If you enjoy writing and have an online store, why not use your writing to drive additional traffic to your online store and increase purchases?
Typically, before deciding to buy a particular item, people like to read about what they are buying, how they will use the product, and if possible, get firsthand opinions about the product, right?
By incorporating a blog into your online store, you can meet this need of visitors and keep them on your site. Visitors who are uncertain about a purchase may stay on the site and read more about the items they are interested in, potentially developing an interest in purchasing additional items from your offer.
For those with online stores, you know how crucial visitors are to the success of your business. Blogging, due to its content and keywords used during writing, brings in new visitors through search engines.
For example, consider selling ceramic cookware, an industry with tough competition, while you have a low margin and insufficient funds for aggressive advertising. What can you do? Just listing the product in the store may not secure a good position on search engines since you have a multitude of items that are short and very similar to each other. The content page lacks richness and doesn't provide added value to the reader, resulting in poor ranking for the cookware.
The solution is to choose topics that buyers really search for (e.g. "how to choose ceramic cookware for the oven"). For each, write a useful, original article that answers the reader's question, and at the end recommend suitable items from the store. Do not count repetitions of the keyword: write naturally. This way, your page will rank well on search engines, gain a lot of traffic, and at the same time, it will be useful to the visitor of your site. Customers prefer to buy from a seller they know is knowledgeable about the products, so this information will add value to the chosen product for them.
Careful with food supplements, cosmetics and medicines. You may not use health claims for foods and food supplements unless they are on the EU list of authorized claims (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, Article 10). The regulation applies to any commercial communication about a food, that is, to any post that directly or indirectly promotes an item; the Court of Justice of the EU confirmed that it also covers communications not addressed directly to the buyer (case C-19/15). A blog post about the "healing effects of rosehip" that you link to your own item is therefore part of advertising the item and may be unlawful. The regulation does not apply to non-commercial content, for example scientific publications and advice from health authorities. It is safe to publish general educational content with cited official sources that does not hint at the effect of your item. Where the line lies in your case, consult a lawyer before publishing. More: Online store legislation (EU).
Frequently asked questions
A blog attracts organic traffic through informational keywords, builds trust in the brand, helps with long-term SEO, and keeps visitors on the site longer. Visitors who arrive through the blog can be closer to a purchase because they have already informed themselves.
Quality over quantity - a few quality articles published regularly are worth more than frequent average posts. Each article should be thoroughly written, answer the reader's question and be genuinely useful.
Buying guides (How to choose the right one?), item comparisons, solving common problems, industry news and inspirational content. Blog content must answer the questions your customers are actually searching for. With food supplements, cosmetics and medicines, mind the rules on health claims.
By naturally including product links in the content (not aggressively) and CTA buttons in the article. A reader who has read a guide "How to choose the right coffee machine" is already ready to buy and credible recommendations within the text help them decide.
Indirectly - quality articles build trust and reputation for the whole website, and with internal links from the blog to categories and items you pass visitors and value on to them.
My name is Anže, I am a certified Magento solution expert and the maker of several award-winning online stores. I am the architect of all Degriz projects.
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