Most businesses start blogs to connect and build an audience in the long term. Other bloggers start businesses from their blogs.
For business owners who own Shopify stores, the biggest conflict they have is whether to host their blog on Shopify or have a sub-domain with WordPress.
Others wonder if running the blog is worth it or if it will just waste your time. To make the best decision you need to see examples of businesses that are doing well while blogging on Shopify. Further, you will need to know the best practices to make your blog successful if you decide to start.
Why Start a Blog On Shopify?
- Cost-Effectiveness
If you have the help of a dedicated writer, a Shopify blog is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing. Content marketing costs less than traditional marketing by 62% and generates three times more leads.
- Helps Build Credibility
Having a blog helps your customers build confidence in your products. When you freely share information on your product, it makes you an authority in the space.
Sharing information about your products proves that you care about your customers.
- Blogging Is a Great Alternative If You Do Not Have a Budget for Ads
Most Shopify stores sell visual products. This means that the main way to gain traction on these products is by paying for ads. Some of them include:
- Google shopping
- Facebook Ads
- Product listing ads
- Retargeting ads
However, if you do not have a budget for ads, the only option you have is:
- Social media
- Word of mouth
- Blogging
The options are quite limited here so blogging is your best bet.
- Blogging Increases The ROI for High-Growth Shopify Stores
If you have a Shopify store that is performing well from emails, ads, and paid social media, adding blogging to your strategy will be amazing.
Even when getting sales from other avenues, blogging will help you communicate with your customers easily, make important announcements while introducing your personality to your readers.
Blogging will help you scale your business if you would like to move away from paid ads in the event they become too expensive for your business.
How to Activate Your Shopify Blog
Here are the steps to follow when you want to start a Shopify blog:
1. Go to the Shopify admin area
2. Then “Online Store” of the left menu bar
3. Then “Blog Posts”
4. Click on the “Manage Blogs” tab
5. Then click on the “Add Blog” tab
6. Finally, give your blog a name
7. Then add your Shopify blog on the navigation menu
How to Create a Shopify Blog?
It is very simple to create your blog on Shopify. Shopify offers a range of beautiful Shopify blog themes that users can easily choose to use. Shopify also has the Shopify blog app that makes it quite convenient to customize the Shopify blogs when there is a need.
The most important thing to note is that you need to blog consistently to see any change in your sales funnel from your Shopify blog.
Here are the steps to follow when starting a Shopify blog. Later we will look at Shopify blog examples that are quite successful and they will help you understand how you should start your Shopify blog.
1. Identify A Niche
The internet is full of information and it is quite hard to stand out. When choosing a niche you have to choose your specific audience by choosing to create content that your reader cannot easily find anywhere else.
Here are ways you can achieve this:
· Post quality posts that are quite in-depth that no one else is posting on their websites.
· Focus on a specific topic in a large topic. For example, you can decide to post about vegan recipes and not just recipes.
· You can focus on a specific location. For example, a particular city.
· Have a different style or voice for your content.
The niche you choose to go with will help you keep your focus on one topic rather than getting distracted. It will also be easier to come up with content ideas because you already know what you should address.
After you have the topic ideas you can use Google to look up keywords to use to rank up on google searches.
Here is a Shopify blog example that has mastered their niche.
Au Lit Fine Linens
Au Lit Fine Linens is a luxury brand that sells bath lines, pillows, luxury sheets, and more for a relaxing night’s sleep. They have a Shopify blog that offers helpful articles on how readers can enhance their sleep quality.
The content is relevant to their products and their target audience as well. This is a great advantage to the brand since it means that the people who click on their content are already qualified buyers.
They write about different topics, like which duvet size is ideal for you. This is the kind of information that anyone would want to know. The title is also attractive to Google because most of their potential customers search it on Google.
Au Lit Fine Linens have picked a niche that they can easily create content around that still appeals to Google’s algorithm.
2. Pick A Blogging Platform That Suits Your Needs
This is one of the most daunting parts for most bloggers. They are not sure on which platform they should host their blog.
Choosing a blogging platform is a choice between either:
Hosted platform: With these platforms, you will start posting right away and have built-in audiences. There are some which are free such as Blogger and wordpress.com. There are also some which you will need to pay for while hosting your blog.
Or
Self-hosted: These platforms have more customization options. You’ll, however, need to pay a monthly fee and also require an initial setup.
Shopify is a hosted platform that has both a blogging platform and an eCommerce site and other apps that you can add to your website as you grow. Shopify blog features allow you to create blogs in different styles that suit your niche and writing style.
A great Shopify blog example is Press.
Press Shopify Blog
Press is about cold-pressed juice cleanses and prides itself in being an authority in the fitness and healthy living industry.
This brand understands that content marketing plays a huge part of online strategy. So, rather than running a mill blog, they have created an online magazine and blog called Squeeze Magazine.
Content is a business asset. According to research, 84% of people expect brands to produce content that’s entertaining and educational at the same time.
Another great Shopify blog is the Black Girls Run Blog. This Shopify Blog publishes articles related to running and announcements about racing.
Black girls run a blog started as a fun project that has grown into a business over time. The blog was imported from WordPress to Shopify to help run their merchandise business easier.
The founders of the blog share their passion for running while still monetizing it.
3. Choose A Name And Theme For Your Shopify Blog
Now you will need to buy a domain name and a Shopify blog theme. A theme is a template of the layout and features of your Shopify blog. A Shopify blog template will set the look and feel for your online stores. There are many Shopify blog themes to choose from online.
Shopify blog templates have an impact on the overall experience of the users on your website. Make sure that you choose one that makes your Shopify blog features easily accessible.
When choosing the domain name, choose one that is catchy and easy. Also, make sure it’s in line with your brands.
Here is a great Shopify blog example from Bel Kai
Bel Kai Shopify Blog
Bel Kai Shopify blog tells stories about jewelry that have different memories. These stories are of real people. The blog uses the Shopify blog feature, Shopify Sidebar to give their readers a manual to the different categories of topics they have on the blog.
The Bel Kai Shopify blog also has a shop collection in the Shopify Sidebar that keeps the customers coming back to their shop after they have clicked to their blog.
4. Have Publishing Strategy
You will need to come up with a publishing schedule as well as a content plan. With a Shopify blog, you have to be consistent with the number of times you post to gain traction. You need to grow your audience to be in a position to share and publish valuable content.
Here are some of the steps you need to take before publishing on your Shopify blog
Collect emails from your subscribers
· Use your social media channel. You can do this by – Creating relevant communities and groups on Facebook.
· Join groups and forums to participate in their discussions and later on post your blog posts on the forums.
· Make sure you have a content seeding plan. A platform such as Quora is a great place to find your target audience. Here you will find some answers to some questions that will go a long way while making your blog posts.
Quora is a great place to extract blog ideas because it has questions from users which you can get a great insight into the needs of your target audience.
A great publishing strategy includes a content calendar that will help you keep your publishing on a plan. You can use tools such as Trello but a simple spreadsheet will do.
Make sure you have a good content mix. This is important when creating a blog that is appealing to your readers. Come up with your Shopify blog categories and use tags to keep your blog posts organized.
When blogging, your job does not end at publishing, you will need to keep engaging with your readers. You have to keep replying to your Shopify blog comments. This is a great way to create a community around your blog because the conversations will lead to paying customers.
This is why you should consider starting a Shopify blog in the first place.
What You Need to Know When Building Your Shopify Blog
1.Always Ensure You Add Value To Your Readers.
Your content should be what your readers want to read, not what you want them to read.
Make Sure You Have A Blogging Goal.
You should have a clear goal as to why you are putting your time into blogging. Part of your goals should be:
- Brand awareness
- Creating a rapport with your readers
- Increasing sales
- Repurchases
- Product clicks
2.Be Consistent
When you are consistent you will have clear-cut results. If you have readers subscribed to your blog, they will always look forward to your next post.
When you have a regular audience for your posts, you can easily create a community around your blog. You can reply to their comments and spark discussions among your readers. This is a great way to create a loyal readership for your posts.
Later you will find that the members of your blog community will turn into paying customers which is the whole point of the blog.
Why You Should Blog For Your Shopify Ecommerce Store
Having a Shopify blog will help you increase your sales massively. Make sure you utilize the Shopify templates that will help you grow a community through discussions.
Before you start with this blog, you need to have a clear idea of the niche that you are focusing on. Make sure you choose a domain name that is catchy and easy to remember.
While creating content make sure you do a keyword search to ensure that your articles rank high on Google searches.
A publishing strategy is important if you want to have a successful blog. Make sure that you are consistent with your posts and keep your audience engaged.
Having an engaged audience means that it is easy to build a community around your blog. The community will be paying customers for your business eventually.
