Victoria Taylor August 26, 2020 
Creating an eCommerce blog is one of the top three most effective ways to expand your brand’s reach online, organically drive traffic, and boost SEO.
At Wishpond, we’re big believers when it comes to having a blog to capture leads. After al, if you take a closer look, eCommerce blogging is a heavily implemented strategy within the top Shopify stores.
You can use your eCommerce platform to attract new leads and educate customers, but most of all, capture the leads you can remarket to for future sales.
This all sounds good, but how do I use my eCommerce blog to do just that, well, here are eight tested ways to use your eCommerce blog to capture leads and then some:
1. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Increase Your SEO Ranking
First of all, why is SEO important to your eCommerce store? Good Question, that’s because SEO (Search Engine Optimization) allows your content and products to be found. Adding specific keywords to your landing pages or product image’s alt text can help, but it can only take you so far if your competitors are doing the exact thing.
With an eCommerce blog, you can not only add far more keywords but more SEO based content to increase your chance of ranking on the first page of Google, whether someone types in your brand’s name or not. After all, isn’t that the holy grail of SEO to be found on the first page of Google.
eCommerce Blog Example: United By Blue
United By Blue capitalized on niched keywords linked to Covid-19 and Sustainably During Covid-19 to help promote their products and SEO ranking.
In the past 12 months, Google has started rewarding fresh content. This isn’t to say the most recent article will appear before the one with link building, social shares, or colossal readership, but publishing frequently won’t hurt. At all. In fact, it helps to put you ahead of your competitors, especially if you have a solid keyword and SEO strategy for your eCommerce Blog.
If you’re new to SEO, feel free to follow these SEO tips below to get you started on the right track:
- Set up your website according to Google Webmaster Guidelines and make sure that it’s easy to navigate for both users and Google crawl bots.
- Start utilizing the potential of SMO or YouTube SEO, both as a way to improve your Google rankings and gain more traffic through YouTube’s search engine.
- Always strive for quality backlinks that are relevant to your niche, but make sure to get backlinks from a range of sources to make your backlink growth seem more organic.
2. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Highlight New Products
Use your eCommerce blog to show off your new products. Show visitors what’s to come before or on your launch day, show them in detail why your new product deserves to be in their cart.
Even if a customer sees your eCommerce blog post days or months after it can still help to push sales your way, another option, you can also ask an influencer to publish a blog post about your product. Making it a win-win on both ends.
eCommerce Blog Example: Au Lit Fine Linens
When Au Lit Fine Linens launched their new linen collection, they posted an eCommerce blog post showing off the collection in detail, along with the inspiration for the collection itself.
3. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Show Off Brand Achievements
Use your eCommerce blog to show off big news or brand announcements that you’d like to share with your customers. When customers see that your brand is winning online or offline, it shows them that your brand has products that are in demand and that drive purchases.
Who doesn’t want to buy from an eCommerce store whose products are featured in a top magazine or store?
eCommerce Blog Example: BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages
When BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages announced that they’d be selling at Target, it was a big announcement and achievement for their brand.
They added this news to their promotion strategy and added social media sharing icons to help readers promote the news. And they did just that, if you check out “BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages at Target,” you’ll see numerous shares via their blog and social media post. That’s the power of blogging.
BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages Youtube
BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages Twitter
NEW YEAR, NEW OPPORTUNITIES
On this journey to where specialty coffee meets community impact, we need to make a Target run. Wanna join? Yes, BLK & Bold whole bean coffees are now available at select Target stores nationwide (and soon on https://t.co/R3CRoPzPXo).
pic.twitter.com/I4mhAYSlhT
— BLK & Bold Specialty Roastery (@BlkandBold) January 2, 2020
4. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Educate Your Customers
Thinkwithgoogle found that 63% of shopping occasions begin online, and 53% of shoppers say they always research before they buy to ensure they are making the best possible choice.
Shoppers today are smart; they want to do their research before making a purchase. Instead of allowing them to find their information all over the net, use your eCommerce blog to create a database of educational content about your brand, products, and how they solve their problems.
eCommerce Blog Example: Press’s Squeeze Magazine
Press’s Squeeze “Magazine” is focused on healthy living, not just highlighting their juices but fitness and a healthy lifestyle from all aspects. The magazine offers workout routines, diets, the best healthy places to eat from when traveling, and product suggestions.
This type of content marketing allows customers to stay or return for more content from the Squeeze magazine, and it’s not directly selling products but educating and attracting its ideal customers that fit directly into their niche.
5. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Share a Lead Magnet
Based on the type of products you sell on your eCommerce store, you can use your eCommerce blog to share a lead magnet.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is the bait you offer to your leads to convert on your form and become a lead. A lead magnet can be a discount, email subscription, or free checklist!
If you wish to create a highly effective lead magnet, here are some must-have ingredients:
- It should be concise
- It should be problem-focused and actionable
- It should be useful and specific
- It should be easy to follow
You can also check out How to Use Popups to Get More Customers for Your E-Commerce Store.
It should also be something that will instantly grab your reader’s attention. Your lead magnet can pop up while readers browse through your blog, yes you’ll be interrupting them, but you’ll be giving them an offer they can’t refuse.
Take a look at Beauty Bakerie’s lead magnet to collect more emails below. They host a monthly giveaway to win a product haul worth $ 500!
eCommerce Blog Example: Beauty Bakerie
Need help with your next giveaway?
Book a free call to learn how our team of contest experts can help you create high converting giveaway leads today.
6. Upsell on Your eCommerce Blog with Product Recommendations
While customers are reading, use your eCommerce blog to upsell products that you offer on your site. Upselling is the art of never letting a customer leave empty-handed or persuading them to buy one more product.
There are tons of upselling apps on Shopify you can use to boost your sales. If you’re not ready to invest in those apps, then simply add a product recommendation section in each article to upsell your best selling products or products that relate to the eCommerce blog article.
You can also add in-line links to your articles to seamlessly upsell your products. This is a less sellsy approach and also helps to boost your SEO efforts for both your blog and products.
eCommerce Blog Example: Sugar Cosmetics
Don’t forget to download your FREE eCommerce Checklist. This list will help you to follow this and other important eCommerce tips to optimize your website for sales.
7. Use Your eCommerce Blog to Show Off Influencers
Influencer marketing might be popular on Instagram, but it isn’t the only place you can utilize influencers online. Invite influencers as guest writers for your eCommerce blog to drive traffic and sales to your blog.
For example, Made in Cookware provides kitchenware products on their eCommerce store. They use popular chefs and food influencers as guest writers for their blog sharing recipes for readers.
eCommerce Blog Example: Made in Cookware
If you’re interested in working with influencers and you’re not sure where to start, check out these Wishpond guides on influencer marketing:
- How to Write the Perfect Influencer Outreach Email Template
- 9 Surprising Ways You Can Use YouTube for Influencer Marketing
- 5 Instagram Influencer Marketing Trends You Need To Track
- The Essential Guide to Getting Started with Influencer Marketing
8. Use Your eCommerce Blog Add to Share Your Brand Story
Sharing your brand story allows you to connect with customers and build brand loyalty. Go beyond the about page and start sharing more in-depth stories and events behind the efforts your brand makes to provide the quality and products you provide on your site.
Fourth Source found that storytelling can prove to be an effective tool to improve conversions. As per a research, if people like a brand story, 55% are more likely to buy the product in the future, 44% will share the story, and 15% will buy the product immediately.
The more you share the values and craftsmanship of your brand, the more invested buyers will be when buying a product. Ten Tree is a sustainability and Eco-friendly brand that uses its brand to educate readers on how to maintain the lifestyle their products promote.
eCommerce Blog Example: TenTree
Summary
Creating an eCommerce blog can seem like a hassle, but it’s worth the work. In the long run, you’ll be able to captivate your audience with your expertise, collect emails, upsell products, and so much more. Here’s a quick recap of the eight tested ways to use your eCommerce blog to capture leads:
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Increase Your SEO Ranking
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Highlight New Products
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Show Off Brand Achievements
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Educate Your Customers
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Share a Lead Magnet
- Upsell on Your eCommerce Blog with Product Recommendations
- Use Your eCommerce Blog to Show Off Influencers
- Use Your eCommerce Blog Add to Share Your Brand Story
It all starts with writing content that your audience is interested in while connecting with your brand’s overall purpose and value proposition.
One of the best places to start is to create a list of topics that match high-value keywords in your niche. You can also create a blog post from frequently asked questions buyers have when purchasing your products. You have access to a wide variety of topics and post to provide your audience, so dive in!
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