pace. 1. Identify up to three groups from real shopping situations, requirements and customer questions—not invented demographic stereotypes. 2. Record: customer, problem, buying requirements and verified reasons your products fit. 3. Replace vague claims such as premium or eco-friendly with documented specifics: material composition, dimensions, certification scope, compatibility or cost per unit. 4. Write two situations where another type of product is a better fit. Honest limitations help shoppers choose. 5. Draft: “We help [customer] choose [product category] for [need]. Our products offer [verified characteristics], making them suitable for [use cases].” 6. Align the homepage, About page, products and collections. In Shopify admin, open Online Store > Themes and edit the current theme; product/collection descriptions are under Products. Sections and labels can vary by theme/admin version. All named store examples are fictional. Maple Trail Outfitters is a fictional practice retailer, not an agency client. Example outcomes are illustrations, not measured results. Reading is free; course progress is saved in this browser only. Completing a lesson does not prove your real store work is finished.
Why it matters
Clear positioning helps shoppers recognize relevant products and gives retrieval systems better context. It cannot force an AI recommendation. Helpful resources • Free: Google Sheets for profiles; keep personal information out of shared files. • Internal: Content planning and writing for drafts from business facts. Sign-in, selected client and applicable confirmed credits required; verify copy before use. • Source: Shopify SEO overview.
Free exercise workbooks
This lesson: Positioning.
PDF: print and write by hand. Spreadsheet: edit in Excel or import into Google Sheets. Keep completed copies private; answers are not uploaded.
✓ Good example
Fictional Maple Trail Outfitters describes daypacks for short walks and commuting using documented capacity, weight and fit guidance.
✗ Common mistake
Claiming “the safest, most sustainable bag” without a defined test or certification.
You pass when: You have a customer profile, positioning statement, documented differences and honest limitations. Review one live page for consistency.
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