10 min read
Running ads for smaller Shopify businesses can take up a large part of the budget, making it unsustainable for stores that are just starting out. And if your website isn’t optimized for conversions, you may struggle gaining a profit even with paid ads.
However, buying ads isn’t the only way a business can get sales. Many merchants rely on SEO optimization, email marketing, social media, and content to grow consistent traffic and conversions.
For example, case studies show that email marketing can increase conversion rates even 18 times, while another case study tracked that SEO efforts led to a 41% increase in sales.
In this guide, we’ll break down 10 strategies you can use to get sales on Shopify without spending money on ads, and help troubleshoot why you may not be seeing growing conversions.
Automated SEO featuresOne-click speed boostingWhy is your Shopify store not getting sales?
If you’re not running ads and your Shopify store isn’t making sales, there could be multiple reasons at play.
First, it depends on whether your site gets traffic at all. If you're not getting visitors, you’re not going to make sales, so monitor Google Analytics to see how many people are opening your site.
This could be caused by poor promotion, so focus on building an audience by creating content about your brand on social media or optimizing your site for higher search engine visibility.
But if traffic isn’t an issue, your site may have a poor shopping experience. Conversions can be affected by something as simple as weak brand values or no Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategies, like pop-ups or reviews.
For example, according to a survey by Canvas8, 89% of consumers claim they read reviews of other customers before purchasing products. If your site is missing a review section, that’s already some customers lost.
It may also be that your store isn’t converting visitors because of a poor shopping experience. Something as simple as a few second delay in page load time, pop-up overload, checkout issues, or unoptimized product pages can lead users to abandon your site.
How to get sales on Shopify without ads
If you’re just starting out, you may not have the budget to promote your brand through ads. But many businesses already grow successfully without spending any money, prioritizing SEO, social media, content, and email marketing.
1. Optimize your website for SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key website optimization strategy for long-term success. It may take longer to get consistent results, but getting your website to rank higher in search engines can lead to more organic traffic.
To optimize for SEO, you should start by performing keyword research. You can use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush, which help you find the keywords that your audience is searching for. They tell you the search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor rankings.
However, third-party SEO tools can be expensive. So if you’re not ready to invest, we’d suggest exploring your top-ranking competitors. Check what keywords they’re using, what content they’re writing, and try to adapt it to your strategy.
To help you improve Shopify rankings, we’ve prepared an SEO checklist for keyword research, on-page, off-page, and technical tasks.
2. Create an email marketing strategy
Email marketing is a cost-effective method to gain new customers, but you have to develop a clear strategy that’s non-invasive. Excess pop-ups and emails could hurt your brand.
For example, the Priority Bicycles Triples company grew their conversions by 3 times by simply sending out abandoned cart emails with a single-use discount, resulting in over $68,000 in marginal revenue generated.
Here’s an example of an email marketing strategy you could follow:
- Build an email list – the first step is to build a list of subscribers. A strategy that merchants often use is adding a pop-up on your store’s homepage, offering an incentive, like a 10% discount for the first order, for those who sign up to your email list.
- Set up automatic welcome emails – make sure that your subscribers get an immediate welcome email. Use it to introduce your brand and give the incentive you promised.
- Send 1-2 newsletters per month – sending one or two emails per month is enough. You can use it to update recipients about new launches and limited offers or share useful tips related to your niche.
- Set up automatic abandoned cart emails – according to Forbes Advisor, automated flows like abandoned cart emails generate up to 30x more revenue per recipient.
Note that email subject lines are the first thing recipients see, so they have to be engaging. When writing emails for our clients, we usually use the free email subject line tester by Omnisend.
If you ever decide to invest in email marketing, you can use apps like Mailchimp or Omnisend to A/B test your emails, so you know exactly what works and what doesn’t.
3. Promote your business on social media
Social media is free, and if you market your products properly, you can gain organic traffic and sales without spending anything. Instead of creating content on all major social media platforms, focus on the ones that are best for your niche.
For example, TikTok and Instagram reels may be best for fashion or makeup products, while Pinterest is great for home decor.
Our best advice would be to focus on creating high-quality content because engaging posts and videos can do well even without a massive follower count. Creating 2-3 weekly posts that are captivating can be more useful than generating daily posts that don’t grab attention.
Discounts and freebies also perform well, so consider creating a contest. For example, users who follow your account, tag friends, or share your post (or all of these options) get a chance to win a free product. Someone gets a free product, while your brand gets more exposure.
Many merchants also try to engage their community, making the brand feel more personal. So, take the time to reply to some comments and direct messages.
4. Start a blog
Writing a blog can help you reach an audience that’s already searching for answers regarding a specific topic. If you craft useful content, it can rank higher in search engines, leading to more organic traffic and, eventually, sales.
If you’re not sure what to write about, perform keyword research using external SEO tools or analyze what your competitors are writing.
Blog posts can be a great opportunity to promote your own products. For example, the King Arthur Baking Company writes articles on baking and shares recipes, but also uses internal links to their own product pages.
If users find the content useful, they’re more likely to trust the author’s recommendations, helping increase sales.
5. Try affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a strategy where people promote your product and get a commission when they generate a sale. It’s technically risk-free because you don’t have to pay unless you get a sale made by that person.
The way it works is you create an affiliate program and share it with influencers, content creators, or other websites in your niche.
For example, the Le Col premium cycling company ran an affiliate program and found that their revenue in the US grew 146% year-over-year. They also found that the Average Order Value (AOV) was higher by 52% for customers who were referred by affiliates compared to those who came to the site directly.
You can use Shopify Collabs, which is Shopify’s own free affiliate marketing tool. It lets you create an affiliate program, send gifts to creators, and recruit them.
You can easily create application pages, invite creators to work with you, or even let creators discover you through an open-access program.
6. Optimize for conversion rates
Even if your site gets traffic, it’s not a guarantee that you’ll make sales if the user experience is poor. That’s why you have to prioritize CRO. Here are a few practical tips you can follow:
- Improve Core Web Vitals. Run your website through Google PageSpeed Insights and check if your Core Web Vitals, including your page load time, are good. If the results are poor, optimize according to the provided insights.
- Ensure mobile-friendliness. While most Shopify themes are mobile-friendly, double-check that the website looks good on smaller screens, especially when using third-party themes. Check whether buttons are simple to press, pages aren’t overloaded with content, and don’t load slowly.
- Add pop-ups. Consider using exit-intent pop-ups, which help retain visitors who want to leave. Even a small discount can help encourage purchases before leaving. According to Wisepops popup platform data, pop-ups that offer a discount achieve a 7.45% conversion rate – 62% higher than those without discounts.
- Use upselling. Using a simple “you might also like” or “frequently bought together” section on your product page or checkout can help increase the AOV. You can use Shopify upsell apps like Kaching or Upsell.com for adding upsells easily.
7. Create a loyalty program
Loyalty programs help turn one-time buyers into loyal customers by offering rewards. They offer specific deals or free items for repeat customers, which helps increase sales in the long run.
One successful loyalty program example is Starbucks Rewards. It had over 32.8 million active Starbucks Rewards members in 2024 Q2. As of 2026 Q1, they’ve noted that their program has over 35.5 million active members.
Members get 3 status levels with different benefits, like bonus stars and free birthday treats. Users can then exchange the stars they collect for freebies, like a free drink or Starbucks merchandise.
You can easily create your own reward program adapted to your business and increase sales by leveraging a Shopify loyalty app, like BON Loyalty. It allows setting up various types of loyalty programs, like earn points systems, referral programs, and VIP tiers.
Plus, BON Loyalty is easy to use and even allows generating a loyalty program with AI to help you save time.
8. Optimize your product pages
Even if you get traffic to your store, it doesn’t guarantee conversions if you have poorly optimized product pages.
Here are a few common optimization strategies we’d recommend specifically for product pages:
- Make SEO metadata engaging – meta titles and meta descriptions are the first thing users see on search engines, so you have to make them engaging. If you track Google Analytics data and see that you get high impressions but low clicks, it’s a sign that metadata needs improvements. Include the main keyword and add a call to action to make your page irresistible to click.
- Use high-quality images – in product pages, we recommend a 2048 x 2048 pixel image size, and no more than 20 MB in file size.
- Optimize the checkout process – make sure site visitors can check out quickly and without issues. Make the Add to Cart button visible and include an FAQ section for common questions that you may get, like information about shipping or return policy.
- Craft an engaging product description – keep the content clear and simple, prioritizing user benefits instead of simply naming features.
As an example, here’s a product description example of a Reebok jacket:
The product description is just 44 words and explains the main features, such as “durable water-repellent finish” and “reflective details.” However, it also mentions benefits for the user, including “stay dry as you keep pace with the elements” and “stash your small stuff in the side pockets.”
9. Gather customer reviews
Adding customer reviews to your website or product pages can increase customer trust and influence their purchasing decisions. Photo and video reviews are especially useful because they help potential customers see the product in use.
For example, Mary Kay collected over 1,100 reviews and saw a 3.19x higher conversion rate for users who viewed customer product images. Meanwhile, the WEBS yarn store results showed a 22% conversion lift from users who interacted with ratings and reviews.
Shopify doesn’t have an option to add customer reviews, but you can get a third-party app like Judge.me, which has a generous free plan with unlimited reviews.
To collect reviews, you can start by sending follow-up emails after purchase, requesting customers to leave feedback about your product.
Don’t stress about negative reviews – they make your store look more trustworthy compared to stores that display 5-star reviews only.
10. Add trust signals
Your site visitors may not trust your brand if it’s new and doesn’t have any reviews, which could lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversions. There are a couple of things worth adding to increase their trust:
- Secure payment badges – under the checkout button, insert icons of known payment providers, like Mastercard or PayPal. Users are more likely to trust stores where they know that their payment information is secured. Many themes have trust badges available, but if yours doesn’t, we often use apps like Essential Trust Badges to add them quickly.
- Return policy – clearly mention what your return policy is in your product pages to remove purchasing doubts from potential customers.
- Contact information – create a separate page where users can find information on how to reach you, such as an email or phone number.
- SSL certificates – these are small lock icons by your URL that indicate that your website is secured. They’re added on Shopify by default and for free.
Conclusion
Ads can help find potential customers quicker, but for many merchants, it’s an expensive step that they may not have the budget for right now. Luckily, with the right strategies, getting sales without ads is possible.
The most important parts you can focus on to increase conversions are to optimize your website for SEO to gain higher visibility in search engines and run email marketing campaigns. We also recommend creating social media profiles to promote your business through creative posts or running an SEO-optimized blog on your store.
Whatever strategies you decide to use, make sure you stay consistent. Continuously test what works and what doesn’t, and eventually, your Shopify sales will skyrocket.
Frequently asked questions
You can get quick sales on Shopify by posting on social media or running contests, or, if your store is getting traffic, using pop-ups to give first-time buyers a small discount. If you can invest, you can use paid advertising to reach your target audience.
It’s not obligatory to run ads for your Shopify store to make sales. It may take more time and effort, but optimizing your website for SEO, using email marketing, promoting your store on social media, or writing a blog can get you steadier sales in the long run.
You can increase Shopify sales for free by optimizing your website for SEO, creating loyalty programs, adopting email marketing, or writing blog content to promote products. It’s also useful to optimize your pages for user experience and to decrease pain points. This includes such strategies as adding customer reviews or offering welcome deals.
