Solved: Finding Quality Beta Testers for Shopify SEO App

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance on getting quality beta testers for your new Shopify SEO app. It's a common problem, and frankly, most founders go about it the wrong way, wasting time on people who will never become customers.

The usual advice is to post on Product Hunt or BetaList, but I think that's a mistake for your specific goal. We need to find actual merchants with a real, urgent problem, not just other tech enthusiasts. The key is to treat this not as a "beta test" but as your very first, highly-targeted customer acquisition campaign.

I'd say you need to forget the freebie-seekers...

Right, let's get straight to it. Your goal is to get meaningful feedback and build case studies. This won't come from the usual suspects. The biggest mistake I see SaaS founders make is chasing validation from the wrong crowd. Posting on places like BetaList, Product Hunt, or Indie Hackers seems logical, but it's a trap. Who hangs out there? Mostly other developers, product managers, and early adopters who love trying new tech. They'll give you feedback, sure, but it'll be about UI tweaks, feature requests, and technical implementation. They are not your customer.

Your customer is a stressed-out Shopify merchant. They might be a solopreneur making handcrafted jewelry or a small team selling niche electronics. They likely don't know what "beta testing" even means, and they certainly don't have time to "test software" for fun. They have a business to run. They have a very real, very urgent problem: they are invisible. Their competitors are showing up on the first page of Google, and they're stuck on page ten, bleeding money on ads that don't convert because their organic presence is non-existent. They don't want to test an app; they want to solve their sales problem.

This is why you have to pivot your mindset. You are not looking for testers. You are looking for your first handful of ideal customers, and you're going to give them an incredible deal to come on board. The only reliable way to find these specific people, at scale, is with paid advertising. It allows you to bypass the noise and speak directly to the person whose problem you solve. I've seen this work time and time again for B2B SaaS. I remember one campaign we worked on for a software client that brought in over 5,000 trial sign-ups for just $7 each, purely by targeting the right people on Meta with the right message. That's the power of this approach.

Your ICP is a Nightmare, Not a Demographic

Before you spend a single pound on ads, we have to get this bit right. Forget "Shopify merchants" as a target. It's uselessly broad. We need to define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by their pain. Your ad copy, your landing page, and your offer must revolve around their specific, urgent, and expensive nightmare.

So, what is the nightmare? Let's brainstorm a few possibilities:

• The "Ad Spend Panic" Merchant: They're pouring hundreds or thousands a month into Facebook or Google ads, but their costs are rising and ROAS is dropping. They know SEO is the long-term answer, but they find it terrifyingly complex and don't know where to start. Their nightmare is watching their ad budget evaporate with nothing to show for it.
• The "Competitor Envy" Merchant: They search for their own products and see the same three competitors pop up on Google every single time. They know they have a better product, but they feel helpless and frustrated. Their nightmare is being outsold by an inferior competitor simply because of better visibility.
• The "Content Overwhelm" Merchant: They've been told to "start a blog" for SEO. So they've spent hours writing posts, but nothing happens. No traffic, no sales. They're exhausted and feel like they're shouting into the void. Their nightmare is wasting precious time on marketing activities that produce zero results.

See the difference? We're not talking about store size or revenue. We're talking about a specific, emotional problem state. Your app is not "an SEO tool." It's the antidote to their nightmare. Once you decide which nightmare you're solving, every single piece of communication becomes laser-focused. You're not selling features; you're selling relief from their biggest business anxiety. This is teh single most important shift you need to make. Do this work first, or you have no business running ads.

We'll need to look at building an irresistible offer...

Now that we know who we're talking to and what their problem is, we need to craft an offer they can't refuse. And "Beta Test My App" is not it. It's a terrible offer. It screams "unfinished, buggy, and I want you to do free work for me."

You need to reframe this completely. Delete the word "beta" from your vocabulary. Instead, you are launching a private, invitation-only "Shopify SEO Founders Program" or an "Early Access Partnership."

The offer is simple and packed with value:

"Get our complete Shopify SEO platform, a full 12 months of access, completely free. In exchange, we ask for 30 minutes of your time per month for feedback and the possibility of featuring your success story."

This does a few things:

1. It positions the value upfront: They get a powerful, valuable tool for free. The value is clear and immediate.
2. It creates scarcity and exclusivity: "Founders Program" or "Early Access" sounds important and limited. It's not for everyone.
3. It reframes "feedback" as a high-value exchange: You're not asking for a favour; you're proposing a partnership where their expert insights help shape the future of the tool.
4. It filters out the wrong people: Someone just looking for a free toy won't commit to a feedback call. A serious merchant who wants to solve their SEO problem will see this as an incredible opportunity.

This approach shifts you from a traditional "beta test" funnel, which is often leaky and attracts low-quality users, to a Product Qualified Lead (PQL) funnel. You're not trying to convince them to use the app after they sign up; the app's value is the entire reason they sign up in the first place. They are qualifying themselves by responding to an offer built around solving their core business problem.

You'll need a targeted paid ads strategy...

Okay, this is where the rubber meets the road. We have our ICP's nightmare and our irresistible offer. Now we need to put that offer in front of them. For your specific audience—Shopify merchants—I would start with Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Ads. Why? Because it offers some decent targeting options for small business owners and e-commerce entrepreneurs, and it's generally more cost-effective for this type of initial campaign than, say, LinkedIn.

Your campaign structure should be simple. Don't overcomplicate it. You want one campaign with a "Leads" or "Sales" (optimising for signups) objective. Even though you aren't charging money, you want to tell Meta's algorithm to find people who are likely to take an action on your website, not just people who look at ads. This is a mistake many make; they run "Reach" campaigns and wonder why no one signs up. You're paying the algorithm to find non-customers.

Inside that campaign, you'll test different audiences in seperate ad sets. Here's how I would prioritise them:

Phase 1: Detailed Targeting (Your Starting Point)

This is where you'll start, as you have no data yet. The goal is to build audiences based on interests and behaviours that strongly correlate with being a Shopify merchant. You have to be smart here. Targeting just "Shopify" is too broad; it includes employees, developers, and agency staff. We need to layer interests to get closer to the actual store owner.

Here are some audience ideas to test in different ad sets:

• Audience A (The Core): People who are Admins of a Facebook Page AND have an interest in "Shopify". This is a solid starting point.
• Audience B (The Competitor-Aware): People with an interest in "Shopify" AND interests in major e-commerce tools like "Klaviyo", "Mailchimp", or competitor SEO apps.
• Audience C (The Growth-Minded): People with an interest in "Shopify" AND interests in e-commerce publications or influencers like "Shopify Plus", "eCommerceFuel", or "Ezra Firestone".
• Audience D (The Broader E-comm): People with interests in "WooCommerce" or "BigCommerce" who are also "Small business owners". You might find merchants looking to switch or those who follow the whole ecosystem.

Phase 2: Lookalikes & Retargeting (Once you have data)

After you get your first 100+ signups, you can start building more powerful audiences. You'll create a Custom Audience of everyone who signed up for the Early Access Program. Then, you'll create a Lookalike Audience based on them. This tells Meta, "Go find me more people who look exactly like the ones who already signed up." This is almost always your best-performing audience once you have enough data to build it properly.

Your Ad Creative & Messaging

Your ads need to speak directly to the nightmare we defined. Don't lead with features. Lead with the pain. Use the Before-After-Bridge formula.

Example Ad Copy (for the "Ad Spend Panic" Merchant):

Headline: Tired of Burning Cash on Ads?

Body: Before: Watching your Shopify ad spend climb while sales stay flat. Another month of hoping, not knowing. After: Waking up to sales from customers who found you for free on Google. Predictable, profitable growth.

We're looking for 50 Shopify stores to join our exclusive Early Access Program for a new app that automates your store's SEO. Get a free 12-month pro license. Limited spots available.

CTA: Get Free Access

This copy works because it hits on the exact pain point, presents a desirable future state, and then introduces your app as the bridge to get there, all wrapped in a high-value, exclusive offer. Test a few different angles based on the different nightmares. Video ads, even simple ones of you talking to the camera about the problem, can work really well too.

Budget and What to Expect

So, what will this cost? It's impossible to say for sure, but we can make an educated estimate based on experience. For B2B software, getting a lead or a trial signup on Meta in developed countries like the UK or US can range anywhere from £5 to £50. It depends heavily on your targeting, ad creative, and landing page.

I always tell clients to be prepared to spend at least £1,000-£2,000 to get enough data to know what's working. Don't start with £10 a day; you'll never get enough data to make decisions. Start with at least £50-£100 per day, spread across 2-3 ad sets. Let them run for 4-5 days. If an ad set has spent, say, £150 and hasn't brought in a single signup, turn it off. If another is bringing in signups for £10, double its budget.

Here's a simple calculator to help you model out some potential scenarios. Play around with the numbers to see how your Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and Landing Page Conversion Rate (CVR) impact your final Cost Per Beta Tester.

You probably should focus on the onboarding and feedback loop...

Getting the signup is only half the battle. Your second question was about keeping them active and responsive, which is absolutly essential. Your onboarding process needs to be designed to deliver an "aha!" moment as quickly as possible.

When someone signs up, don't just send a generic "Welcome" email. Your first communication should be hyper-focused on action and value. Something like:

Subject: Your first SEO win in 5 minutes

"Hi [Name], thanks for joining the Founders Program. Let's get you a quick win right now. The single biggest issue we see with Shopify stores is missing image alt-text. It's a simple fix that can immediately improve your rankings. Here's a 60-second video showing you exactly how to fix it for your entire store using the app."

This does two things: it gets them to log in and use the product immediately, and it delivers a tangible result right away. They feel smart and accomplished. Your onboarding should be a series of these quick wins, each one tackling a specific SEO problem and demonstrating the power of your app.

For feedback, don't rely on surveys. They're impersonal and get low response rates. Your offer included a commitment for their time, so use it. Proactively schedule 15-20 minute calls. Frame it as a strategy session, not a feedback request:

"Hi [Name], I'd love to jump on a quick call next week to personally review your store's SEO progress and identify your next big opportunity. I also have a couple of questions about your experience with the app so far that would be a huge help."

On these calls, you can get the deep, qualitative feedback you need. And when you find someone who has had great results, you pivot: "This is an amazing result. Would you be open to us writing up a short case study about your store's success? It would be great promotion for your brand." And there you have it: your first case study, sourced directly from a highly-qualified user you found through a strategic process.

This entire system—from defining the pain to crafting the offer, targeting with ads, and onboarding for value—is designed to acheive your specific goals: active users, meaningful feedback, and powerful case studies. It requires more thought and a small investment upfront than just throwing a link on a forum, but the quality of the outcome is night and day.

This is the main advice I have for you:

I've covered a lot of ground, so here's a summary of my main recommendations in a more structured format for you to implement.

Why you might want some expert help

Look, I've just laid out a pretty comprehensive strategy for you. You could definitly take this and run with it yourself. But the truth is, each of these steps—defining the ICP, crafting ad copy, navigating Meta's ad platform, optimising campaigns—has its own learning curve. As the founder, your time is best spent talking to those users and building a great product, not becoming a paid advertising expert overnight.

This is where working with a specialist can make a huge difference. We've run dozens of these B2B SaaS launch campaigns. We know the benchmarks, we know which audiences to test first, and we know how to write copy that converts. We can help you bypass the expensive trial-and-error phase, get you higher-quality testers faster, and ensure your initial budget is spent as effectively as possible.

You're building the engine; our job is to put the right fuel in it from day one. If you'd like to chat more about how we could specifically apply this framework to your app and get your Founders Program filled with ideal merchants, I'd be happy to offer you a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session where we can dive into your specific plans.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh