In content marketing, it’s often all about the B2Bs.
But what about you?
The small online business owners, the B2Cs, the local marketers?
Are the benefits of blogging the same for your business or clients?
Yes. Content:
- Builds trust, authority, and search engine rankings.
- Drives traffic from search organically.
- Builds brand awareness and loyalty.
- Helps generates leads.
That’s true across business types.
Ecommerce brands can and do get a slice of the pie. (And, wow, is it tasty.)
Just look at the different goals B2Cs achieved using content, according to Content Marketing Institute’s latest industry report:
Content marketing and blogging are awesome for most brands, when done right.
In particular, ecommerce brands can rake in a ton of extra benefits they wouldn’t otherwise get from traditional marketing alone.
6 Major Reasons to Start Blogging for Your Ecommerce Site
What do those benefits look like? Why does your ecommerce site need a blog? Let’s delve in.
1. Every Type of Consumer is Looking for Answers – and You Have Them
What’s one of the main reasons content exists?
For an explanation, we have to look at why search exists. contributor Ryan Jones gives a succinct answer:
“Today’s searchers search to solve problems, to accomplish tasks, and to ‘do’ something.”
In other words, everyone is looking for answers – including the people you want to sell products to.
If you deliver the answers they’re searching for via blogging, that’s big. If you do it accurately, without selling, with attention to detail and quality, that’s bigger. That builds confidence in your brand, not to mention what you sell.
More confidence = more trust. More trust = customers move to a sale more quickly.
My team has created hundreds of content pieces like blogs for ecommerce brands. As a result of those blogs, they’ve seen results including more targeted traffic and qualified leads coming in.
Over time, as blogs nurture leads, sales are inevitable – and it all starts with having answers to your audience’s questions. Blog about them, and you’ll really go somewhere.
2. Blogging Increases Site Traffic
Want more traffic to your ecommerce site? It’s time to start blogging.
Websites with blogs get 434 percent more indexed pages than websites without blogs, according to HubSpot. And, the more pages you have indexed with search engines like Google, the more chances you have to show up in the search engine rankings.
Every time you publish a keyword-optimized blog, that represents a path to a potential customer searching for that keyword. The nurturing content you provide over time will determine whether that traffic transforms into readers, then leads, then sales.
3. Success with Ecommerce Blogging Is Proven
Want evidence that blogging is great for ecommerce? Look to Shopify, which sells its ecommerce platform to hundreds of thousands of independent business owners everywhere.
From their blogging strategy alone, Shopify has managed to increase their number of paying customers by 55 percent, according to Wishpond. Oh, by the way: Their revenue tops $389 million.
They do it by cornering highly-profitable keywords in their blogs, ones for which their target audience is actively searching.
Case in point: They currently rank #1 for “dropshipping”, a keyword with major value and monthly search volume, according to KWFinder.
How does Shopify rank for keywords like this?
It’s down to their blogging and content marketing. Each individual blog builds their authority with Google and customers, like bricks stacking up to create an indestructible wall.
Needless to say, Shopify stands as a big reason for all ecommerce brands to celebrate content creation.
4. People Read Blogs Before They Buy
Here’s another thing about blogs: They have become instrumental in helping consumers make purchase decisions.
According to a 2014 survey of 1,000 U.K. consumers by Dynata (formerly called Research Now):
- 84 percent bought products based on how they were described in blogs.
- 1 in 4 bought something each month based on blog content they read.
- 46 percent said they read blogs to do initial product investigation.
If customers can read an informative blog before making a purchase, they’re more likely to feel confident about their decision. A great, non-salesy blog can even inspire them to pull the trigger and reach for their wallets!
5. Ecommerce Blogging Builds Trust in Your Brand
Overwhelmingly, blogging is the #1 brand-building activity.
In fact, some of the key findings from CMI’s 2019 B2C report were about how content/blogging was among the major ways most marketers are building customer loyalty (81 percent said it’s top-of-mind). Another 56 percent are increasing their content creation budgets, which is the top area for spending in 2019.
As the report says, driving traffic to your content matters, but “giving them reasons to come back” is how you win long-term success. Blogging is how you build that loyalty over time and increase brand awareness simultaneously.
6. Blogging ROI Is Not One-and-Done
Blogging is an investment that builds over time. You don’t publish a blog and get back all that you put into it in one day, one week, one month, or sometimes even one year.
That blog you posted, the one you spent hours researching, outlining, writing, and promoting, has a life beyond its initial publish date.
For example, today you might get 50 unique views, a few new subscribers, and a solid lead. A week from now, as people share the blog, find it by searching Google, or read it after clicking a link in your newsletter, that blog keeps working behind the scenes.
If it’s a really good blog, it will climb the search engine rankings and earn traffic, and people will continue to find it. If it’s a really, really good blog, that could go on for years.
The amount you put into blogging has an excellent chance of coming back to you, kind of like a boomerang effect.
Blogs offer a fantastic way to build trust, drive traffic, and nurture leads passively for your ecommerce business. Who wouldn’t want ongoing ROI like that?
The Sooner You Start Blogging, the Better
Blogging is an activity any ecommerce brand will benefit from in the long-term. It’s one of the best ways to boost your website, build your clout, and create a loyal following of repeat customers.
However, blogging also waits for no man or woman. The longer you put it off, the longer you’ll have to wait to see results.
That’s why now is the time to jump on the blogging bandwagon.
More Resources:
Image Credits
All screenshots taken by author, January 2019
