A business blog is definitely not something that your eCommerce brand should be neglecting these days. These platforms have become tools for brands to boost online traffic, improve conversion rates, educate customers, stand out from the competition, and establish a brand image.
Here’s everything you need to know about business blogs and how you can start your own.
What Is a Business Blog?
Many people assume that individuals write blogs about niche topics to earn money on the side. But in 2021, businesses are establishing blogs to promote and grow their brands. Most of the time, these blogs are located directly on the brand’s main website, so it’s easy to access. Brands then post content that’s relevant to their industry, products, services, etc.
But why go through all the trouble and writing to start a business blog?
How Can eCommerce Blogs Impact Your Business?
Blogs are particularly beneficial for eCommerce brands as it helps them boost online traffic, improve conversion rates, educate customers, stand out from the competition, and establish a brand image. Let’s learn more about each of these five benefits:
1. Boost Online Traffic
For starters, eCommerce blogs help you to boost online traffic to your site. When done right, business blogs help your search engine optimization or SEO. With the right keywords and word counts, you can improve your search engine rankings — hopefully ending up at the very top of the list.
When users see your brand at the top of the search results page, they’re more likely to see your brand as legitimate and click on your site as a result. This incredible form of organic growth marketing doesn’t involve paying for inauthentic and often annoying advertisements.
Thanks to more people on your site, you can get more leads and, hopefully, conversions at the end of the day.
2. Improve Conversion Rates
ECommerce blogs also help you to improve conversion rates. This is because blogs make your brand professional, trustworthy, and legitimate. After all, what kind of illegitimate site is going to spend time and resources developing a branded blog? None.
3. Educate and Inform Customers
eCommerce blogs also help you to improve conversion rates by educating and informing customers about your products. If customers have questions about products before purchasing, this is one place that they can look for more information.
You can include product guides, question and answer sessions, or promote new product features on your blog.
4. Stand Out From the Competition
If you’re looking to stand out from a crowded field of competitors, look no further than eCommerce blogs. Many eCommerce brands neglect this area, so this is a great way to set yourself apart from the competition.
The odds are that customers will acknowledge and appreciate the time and effort you put into your blog so long as it caters to their interests and questions.
5. Establish Trustworthy Brand Image
Finally, eCommerce blogs help you to establish a trustworthy brand image. Trust is everything when it comes to eCommerce as customers are looking to purchase from reputable brands that they trust to deliver high-quality products as expected. When you take the time to invest in a quality blog, customers will take note.
You can also further establish your brand image by incorporating industry experts or trusted outside sources into your blog. Don’t be afraid to reach out to relevant platforms directly to see if they will feature your content — and make sure to brag about such features on your blog.
How to Establish an Effective Blog for Your eCommerce Business?
Clearly, you need to establish an effective blog for your eCommerce business as soon as possible to start benefiting from it. However, doing so is easier said than done. While you may be able to launch a blog overnight, it will take some time to build it. So here’s what you need to do to get started:
1. Write About Relevant Topics
The first step to establishing your eCommerce blog is writing about relevant topics your customers care about. You should first research your industry to see what’s happening and find potential topics. If you can’t find any good leads that way, then you may want to reach out to your customers directly and ask them.
The best way to do this is to use your email list. Simply send out a quick survey to your most loyal and engaged customers to see what they’re interested in. From there, you can start building your list of potential titles and move on to the next step.
2. Write Frequently
The second step to establishing your eCommerce blog is to write frequently. Customers will want to see that you’re dedicated to your blog and that it’s not something that you thought about once but then forgot about. Obviously, this won’t happen overnight — and it shouldn’t.
Instead, you need to set a reasonable goal of how many blog posts you’re able to write and post each week. For instance, you may be able to start out with three per week before expanding to five per week once you’re more familiar with the process.
No matter how many you’re able to write, just make sure that you plan out your titles and stick to a schedule for a more methodical and effective approach.
3. Focus on Keywords and Word Count
The third step to establishing your eCommerce blog is to focus on keywords and word count. When focusing on keywords, you need to do your research to choose the most effective ones. Consider what your customers are searching for and choose the most meaningful yet least competitive ones where you can stand out.
For word count, make sure that your content is in line with other sources out there. For instance, one keyword may require a longer article of 2,000 words, whereas another keyword may require a shorter article of 1,000 words.
4. Allow Users to Interact With Your Content
The fourth step to establishing your eCommerce blog allows users to interact with your content directly on your site. Add in reach and comment features to make this easy. You should also post your content on your social media platforms so that people can interact and share it there as well.
5. Bring in Outside Sources and Experts
The fifth step to establishing your eCommerce blog is to bring in outside sources and experts. Interviewing industry experts or bringing in guest writers is a great way to boost the relevance of your blog.
Additionally, you may want to consider bringing in some experts to help you with the blogging process in general. For instance, marketing and SEO experts can do a lot of this work for you — and likely with better results since they are trained professionals. They can help with keyword research to title drafting, writing the actual articles, editing them, and eventually posting them.
Final Thoughts on eCommerce Business Blogs
If you want the best experts on your side when it comes to building your eCommerce blog, look no further than Greg Gillman. Greg Gillman specializes in omnichannel growth strategies for direct-to-consumer brands like Petco, Adidas, Ring, Lunya, and more. He has helped his clients generate more than $4 billion in revenue — and he can help you too. Reach out to talk specifics.
Sources:
The 6 Elements of the Content Marketing Process | Search Engine Journal
How to Write a Successful Blog That Also Promotes Your Business | The Guardian
40 Blog Post Ideas for Your Small Business Blog | The Balance Small Business
