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It’s quite common to see e-commerce sites adding a blog of some type. However, adding a blog for its sake does little to serve the site’s purpose. As a matter of fact, the big question should be, “why should you add a blog to your e-commerce site?”
In this article, we will explore four reasons why you should add a blog to your e-commerce site. Understanding the benefits a blog can bring can help you create the right content and structure it in a way that sets your blog up for success.
Please bear in mind that we’re not only thinking about search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is important on Shopify (there are numerous SEO apps that can improve your rankings), but it’s not the only reason to start a blog. So, let’s take a look at how a solid e-commerce blog strategy can help enhance your e-commerce site’s performance.
The main objective of an e-commerce blog strategy is to drive traffic to your online store. In other words, the point is to attract more customers to your store.
Let’s think about it this way:
In the olden days, stores offered free food and drinks so customers would enter their store. Other stores let people use bathrooms for free just so they would enter the store. However, there was a catch. The bathrooms were all the way in the back of the store.
Why?
Placing the bathrooms in the back of the store forced people to go through the entire store and check everything out to get to the bathroom. The intention was that people would spot something they liked and purchase it.
So, think of a blog as a way of getting customers into your store by offering value for free.
In the previous examples, stores offered food and drinks as a free value to get people in the store. Your blog offers free and valuable content to get people in the store. Once they check out your content, they will be enticed to make a purchase. Perhaps folks won’t make a purchase on their very first visit, but they eventually will.
But how exactly does a blog drive traffic to your site?
The most obvious answer is SEO. By including specific keywords in your blog posts, search engines such as Google will find your site. When search engines find your site, customers will see your store. For instance, a watch retailer starts a blog about watches. In particular, there is a blog post titled “The Best Watch on the Market.”
What is the point of the blog post?
Firstly, it provides customers with information about the best watch on the market. It intends to provide information so customers can make a decision on watches to buy. Secondly, the keywords “best watch” and “market” aim to place the blog on search engines. Once users find the blog, they can click on links to take them to the e-commerce site.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
On the surface, it is. However, a successful blogging strategy requires your shop to deliver value consistently. The last thing users want is a mindless marketing copy or useless mumbo-jumbo. The more value your blog can deliver, the more your customers will engage with your brand. Soon enough, your customers will come to trust your brand.
Please don’t forget one of the most important lessons in marketing. Your blog should be part of your overall brand positioning strategy. In other words, you must strive to maintain your brand in your customers’ minds at all times. You can achieve this by consistently delivering valuable information. A well-crafted blog will become another powerful weapon in your e-commerce arsenal.
In addition to boosting SEO, there are four major advantages to adding a blog to your e-commerce site as part of your overall brand positioning strategy.
Adding a blog to your website helps establish your brand as an industry leader.
How so?
An effective blog on your e-commerce site allows you to show off your knowledge about the products and services you offer. In other words, you have the chance to demonstrate that you know your stuff. By giving your customers valuable information, you can establish your brand’s authority in your respective market.
Please bear in mind that this strategy works when you add an insightful blog to your website. Otherwise, irrelevant content may cause users to dismiss your brand. But there is one other important aspect to making your brand authoritative. As users see the value in the information you provide, they will be much likelier to purchase from your online store. Your e-commerce blogging goal must, therefore, be to provide as much useful information as possible.
With authority comes trust. Adding a blog to your website enables you to build credibility by establishing your authority. As you demonstrate your authority, you can then build trust in your brand.
Think about that for a moment.
The world’s most popular brands build trust in their customers by showing off their expertise. Customers prefer brands that have a proven track record. After all, would you trust a doctor that doesn’t know what they are talking about? Would you entrust your financial future to an advisor that can’t give you clear information?
These examples highlight how expertise builds trust over time. Therefore, a blog on your e-commerce site allows you to give customers the opportunity to get valuable information before making an informed decision.
How does a blog enable you to deliver useful information?
Adding a blog to your website allows you to go into depth regarding any topic(s) your customers want to know about. Detailed explanations or product specifications work very well in a long-form blog. In contrast, prolonged video presentations or extensive emails may hurt your brand instead of helping it.
Customers will keep coming back to your blog with time because they know they will find key information. This trust is what will help you build customer loyalty and grow your business over the long haul.
The last thing customers want is to get constant emails pushing products or offers. Sure, your customers will appreciate periodic information about your products or services. However, promotional emails can get annoying after a while.
So, what can you do about it?
Adding a blog to your website gives you the perfect reason to reach out to customers. By saying, “hello, check out this new blog post,” you engage customers without “selling” them anything. Instead of being salesy, you can maintain a consistent conversation with your customers regarding topics of their interest.
Would you like to take this strategy one step further?
You can ask your customers what topics they would like to see on your blog. By asking customers about their interests, you encourage them to become active participants in your marketing strategy. Then, you can deliver exactly what they want to hear.
Think about it this way:
It’s like reading your customers’ minds. Except you don’t have to be a mind-reader. They are happy to tell you what’s on their minds. Your challenge then becomes to deliver the content they want to see. You help build your brand’s authority and trust when you do that.
A blog on an e-commerce site allows new users to find your content. Thus, they also find your shop. This situation allows you to engage folks you wouldn’t otherwise have found. At first glance, you might think this leads to more sales. While that is true, it also opens the door to adding subscribers to your mailing list.
Why is adding subscribers to your mailing list important?
You see, not everyone is ready to purchase right away. In fact, there might be folks who will take a while before making their first purchase on your site. But that doesn’t mean they won’t follow your content. If your content is good, they will follow it. As a result, you can build your subscriber base by asking them to sign up for your newsletter to get notifications about upcoming content.
Of course, you can always take that strategy one step further.
By subscribing, folks get access to special deals before everyone else. Adding a blog to your website allows you to offer these deals without “pushing” them on your customers. Please remember that the aim is to maintain constant engagement with customers. Adding a blog to your website filled with useful and relevant information is a great way to do so.
Writing a blog might seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually pretty straightforward. Follow these e-commerce blog tips to get started.
1. Plan your topics. Start by coming up with some topics for your blog posts. Make sure they are relevant to your audience, and also relevant to your store, your products, and your brand. It’s a good idea to come up with 15-20 blog post ideas for e-commerce right away, and make sure that they are unique so that your content won’t overlap or be repetitive between your posts.
2. Do your keyword research. For each topic, do a Google search around the topic to identify the keywords associated with each topic. Type the keywords you want your blog posts to rank for into Google, and take a look at the results that come up. This will give you an idea of the type of content you need to create in order to rank for those keywords. Use the “people also ask” and “related searches” section to identify more relevant keywords.
3. Write to your audience. You know your audience better than anyone, so speak to them in a language that resonates. Make the blog posts broad enough to be of interest to someone who has never heard of your brand, but it’s ok to mention your brand or explain how your products can help to solve a specific problem.
4. Avoid common e-commerce blogging mistakes. Don’t make your blogs too promotional or focused on your brand – one of the ideas of blogging is to bring in new customers (people who have likely never heard of your brand), so it may be too soon to start promoting your products. Similarly, make sure your blogs provide interesting, helpful content for readers and aren’t just focused on keywords – this will help your brand to establish trust and authority among new readers.
With PickyStory, you can actually enjoy another benefit of your blog. PickyStory deal widgets can be added to almost any page of your e-commerce store, including your blog posts. This gives you even more opportunities to sell to your customers!
So, how does it work?
If you sell beauty products, and you’re writing a beginner’s guide with some basic makeup tips for your audience, why not also offer them the products you are mentioning throughout the blog? Use PickyStory to create a “makeup starter kit” and drag the deal widget onto the blog post page.
Your customers can shop while they read, and it’s a great time to target them with product deals because they are engaged and invested in your article.
Blogging for e-commerce is one of the most effective marketing strategies you can use to take your online store to the next level.
So, what are you waiting for?
By implementing a blog on your e-commerce site, you can ensure consistent two-way communication with your customers. You can provide them with useful and relevant information they want to know.
In turn, your customers see you as a trusted authority in your specific industry. Once you have established your brand as a trusted market leader, you’ll be ready to make the leap to the next level.
If you’re looking for more Shopify tips and recommendations, check out the PickyStory blog.
Good Luck!
PickyStory helps e-commerce merchants to collect hidden revenue by selling products together. PickyStory offers a variety of deals like Bundle Products, Combo Products, Bundle Builder, Kits, Looks, and Coupons.
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