When you’re running an e-commerce business, finding ways to boost traffic and engage with your customers can be challenging. Fortunately, adding a blog to your online store can help you achieve both of these goals. That’s because a blog can improve your search engine rankings and organically create a place to interact with your users.
In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of adding a blog to your online store. Then, we’ll provide some examples for how you can get started. Finally, we’ll cover four ways you can use your blog to improve your business. Let’s get to it!
The Benefits of Adding a Blog to Your Online Store
Adding a blog to your online store can have many benefits. Primarily, it can help you organically generate leads. When you create quality, SEO-optimized content, you can increase your company’s visibility in search results. You can also use your blog to promote mailing list sign-ups.
In addition, a blog can help you convert existing leads into customers. For example, it offers you the chance to promote your products in a more in-depth way. By creating comprehensive product reviews or roundups, you can give users a better sense of what you’re selling. This may help you convince consumers who are on the fence about investing in your product or services.
Furthermore, creating consistent, high-quality content can help establish your brand identity and voice. If that voice is strong and authoritative, users might begin to see your brand as a trustworthy source. This in turn, can encourage return visits and boost sales.
The opportunities for exposure don’t end there. You can also share your blog posts on social media. This can organically boost your customer engagement, as users can interact via comments and likes. They can also comment on your blog posts directly.
Lastly, when you add a blog to your online store, you are expanding your potential for paid advertising. You may not want to clutter your product pages with ads, but customers are likely accustomed to seeing them on blogs.
How to Create a Blog for Your Online Store
Now that you know a bit about the many benefits of adding a blog to your online store, you probably want to know how to create one. One of the easiest ways to do this is by pairing WordPress with WooCommerce.
WordPress offers a wide range of customization options that are ideal for a supplemental e-commerce blog. With thousands of themes and plugins, the platform is versatile, and you can adapt it to your needs. Moreover, if your current platform doesn’t have a blogging option, you can easily make a standalone WordPress blog.
However, if you already have an online store on another platform, such as Wix, you can always check and see if it has a built-in blogging feature.
Once you’ve created and designed your blog, you can also adapt it for monetization. There are a few ways you can do this. Beyond promoting your products, you can feature advertisements or adopt an affiliate marketing strategy.
At this stage, you can also optimize your blog for SEO purposes. This way, you’ll make the most out of your new channel. After that, you should be ready to brainstorm your blog topics.
4 Ways You Can Use Your Blog to Boost Your Online Store
So far, we’ve covered the benefits of adding a blog to your online store and how to get started. Now, we’ll go over some specific strategies for boosting your e-commerce business using blog content.
1. How-To Tutorials
One of the primary reasons people use search engines is to find out how to perform tasks. From fixing things to cooking, beginners often turn to the vast resources of the internet when they need assistance.
Therefore, how-to tutorials make excellent content for new blogs. You can write about any problem that your customers might have. For instance, if you sell clothes, you might write guides on fashion trends or finding the right fit for your clothing.
A video game store could post walkthroughs of the latest releases or tips on finishing a particular level. Recipes can also be considered how-to tutorials. Great Jones, a company that makes cookware, uses these well:
Ultimately, sharing your knowledge will increase your image as an authority and as a “go-to” place for solutions. When you demonstrate that you are an expert in your field, customers are more likely to trust your website and feel comfortable buying your products.
2. Industry News and Updates
The rise of social media has transformed the news cycle. Now, the medium moves even faster, and readers have plenty of opportunities to react to new information.
As a blogger, you can leverage this social model to win leads. You can create posts that report the latest news and developments within your niche, while simultaneously drawing customers closer to your store. For instance, a high-end clothing company may report on fashion week.
However, keep in mind that this type of content requires you to have a good understanding of current events. What’s more, you’ll need to produce this content quickly, so that it doesn’t lose relevance. One typical post type is trendjacking, where you add your thoughts and opinions to the news.
Almost any product can find relevant news topics. For instance, BioLite sells outdoor energy gear with a focus on sustainability. Therefore, its blog often features news on clean energy:
These kinds of posts, if published regularly, can encourage visitors to return time and again. Similar to other quality articles, they can improve your search rankings and are highly shareable on social media.
3. Thought Leadership
When done correctly, thought leadership posts can be a considerable asset in defining your brand. However, it’s best to think of thought leadership as an approach rather than a type of content.
In a nutshell, this is when your unique ideas drive your blog. It expresses how your company positions itself within your niche and defines how you want customers to see your brand.
Authenticity is essential in thought leadership, so your posts should show a genuinely unique perspective and expertise. You might, for example, post personal narratives or counter-narrative opinions. Additionally, you can consider industry analysis or data storytelling.
Consider the Wldflwrs is a fine jewelry shop from Nashville. Alongside promoting its own products, its blog shares the personal experiences of its founder:
Thought leadership sets you up as an authority, and can also show your potential for innovation. Many people want to hear new opinions and read about experiences that may help inform their own circumstances.
4. Promote Your Products
It may seem obvious that you can use your blog to promote your products, but there are many different ways you can do this. A blog post allows you to expand on your product, giving the customer more information than you can provide in a listing.
However, you can also get creative with product promotion. For example, you might feature guest posts that review a product. You can even create infographics or product lists based on the season.
Lemon Stripes is a boutique for women’s fashion and home goods. The blog is featured as the home page, with heavy promotion of the company’s products:
At the end of the day, customers don’t like buying blind. As such, the more information you give them, the more likely they may be to buy your items. By answering potential customer questions and featuring independent reviews, you can give users a fuller picture of the items in your online store.
Conclusion
Adding a blog to your online store has plenty of benefits. It can help increase your website’s visibility in search engines, and provides a natural location to promote your products. What’s more, getting started is easy with the right tools, and there are many ways to create engaging content.
Do you have any questions about adding a blog to your online store? Let us know in the comments section below!
Image credit: Picography.
0 Comments