Imagine customers approaching you for information about your niche. They may not be interested in buying at the moment, but your products are ideally suited to their needs. Or maybe customers who are interested in buying have a problem that one of your products can solve and a quick internet search confirms this. With a Shopify blog, you can arouse the interest of both personas, offer added value and draw attention to you and your brand. That's why in this article, I want to give you an understanding of the power behind a Shopify blog so that after reading it, you'll know for sure - I need a Shopify blog!
Advantages of a Shopify blog
First, I'll talk about the top benefits of a Shopify blog, then I'll show you the most important features of the blog and then you'll get a guide for a successful start. Then you'll be ready to create your own Shopify blog and get more customers excited about your brand.
More visibility and traffic
If done correctly, creating a Shopify blog automatically leads to more visibility for your brand and will result in more traffic in the medium term. Since you write about topics in your niche on the blog, but not necessarily about your products, you can generate visibility at all touchpoints of the customer journey. Your brand awareness increases through your blog and you can define the boundaries of your niche through individual blog posts.
Creating authority and trust
With high-quality content on relevant topics, you can position yourself as an expert in your industry through your Shopify blog. The focus should be on addressing the problems of your target group and offering a solution. Quality is crucial here. High-quality content also creates trust in your brand; if your blog is considered a trustworthy source of information, your store will also be seen as reputable. A blog is therefore a sign of trust for both customers and Google.
Search engine optimization through Shopify Blog
Search engine optimization is one of the most sustainable marketing options. The aim is to rank as high as possible in search engines such as Google for relevant search terms. But it's not just your product pages that are relevant for this. Many keywords are "informational", i.e. users are looking for information on a specific topic. Many of these topics can be linked to your products. With the right content marketing in conjunction with a good link structure, your product pages will also benefit from your Shopify blog. This is why publishing search engine optimized content in the form of a blog is often one of the decisive measures in SEO.
How to create a Shopify blog
To get started with your Shopify blog, all you need to do is activate it in your Shopify backend. Here are all the steps you need to take to get your blog online.
- Go to "Online store" in the menu on the left.
- Then click on "Blog posts".
- Under the title you will find the "Manage blogs" function.
- The "Add blog" button appears in the administration, click on it to start your blog.
- Now you have to give your blog a name.
- You should then add the Shopify blog to your navigation menu, but you can also wait until the first relevant content appears on your blog.
What functions does the Shopify blog offer?
The Shopify Blog actually offers all the functions you need for successful blogging and content management. You can also use Shopify apps, which provide even more functions and tools for your Shopify blog. Here I would like to explain the basics to you.
Plan future publications
You can plan the publication date of your blog posts in advance, which has the advantage that you no longer have to actively think about publishing at the time of the planned publication. You simply enter a finished text in the backend, set the desired date and you're done. One less thought in your head.
Content preview on the start page
To make your posts appealing to blog visitors, you can reveal a short excerpt from various posts on the blog's homepage, you can also define the structure and cover images to keep potential readers on your blog for as long as possible.
You can add the excerpt in the blog post editor under the text window. Simply click on "Add excerpt" and insert a short text that describes the post and whets your appetite for more.
Comment function
There are three ways you can handle comments on your Shopify blog.
- Disabled comment function: The option with the least effort. You can decide not to allow comments, but this has the disadvantage that you cannot receive any feedback from readers. However, feedback can help you to improve your blog.
- Share comments automatically : Alternatively, you can allow anyone to leave a comment. With this function, comments are published as soon as they are written. The disadvantage is that spam or inappropriate comments are automatically published, which can damage the trust of the blog. However, you can regularly check the comments and remove inappropriate ones.
- Comments only when approved: With this option, you must first approve the individual comments. This avoids inappropriate spam, but involves a certain amount of work. This can be particularly time-consuming if your blog has a lot of visitors.
My tip: Use the function where every comment has to be approved first. If you are starting out with your Shopify blog, the workload will be manageable. As soon as your blog grows and attracts its first customers, you can hire a content manager who is responsible for the blog.
Tag posts
To help blog visitors find their way around, it makes sense to divide your content into different categories. Shopify uses so-called tags for this purpose. Think about which categories you want to cover in your blog in advance and create the corresponding tags.
Featured Posts
You can feature posts that are particularly successful. This will ensure that they get the most attention. For example, you can display the featured posts directly on your homepage. Alternatively, they can also be displayed at the top of your blog homepage or in the sidebar. This is not only good for visibility on the page itself, but also helps with SEO.
Search engine optimized blog posts
As already mentioned, running a Shopify blog is an excellent way to make your store more relevant for search engines. Shopify also understands the importance of SEO. That's why Shopify is initially well positioned for SEO. For this reason, you can already enter the SEO basics for your blog articles even without tools. Here you can enter things like the title tag, meta description and URL in a search engine-friendly way.
Add Shopify apps
Just like for the store, there are many little helpers for the blog to customize the blog ideally to the needs of your customers. So if you have an idea for your blog that doesn't yet exist in your Shopify blog, take a look in the Shopify App Store. You'll usually find a solution there.
How to guarantee the success of your Shopify blog
Now that you know the advantages of a Shopify blog and how it works, I want to give you the most important aspects that make a blog successful in the long term. Don't take the blog lightly, there is a lot of work behind a successful Shopify blog, but the effort almost always pays off in the end.
Give your Shopify blog the attention it deserves
You should take your blog seriously. Blogs are often only run on the side. New posts are only published sporadically, if at all. Depending on its size, a blog is at least a part-time job. There should therefore be a person responsible for the blog and a long-term content strategy. This is the only way to achieve the desired growth.
Really offer added value
For your blog to be relevant at all, you should always write posts with the intention of solving potential problems for the reader. Always ask yourself what questions the blog visitor might have and how you can solve their problem. You should also write the best objective blog post on the topic by incorporating personal insights. This is the only way to signal your expertise to Google and potential customers.
Focus on search engine optimization
Unfortunately, I still see some blogs that are run without any real SEO knowledge. Unfortunately, a large part of the potential is wasted. Because the main reason for a blog is clearly visibility in search engines. That's why you should make sure that you write about topics that are in demand. So don't write blindly, but start with detailed keyword research. If you need help with this, we can provide you with advice or full support as a Shopify SEO agency.
Develop a content strategy for your blog
Once you are clear about the relevant keywords, you should develop a content strategy that takes into account the important topics and clusters them into the appropriate categories. Define 2-4 topic clusters that are related to your niche. Next, determine the frequency at which you want to publish. The ideal frequency is two posts per week. However, it is more important to focus on quality. Now you just have to follow the plan. If executed correctly, you can expect to see the first successes in around six months. If your store has already built up relevance in your niche, new blog posts can also attract the first customers after just a few days.
Optimize the internal linking
Since the posts in your topic clusters should automatically overlap slightly again and again, you have a lot of potential for internal links. These are useful for readers, as they can get a comprehensive overall picture of your niche. At the same time, this makes it easier for search engine crawlers to crawl your blog, which has a positive effect on your ranking. You should also link to relevant products, which will also have a positive effect on your ranking.
Conclusion - Create a Shopify blog, if you do it right!
I hope I was able to convince you of the importance of a blog. If you want to create a Shopify blog to support your store, you should take a goal-oriented approach right from the start. With the right content plan and some SEO knowledge, you can increase your visibility and reach in a maximum of 6 months. If you need support with some of the steps, please get in touch with us and we will help you create a brilliant Shopify blog. As a Shopify agency, we draw on our expertise in all areas of Shopify marketing. So we can also support you in other areas
Shopify Blog FAQ
How do I create a Shopify blog?
To create a Shopify blog, first navigate to the "Online store" section in your Shopify dashboard and select "Blog posts". Click on "Create blog" to create a new blog and then enter the name and description of your blog. You can then add posts by clicking on "Create post" and specifying the content, cover image and categories. With Shopify's built-in tools, you can customize the layout, optimize SEO options and seamlessly integrate the blog into your e-commerce website.
What functions does Shopify offer for a blog?
Shopify offers a variety of features for a blog that make it easy to create, publish and manage content. These include user-friendly tools for creating and formatting blog posts, the ability to use categories and tags to organize content, and the integration of SEO options to improve search engine discoverability. In addition, Shopify allows you to integrate social media, use the comments feature to interact with readers and customize the blog layout to match your brand's look and feel. With these features, you can create an engaging and professional blog to inform and engage your customers.
How can I measure the performance of my Shopify blog?
The performance of your Shopify blog can be measured using various analytics tools and metrics. One option is to use Google Search Console, which you can link to your Shopify store to gain insights into search behavior on your blog. You can analyze metrics such as page views, impressions, click-through rate and average keyword position to evaluate the effectiveness of your blog posts. In addition, Shopify itself also offers built-in analytics tools that provide you with insights into your blog's performance within the Shopify dashboard, including the number of page views, most popular posts and visitor behavior. By regularly monitoring and evaluating these metrics, you can improve the performance of your Shopify blog and optimize your marketing strategies.
What steps can I take to improve my Shopify blog?
There are a few steps you can take to improve your Shopify blog:
- Create high-quality content: Regularly publish relevant, engaging and informative content that appeals to your target audience and offers them added value.
- Optimization for search engines: Use relevant keywords in your blog posts, optimize meta tags and descriptions and ensure a user-friendly URL structure to improve the findability of your blog posts in search engines.
- Integration of multimedia: Use images, videos and infographics to make your content more visually appealing and encourage interaction with your readers.
- Interact with the community: Allow comments under your blog posts and actively engage with your readers to build a community around your blog.
- Social media promotion: Share your blog posts on various social media platforms to increase your reach and attract new readers.
- Analyze performance: Regularly monitor your blog's performance using analytics tools to understand what content is working well and where there is room for improvement.
Which strategies are suitable for marketing my Shopify blog?
There are several effective strategies for marketing your Shopify blog:
- Social media marketing: Use platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to share your blog posts and reach your target audience. Use appealing visual content and actively interact with your followers to encourage engagement.
- Email marketing: Build an email list and send regular newsletters to your subscribers to inform them about new blog posts. Personalize your emails and add call-to-actions to pique the interest of your readers.
- SEO optimization: Improve the findability of your blog in search engines by integrating relevant keywords into your content, optimizing meta tags and using a user-friendly URL structure.
- Collaborations and guest posts: Look for opportunities for collaborations with other bloggers or companies in your niche. Offer guest posts on other blogs to increase your reach and attract new readers.
- Influencer marketing: Work with influencers who have a similar target audience to you and ask them to share or talk about your blog posts. Influencers can help you expand your reach quickly and gain new followers.
- Content distribution strategy: Use different channels such as blog directories, forums and online communities to distribute your blog posts and attract new readers.
Luke Schmidt
Senior SEO Consultant
As an SEO expert and content marketing manager, Lukas successfully increases the visibility of our clients in Google. He shares his in-depth knowledge of online marketing, SEO, e-commerce and Shopify on the Golden Web Age blog.
