It is really easy to set up an ecommerce business these days. The process is much less expensive and simpler than what many believe. The problem is that failure rate is very high. If you want to run a highly successful ecommerce business, you need to work really hard.
One of the main reasons why online shops fail is a lack of highly relevant traffic. This is where blogging steps in to help ecommerce sites. Stats show that blogs get over 90% more links to sites than those online businesses that do not have a blog. At the same time, ecommerce blogging builds brand awareness and customer engagement. This automatically means that you can generate a higher profit.
Launching a successful blog is a topic that is often discussed. The same thing can be said about becoming a professional blogger. However, these cases are different than when blogging as a part of an ecommerce business. If you want the blog to help the business, here are some things you absolutely have to remember.
Understand Customer Needs
There is nothing more important than this since your main goal should be to grab your target audience’s attention. You want to increase website leads and can only do this if you offer information that prospective buyers actually need. There are normally two types of audiences that you need to consider:
- Potential Customers
In most cases potential customers will end up on the blog through online search or through social media platforms. Such customers enjoy posts and do not necessarily want to buy products. If this is the case, you want to improve the content by:
- Offering core information and value.
- Solve problems through posts.
- Answer questions that prospects ask.
- Figuring out what the ecommerce site offers and the competition does not.
- Sharing enough videos, images and links in the posts.
Always deliver high quality content.
- Existing Customers
These are people that already bought from you at least once. There is a good possibility that they already love blog posts you write so you want to keep offering similar content. It is also a good idea to share some posts about products you can pair with products that are selling really well.
As an ecommerce business, you need to create the buyer persona and take it into account whenever writing posts.
Always Be Creative With Your Topics
Blogging is a really power tool used by content marketers that want to increase online business sales. However, it is not as easy as you might think to come up with really fresh and effective content topics for an ecommerce blog. This is a challenge even for experienced bloggers. You can be a true niche expert and still end up struggling. You may want to seriously consider hiring freelancers that are more experienced than the team but you can also focus on the following:
- How-To Posts
Such posts are highly popular among readers and bloggers. They are a true ecommerce blogging staple due to the fact that it can offer highly valuable information on how to use services and products. When you use how-to posts you can inspire prospects to purchase products through the suggestions of various ways in which they can be used.
- Current Trends And Events
When you follow current industry trends and events you can easily come up with some really fresh content ideas. It is possible to write opinions and views about industry developments and recent news. You might also want to write about how products will be used during holiday seasons.
- Product Spotlights
Product description will provide a limited amount of information about a specific item. This is often not enough for potential consumers to make purchases. When you share some behind-the-scene stories of products, readers become more encouraged and can buy. When you add such a blog post on an ecommerce website, it is a really good idea to add a discount coupon right at the end. This takes engagement just one step further.
- Ask Customers
This is a wonderful way to come up with incredible content ideas that are fresh and highly effective. People can tell you about various challenges and problems that are faced. As an example, there are customers that want to know how a product is made. Whenever you write about issues that concern customers, strong personal relationships can be created.
Use Captivating Titles To Hook Readers
Humans have a highly limited attention span. Just 4% of site page views will last over ten minutes. Because of this, there is a really big possibility that readers are going to close the page in the event the title is not captivating enough. The title is the very first thing that makes a potential buyer read, comment or share. Always remember the following:
- Blog post titles have to describe the topic in a clear way.
- Make it as short as possible, preferably under 65 characters so that search results do not cut it.
- Utilize numbers and adjectives since they instantly grab the attention of the reader.
Put An Emphasis On Visuals
If you need to start investing online, in content creation, be sure that a part of the budget is dedicated towards visual. This is because visual content generates a much higher engagement. The blog posts that have visuals or images actually get over 90% more page views. This is a trend that will surely increase in the future as more and more people each month access the World Wide Web with a mobile device.
The visual content that you can add includes images, GIFs, videos, screenshots and infographics. Make sure that they are really high quality and that they do resonate with the content. Poor visuals will always do a lot of harm and will turn people off. Quality and layout are vital when using visuals in blog posts.
Build A Subscriber List
No matter what you might think, email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to increase and even generate sales for an online store. Statistics are quite clear: email is around forty times more effective than Twitter and Facebook at attracting new customers and repeat purchases. If you do it right, the ecommerce blog can be utilized in order to build a huge subscriber list. This increases the strength of the relationship with potential customers due to constant email communication.
In Order to build an email list for an ecommerce blog, some suggestions include:
- Use content locker plug-ins in order to hide some of the post. In order to read the whole post, a user would need to sign up to the newsletter. Use this sparingly to not upset visitors.
- Offer some post-specific bonuses. Examples of this includes free courses, video and ebooks.
- Always place sign-up forms at the blog post’s end and/or in a sidebar. Make sure that you let people know why they should sign up.
Conclusion
Blogging stands out as a highly effective and affordable content marketing tool that ecommerce businesses should always consider. You can use blogging in order to generate a highly dedicated base of consumers, generate brand awareness and build a targeted email list.
The problem is that it is not at all easy to come up with blog post ideas that are fresh and unique. You absolutely need to polish writing skills, understand potential customer needs and own the niche. Start with the tips above and constantly work hard to improve the quality of the blog to see increased sales and higher brand awareness.
