Why Most E-Commerce Sites Waste Their Traffic (And How to Fix It)

E1067: Most e-commerce founders believe they need more traffic. In reality, most stores already have enough qualified visitors. They just fail to convert them. In this episode, I sit down with David Schomer - former CPA, Amazon seller, founder, and now CEO of Build Grow Scale - to break down why most e-commerce sites waste organic and paid traffic, and what actually increases revenue. We go deep into conversion rate optimization, SEO strategy in the AI era, Amazon data advantages, and the practical changes that move the needle. If you run a Shopify store, sell on Amazon, or are building any online brand, this episode will help you rethink where your growth is really coming from. What we cover: - Why "more traffic" is often the wrong goal - The simple homepage mistake that costs sales - Why putting your phone number at the top of your site builds trust - How to reduce buyer risk and increase conversions - Using customer service emails to improve product pages - Why FAQs and sizing charts matter more than most founders realize - How Amazon PPC data can improve your Shopify SEO - The return of the blog and when top-of-funnel content actually works - Bottom-of-funnel SEO and targeting high buyer intent searches - How AI tools like Claude are changing how founders analyze data - Finding wasted SaaS spend inside your own P&L - Why mobile optimization is still a major issue in 2026 - What e-commerce brands should steal from Amazon reviews - The 30-minute audit any founder can do today to improve conversions David also shares: - How he built and sold Amazon brands - What separates profitable stores from struggling ones - How to think about cross-sells and upsells strategically - What he's seeing with AI-driven search and new ad platforms This is a tactical episode focused on practical improvements. If you are serious about building a profitable e-commerce business, watch this all the way through. ⭐️ Build Grow Scale website - https://buildgrowscale.com/ ⭐️ David Schomer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-schomer-b08a0a41/ ⭐️ Build Grow Scale on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/buildgrowscale ⭐️ Build Grow Scale on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BuildGrowScaleEcommEducation ⭐️ Firing the Man podcast - https://firingtheman.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Meet David Schomer 00:36 From Finance to Ecommerce 03:26 Amazon First Success 05:26 Stop Wasting Traffic 06:38 FAQs That Reduce Risk 07:25 AI Mining Support Emails 09:00 Claude Connections Workflow 10:52 QuickBooks Cost Cutting 15:39 Website Trust Basics 17:32 Upsells and AOV Growth 19:47 Amazon Data for SEO 21:34 Blog SEO Makes Comeback 24:36 Answer Questions Like Sales 26:31 AI Search Conversion Path 28:47 ChatGPT Buyer Journey 29:45 Blog SEO Comeback 30:36 Complex Products Need Content 34:17 Bottom of Funnel SEO Focus 38:38 Buyer Intent Keywords 41:13 Paid vs Organic Balance 46:16 Evergreen SEO Value 47:39 CRO Mobile Pitfalls 51:58 ChatGPT Ads Testing 55:06 Amazon Reviews Playbook 57:29 30 Minute Fixes 58:48 Wrap Up And Links The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #ecommerceseo #searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing #dropshipping