RUNESILK case study
From overlooked product to search-led growth
How a four-week Shopify, SEO and GEO project turned an underperforming anti-dandruff beard shampoo into a focused organic growth opportunity, supported by a successful launch through Amazon FBA.
Shopify Ecommerce SEO GEO and AI search Custom Liquid Amazon FBA Four-week build
RUNESILK beard shampoo
5–10 to 137 units a month on Amazon UK alone.
Project context: RUNESILK was created and is operated by Daniel Jones, founder of Cape Wired. This internal brand project provided a real commercial environment in which to test the same Shopify, SEO, content, GEO and marketplace methods Cape Wired applies to product-led businesses.
Early performance
Shopify SEO case study results across search, sales and marketplaces
The core Shopify, SEO and GEO project was completed in four weeks. Before the project, the shampoo sold 5 to 10 units a month. Between 15 September and 15 October 2026 it sold 137 units on Amazon UK alone, before counting Shopify sales, alongside continued growth in search impressions and tracked AI visibility. See "How to read the figures" further down the page for how the reporting periods relate to each other.
5–10 → 137
Shampoo units a month
On Amazon UK alone, 15 Sep – 15 Oct 2026, before Shopify sales.
108
Shopify units in 90 days
Shampoo units sold to 95 buyers through the RUNESILK store over the past 90 days.
30.8K
Search impressions
Recorded in Google Search Console over the most recent 28 days, up from 11.2K the period before.
50%
AI brand visibility
Across the prompts and supported AI platforms tracked in Ubersuggest.
The challenge
A strong product that was not receiving enough attention
RUNESILK's SLS-free anti-dandruff beard shampoo had a clear purpose, a specialist formula and independent award recognition, but sales were not reflecting its potential. Competing head-on for broad terms such as "beard oil" would have meant entering an established, crowded search market already dominated by larger competitors' authority, content libraries and advertising presence.
The opportunity was not to shout louder about another beard-care product. It was to become more useful around a specific problem.
RUNESILK's beard shampoo and conditioner range.
Underperforming sales
The shampoo had a strong formula and proposition, but was selling only 5 to 10 units a month.
Crowded category terms
Generic beard-care keywords were highly competitive and dominated by established brands.
Theme limitations
The existing Shopify theme restricted how much useful product, education and comparison content could be presented.
The strategic idea
Focus on the customer's problem, not only the product
The strategy centred on beard dandruff, visible flakes, itching and dry skin beneath the beard. These were real concerns that customers were actively researching, but the available information was often generic, fragmented or focused on scalp care.
Rather than create a single sales page and expect it to rank, the project built an interconnected information system around the problem. Educational articles answered early research questions, comparison content helped users evaluate solutions, and the product page became the commercial destination.
- Lead with a clearly defined customer problem.
- Answer informational questions before asking for a sale.
- Connect articles, landing pages, collections and products.
- Give search engines and AI systems clear, consistent context.
- Build useful product pages beyond the theme's default limits.
Work completed
The work behind this Shopify SEO case study
Strategy, research, copy, design, imagery, development, implementation, Amazon listing work and measurement were completed by Daniel Jones without an external development team.
Shopify redesign
The website's visual hierarchy, navigation and key commercial journeys were overhauled to create a more focused ecommerce experience.
Custom Liquid development
Custom sections were created for cosmetic product and collection pages instead of relying on the theme's limited default templates. Claude was used to accelerate parts of this workflow, while direction, testing and deployment remained founder-led.
Product-page rebuild
The shampoo page was expanded with formula information, use cases, comparisons, routines, quick facts, FAQs and stronger purchasing context.
Content cluster
An eight-part beard-dandruff article cluster was produced (full list below).
On-page and technical SEO
Titles, headings, metadata, internal links, indexation, structured content and page relationships were reviewed and improved.
GEO and AI visibility
Copy was structured to make the brand, problem, product attributes and supporting evidence easier for AI-powered search systems to understand.
Conversion improvements
Product benefits, trust signals, comparison information, routines and calls to action were positioned to reduce uncertainty.
Measurement setup
Google Search Console, analytics reporting and AI visibility monitoring were connected or corrected to establish an evidence base for continued optimisation.
Amazon FBA launch
Stock was prepared and sent into Amazon FBA, supported by a new Amazon listing designed to give the product an additional route to market.
The eight-part beard-dandruff content cluster
- Best Beard Shampoo for Dandruff in the UK
- Climbazole in Beard Shampoo: What Does It Do?
- Beard Dandruff vs Dry Skin
- How to Get Rid of Beard Dandruff Without Shaving
- SLS-Free Beard Shampoo: Why It Matters for Facial Skin
- How Often Should You Wash Your Beard?
- Best Beard Care Routine for Itchy, Flaky Beards
- Do You Need a Beard Conditioner?
Performance evidence
Commercial, search and AI visibility moved together
The early results suggest that clearer positioning, deeper product content and problem-led educational pages began increasing discovery while supporting product sales across both the RUNESILK store and Amazon. The screenshots below track how that discovery has continued since the build.
Tracked AI-search visibility
Brand visibility
50%
Share of voice
17.24%
Average rank
1.10
Mentions tracked
10
Lead over nearest named competitor
+10.34 points
This is the most current tracked snapshot, and sits slightly below the 62.5% visibility and 20.62% share of voice recorded in an earlier snapshot. RUNESILK still holds the top average rank in the table and leads the nearest named competitor by over 10 points, a strong position to be defending this early in the campaign. These figures relate only to the prompts, competitors and AI platforms included in the Ubersuggest project during the tracked period and do not represent RUNESILK's share of all AI search.
28-day search impressions and clicks
Impressions rose to 30,800 and clicks to 221 over the most recent 28 days, up from 11,200 impressions and 122 clicks in the prior 28-day period.
AI-generated summary of the account
An automated summary of the account's search performance flagged a 70.4% rise in organic traffic and recommended adding missing H1 tags across five key pages as a next step, an action item that will feed into ongoing optimisation rather than this initial project.
Channel expansion
Strengthening the owned store while testing Amazon FBA
The Shopify store remained the central source of product education, brand authority and customer experience. Amazon FBA was introduced as an additional purchasing channel for customers who prefer the Amazon marketplace and its fulfilment network.
RUNESILK website
108 units
Sold to 95 buyers through the RUNESILK Shopify store over the past 90 days, generating £914.20 in net sales alongside continued growth in search impressions and new-customer acquisition.
Amazon FBA
137 units
Sold through Amazon UK between 15 September and 15 October 2026. Marketplace demand has continued to build since launch rather than tailing off after the initial listing.
What changed
The shampoo became part of a larger discovery journey
Search users no longer had to discover RUNESILK through a generic product page alone. They could enter through educational content, compare beard-specific solutions, understand the role of ingredients such as Climbazole and Bisabolol, and move naturally towards the product. Over the most recent 28-day period, Google Search Console recorded 30,800 impressions and 221 clicks, up from 11,200 impressions and 122 clicks in the 28 days before that, with the homepage, beard-dandruff guide, shampoo landing page and shampoo product page among the leading destinations.
Analytics also recorded 210 shampoo product-page views and 150 active users, representing increases of 139% and 142% respectively against the preceding comparison period. New-customer acquisition rose by 358% over the most recent 60-day trailing window, suggesting the additional discovery is bringing in new buyers rather than only repeat purchases.
Discovery has continued to grow since the build finished. Shopify store sessions for September to date reached 964, up 41% month on month, with orders up 6% to 76.
The subsequent Amazon FBA launch added another route to purchase, and momentum has continued since: 137 shampoo units sold through Amazon UK between 15 September and 15 October 2026, plus 108 through the RUNESILK Shopify store over the past 90 days. Before the project, the shampoo sold 5 to 10 units a month.
How to read the figures
Search Console and analytics tracking were connected or corrected during the project, so early comparisons (including any "previously zero" figures) are directional rather than long-term benchmarks. The 30.8K/11.2K figures compare two adjacent 28-day windows.
Website and Amazon units are reported separately, over different periods: the Amazon figure covers 15 September to 15 October 2026, and the Shopify figure covers the past 90 days. They shouldn't be added together as a single monthly total.
Commercial reality
Built without an agency-sized budget or development team
The project was completed while RUNESILK continued trading and Daniel continued handling the day-to-day responsibilities of operating the business.
Constraint
Limited resources
There was no external development team and no large production budget. Work had to be commercially prioritised and delivered efficiently.
Response
Operator-led execution
Strategy and implementation were handled together, reducing handovers and allowing decisions to be tested directly against the needs of the live store.
Constraint
Theme restrictions
The existing Shopify theme did not provide the content depth or flexibility required for the new product and collection experience.
Response
Custom sections
Purpose-built Liquid sections made it possible to create richer landing pages without replacing the entire Shopify setup or adding unnecessary applications.
Constraint
New marketplace channel
Launching through Amazon required stock preparation, fulfilment planning and marketplace content alongside the wider Shopify and SEO project.
Response
Phased Amazon FBA launch
Initial inventory was sent to Amazon FBA to test marketplace demand while retaining the RUNESILK website as the core brand and education platform.
Key learning
Smaller brands do not always need to compete for the biggest term
A narrower customer problem can create a stronger commercial opportunity than a broad, highly contested category keyword.
By combining a useful content cluster with a detailed product experience, RUNESILK created more ways for customers, search engines and AI systems to understand why the product existed and who it was designed to help.
Adding Amazon FBA demonstrated that owned-store optimisation and marketplace expansion do not have to be competing strategies: the website can build authority and educate the customer while a marketplace provides an additional route to purchase. The first 27 days were only the starting point. With Amazon UK alone now selling 137 units a month against 5 to 10 before the project, and store sessions still rising, search visibility, rankings, direct sales, Amazon performance and AI mentions will continue to be reviewed regularly as the project develops.
Your ecommerce opportunity
Is a strong product being overlooked in your store?
Cape Wired helps product-led businesses identify clearer search opportunities, improve Shopify content and develop practical routes to market across owned stores and selected ecommerce platforms.
Results vary between businesses and depend on factors including market demand, existing authority, implementation, competition, channel conditions, measurement quality and the time available for content and marketplace listings to mature.
You send a short message about the store and the problem.
Daniel replies personally to arrange a first conversation.
You get a clear recommendation: an audit, a project or nothing at all.