THE OCM JOURNAL · WRITTEN FROM THE BENCH

Notes from 800+ stores' worth of work.

Magento, Shopify, performance, and ecommerce growth - written by the developers doing the work, not a content team. What we fixed, what broke, and what we learned.

ALL POSTS MAGENTO MAGENTO EXTENSIONS OCM LABS PERFORMANCE SEO & GROWTH SHOPIFY

Nº 024SEO & GROWTH

HOW TO CREATE PRODUCT IMAGES THAT REALLY CONVERT

You might have heard on the grapevine that there’s a buzz around voice search as the future of online shopping, but the truth is image search is up there with it. Studies from Gartner predict that visual and voice search will be responsible for 30 percent of all eCommerce revenue by 2021. We are an image-centered culture. We respond to beautiful things, idyllic images, and relatable pictures. Our human brain is programmed to respond to images in less than a second. In fact, it takes one-quarte

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2025.02 · 24 MIN

Nº 023SEO & GROWTH

How to Get Quality Customer Reviews

Most ecommerce stores ask for reviews wrong - or not at all. Here's a practical system for collecting product reviews that actually drive conversions, with specific tools and timing for Shopify and Magento stores.

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2026.04 · 5 MIN

Nº 022SEO & GROWTH

HOW TO CREATE A HYPERLOCAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Most of us expect Google to take our location into account when browsing the internet, especially on mobile devices. You no longer even have to enter the words ‘near me’ into your search bar to get restaurants, shops, information and adverts targeted to your exact location. So, maybe it’s time you made your marketing campaigns reflect this location-centric attitude. It’s called hyperlocal marketing. It’s aimed at people in a specific area and it can seriously optimize your store and increase suc

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2025.02 · 5 MIN

Nº 021SEO & GROWTH

How to SEO Optimize Your Ecommerce Store

Most ecommerce stores lose organic traffic to fixable mistakes - thin product descriptions, missing schema markup, and bloated page loads. Here's a practical SEO playbook covering site architecture, on-page optimization, technical performance, and content strategy that actually moves rankings.

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2026.04 · 8 MIN

Nº 020SEO & GROWTH

How to Keep Customers Loyal

Acquiring a new ecommerce customer costs 5-7x more than retaining an existing one, and every dollar spent on retention returns roughly four times more than chasing new leads. Here's how to build a retention engine with segmentation, email automation, and loyalty programs that actually drive repeat purchases.

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2026.04 · 7 MIN

Nº 019SEO & GROWTH

How to Make Returns Work for You

Turn eCommerce returns from a costly problem into a competitive advantage. Learn how companies like Zappos use generous returns policies to build customer loyalty and drive growth.

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2026.01 · 9 MIN

Nº 018MAGENTO

IS MAGENTO 2 BETTER THAN A SAAS-BASED PLATFORM?

Before you begin building your eCommerce store, or even before a site upgrade, it’s important to know exactly what will work best for you. Broadly speaking there are two ways of doing it. One is to get an out-of-the-box solution – a SaaS, which stands for Software as a Service. Shopify, for example, and BigCommerce, are SaaS hosted stores. They enable you to choose themes, add plugins and build a site within their parameters, while they take care of all the updates and security. Whereas Magento

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2025.02 · 4 MIN

Nº 017MAGENTO

5 MAGENTO SECURITY FAILS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

Security online is a seriously hot topic. Your store needs to be secure and reliable for both you and your customers. Why? Well, for starters, you have access to sensitive data. Everything from your customer’s name, and email address to their bank details and shopping preferences. This is data that needs to be managed sensibly, safely and with sensitivity. We’ve rounded up a few common Magento security failures, how you can avoid them, and maintain a safe eCommerce business. 1. ANCIENT SOFTWA

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2025.02 · 4 MIN

Nº 016MAGENTO

COMMERCE OR OPEN SOURCE? WHICH MAGENTO SITE SUITS YOUR STORE?

Did you know that Magento V2 has two very different options? Understanding the differences, the similarities and knowing what your store needs will help you make the right choice. Let’s clear up the names first. Magento Community Edition (CE) now goes by the name of Magento V2 Open Source. While Magento Enterprise Edition (EE) is best known as Magento V2 Commerce. So, these are your two options when moving to Magento or upgrading your existing Magento site. But what’s the difference? And, which

Shane Blandford · FOUNDER2025.02 · 5 MIN

Notes from 800+ stores' worth of work.

One email a month. What we fixed, what we learned.