How Retail Blogging Increases Sales and Traffic

We see it all the time – the eye rolls or visible shudders when we encourage eCommerce clients to consider blogging as part of their digital marketing strategy .

Why eCommerce Retailers Should Blog We get it. Blogging is extra work. But it is work that will reward you tenfold in attracting visitors to your website, getting customers excited about your products, creating engagement opportunities, and ultimately converting visitors into customers. Compared to pay-per-click and other forms of digital marketing, blogging is a low-cost method of building your brand and driving traffic and potential customers to your web store.

Blogging is Good For Both B2B and B2C Companies * B2C companies that blogged 11+ times per month got more than four times as many leads as those that blog only four to five times per month. * 43% of B2B marketers say blogging is their most important type of content.

If you are not blogging now, you should definitely consider making it an integral part of your content marketing strategy.

Should All Online Retailers Blog? Whether you are a large brand or a small online retailer, business blogging will help you reach new customers as well as continue to engage existing ones. A retail blog will help you gain a competitive advantage and provide expert advice that boosts online sales and brand visibility. Delivering valuable content to customers can be a lucrative online marketing method for retailers of all shapes and sizes.

eCommerce blogging and content marketing is not just for foodies, fashionistas, or wellness experts. Blogging in eCommerce is very effective regardless of your industry. A well-produced blog that is updated frequently will provide a steady stream of engaging content to your customers and drive traffic to your online store. More website traffic results in increased sales opportunities.

Top Reasons Retail Blogging is Important for Your eCommerce Business Promote your business and products Improve search engine performance Attract new visitors and engage existing customers Leverage social media and create shareable content that expands your brand’s reach Promote Your Retail Business, Show off Your Products and Provide Incentives Blogging is a great way to inform your customers, get them excited about your products and tell them why they should buy. It is very important, however, to make sure your blog does not simply feel like an advertisement for your company.

Announce new product lines Write product reviews Share gift ideas Discuss relevant industry topics Request customer feedback Share news about your company and its mission Retail blogs should be visual and include top-quality, professional photography. Display beautiful images of your products or even consider quality stock photos if you need to. Take this opportunity to offer purchase incentives such as special discount codes or upcoming promotions.

Our client Ever-Pretty, a popular fashion retailer serving customers across the globe, does a great job of showcasing products and promotions on their website and blog.

Improve Search Engine Performance There are many factors affecting your search engine ranking. The stakes are high in claiming top spots in search results. The recipe for SEO success has many components including onsite page optimization, website usability, and popularity, keyword density, relevancy, and link building.

Blog posts allow you to take advantage of many SEO opportunities by:

routinely creating new content that contributes to your site’s relevancy and generates interest integrating keyword-rich content for improved search engine optimization promoting and generating keyword-rich links to products in your online store or other important content building internal links and providing opportunities for inbound marketing Retailers and digital marketers do not make updates to products and descriptions frequently. Blogging is a great way to consistently add fresh content that will bait search engine crawlers. The more content you have indexed, the more likely you will be found online by new or existing customers searching for the products you carry.

Brand &amp; Product Engagement Most digital marketers agree that creating content is one of the best ways to increase brand awareness and ROI. Brand awareness is the degree to which consumers are familiar with your brand, including its unique qualities and features and the products or services you offer. Relevant, interesting content that appeals to your target audience will boost your brand’s reputation. Interaction with your customers will improve engagement.

Blog posts are a great way to solve common customer problems, answer common questions, offer tips and advice, and encourage readers to consider additional products – all while creating connections to your brand. Blogging reinforces the fact that you offer something of value. If you blog on a regular basis and promote your posts on the proper digital channels, even if not ready to buy now, your customers will remember you when they are ready to make a purchase.

Our client Ever-Pretty does a great job with their blog. They offer tips and trends about fashion. These posts inform the reader while creating brand awareness. Ever-Pretty posts new content regularly so returning visitors always discover something new. Product images and links to purchase are embedded in their posts. Engaging, shareable content leads visitors to products on their site and down the sales conversion funnel in order to turn leads into customers.

Creating Shareable Content Every blogger dreams of their blog post going viral. There’s a good reason for that. Content that is repeatedly shared throughout social media will drive traffic to your website. It may not always result in an immediate sale, but it will expand your reach and expose your products to a wider audience. And when your customers are ready to buy, these shoppers will think of you.

If your tips are helpful, it’s likely that your blog followers will eat that information up and share it with their social networking communities. When it comes to retail, there are three platforms you should seriously consider: Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. These are the most consumer-centric networks, making them ideal for merchants. Consumers very often use Pinterest to conduct research before they purchase something.

Some Topics for Your eCommerce Blog Staff picks and favorites Product tips Industry trends Product announcements Product improvements Influencer interviews Product and customer reviews Gift ideas Interesting company news How-To’s and tutorials Answer common customer questions Consider Guest Blogging Guest blogging is another option to consider. Guest blogging allows you to reach specific audiences through popular blogs in your industry, develop high-quality backlinks, and represent yourself as an authority. Guest blogging allows you to reach audiences faster and expand your influence.

Take Advantage of Influencer Marketing Creating buzz and encouraging influencers to talk about your products and endorse them is pure gold in digital marketing success. According to Forbes , influencer marketing is growing faster than digital ads. Popular influencers promoting your products on their own blogs is a great way to increase brand awareness and get your content in front of a lot of new customers.

Conclusion Currently, most retailers do not blog or have an eCommerce blogging strategy. If you aren’t blogging, you may be missing out on many eCommerce and digital marketing opportunities.

Contact Smart Solutions to discuss how creating an eCommerce or company blog will improve customer engagement and boost brand awareness. We will answer your questions about eCommerce blog options and costs.

Blogs can be directly integrated with your eCommerce store (Magento, Big Commerce, WooCommerce for example) or launched as a separate blog on a different domain or subdomain. We often create WordPress blogs for our retail clients who use different eCommerce platforms for online sales. Blogs can be integrated or stand-alone.

Smart Solutions is a full-service eCommerce agency dedicated to helping our clients outpace the competition, meet increasing customer demands and boost engagement by taking advantage of digital commerce and multi-channel opportunities.

To be successful online and stand above the competition you need the right web partner. Smart Solutions is 100% dedicated to your success.

Read the EverPretty Case Study.

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