Setting up a Shopify blog – Why you need a Shopify blog

Imagine customers approaching you to find out more about your niche. Perhaps they aren’t interested in buying at the moment, but your products are perfectly suited to their needs. Or perhaps customers who are interested in buying have a problem that one of your products can solve, and a quick online search confirms this. With a Shopify blog, you can spark interest in both types of audience, offer added value and draw attention to yourself and your brand. That’s why, in this post, I want to help you understand the power behind a Shopify blog, so that by the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll know for sure – I need a Shopify blog!

Benefits of a Shopify blog

First of all, I’d like to outline the key benefits of a Shopify blog; I’ll then show you the blog’s most important features, followed by a guide to getting off to a successful start. By then, you’ll be ready to set up your own Shopify blog and attract more customers to your brand.

Greater visibility and traffic

Setting up a Shopify blog, when done correctly, automatically leads to greater visibility for your brand and will result in increased traffic in the medium term. As you’ll be writing about topics within your niche on the blog – though not necessarily relating to your products – you can generate visibility at every touchpoint along the customer journey. Your brand awareness therefore increases through your blog, and you can define the boundaries of your niche through individual blog posts.

Building authority and trust

By creating high-quality content on relevant topics, you can use your Shopify blog to position yourself as an expert in your industry. The focus should be on addressing your target audience’s problems and offering a solution. Quality is key here. High-quality content also builds trust in your brand; if your blog is seen as a trustworthy source of information, your shop will also be regarded as reputable. A blog is therefore seen as a sign of trustworthiness for both customers and Google.

Search Engine Optimisation via the Shopify Blog

Search engine optimisation is one of the most sustainable marketing strategies. The aim is to rank as high as possible for relevant search terms on search engines such as Google. However, it’s not just your product pages that are relevant here. Many keywords are ‘informational’, meaning that users are searching for information on a specific topic. Many of these topics can be linked to your products. Through effective content marketing combined with a good link structure, your product pages also benefit from your Shopify blog. That’s why publishing search engine optimised content in the form of a blog is often one of the most crucial strategies in SEO.

How to set up a Shopify blog

To get started with your Shopify blog, all you need to do is activate it in your Shopify admin. Here are all the steps you need to take to get your blog online.

• Go to ‘Online Shop’ in the left-hand menu.
• Next, click on “Blog posts”.
• Below the title, you’ll find the ‘Manage blogs’ function.
• In the admin panel, the ‘Add blog’ button will appear; simply click it to start your blog.
• Now you need to give your blog a name.
• Next, you should add the Shopify Blog to your navigation menu, although you can also wait until the first relevant content appears on your blog.

What features does the Shopify Blog offer?

The Shopify Blog actually offers all the features you need for successful blogging and content management. You can also make use of Shopify apps, which provide even more features and tools for your Shopify blog. Here, I’d like to explain the basics to you.

Planning future publications

You can schedule the publication time of your blog posts in advance; the advantage of this is that you don’t have to actively think about publishing them when the scheduled time comes around. Simply upload a finished text to the backend, set the desired date, and you’re done. One less thing to worry about.

Content preview on the home page

To make your posts appealing to blog visitors, you can display a short excerpt from various posts on the blog’s homepage; you can also customise the layout and choose cover images to keep potential readers on your blog for as long as possible.

You can add the excerpt in the blog post editor below the text box. Simply click on ‘Add excerpt’ and enter a short piece of text that describes the post and leaves readers wanting more.

Comment function

There are three ways you can manage comments on your Shopify blog.

My tip: Use the feature where every comment has to be approved first. If you’re just starting out with your Shopify blog, the workload will be manageable. As soon as your blog grows and starts attracting its first customers, you can hire a content manager to take charge of the blog.

Tag posts

To help blog visitors find their way around, it’s a good idea to organise your content into different categories. On Shopify, this is done using ‘tags’. Think in advance about which categories you want to cover in your blog and create the relevant tags.

Featured Posts

You can feature posts that are particularly successful. This ensures 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 very top of your blog’s homepage or in the sidebar. This isn’t just good for visibility on the site itself, but also helps with SEO.

Search engine optimised blog posts

As mentioned earlier, running a Shopify blog is an excellent way to make your shop more relevant to search engines. Shopify is also well aware of the importance of SEO. That’s why Shopify is already well-positioned for SEO from the outset. For this reason, you can implement the SEO basics for your blog posts even without any tools. Here, you can set up elements such as the title tag, meta description and URL in a search engine-friendly way.

Add Shopify apps

Just as with the shop, there are lots of handy little tools for the blog to help you tailor it perfectly to your customers’ needs. So if you have an idea for your blog that isn’t already available on your Shopify blog, have a look in the Shopify App Store. You’ll usually find a solution there.

How to ensure your Shopify blog is a success

Now that you know the benefits of a Shopify blog and have learnt how it works, I’d like to share with you the key factors that make a blog successful in the long term. Don’t take the blog lightly – there’s a lot of work that goes into running a successful Shopify blog, but the effort almost always pays off in the end.

Give your Shopify blog the attention it deserves

You should treat your blog with a certain degree of seriousness. Blogs are often run as a side project. If at all, new posts are published only sporadically. Yet, depending on its size, a blog is at least a part-time job. There should therefore be one person in charge of the blog and a long-term content strategy. This is the only way to achieve the desired growth.

Offer real added value

To ensure your blog is relevant at all, you should always write posts with the intention of solving any problems your readers might have. Always ask yourself what questions blog visitors might have and how you can solve their problems. You should also write what is objectively the best blog post on the topic by incorporating your personal insights. This is the only way to demonstrate your expertise to Google and potential customers.

Focus on search engine optimisation

Unfortunately, I still come across quite a few blogs that are run without any real knowledge of SEO. Regrettably, this means a large part of their potential is being wasted. After all, the main reason for having a blog is quite clearly to achieve visibility in search engines. That’s why you should make sure you write about topics for which there is actual demand. So don’t just start writing blindly; begin with thorough keyword research. If you need help with this, as a Shopify SEO agency, we can offer you advice or provide comprehensive support.

Develop a content strategy for your blog

Once you’ve identified the relevant keywords, you should develop a content strategy that takes the key topics into account and groups them into the appropriate categories. Define 2–4 topic clusters that are relevant to your niche. Next, decide on the frequency at which you’ll publish content. The ideal frequency is two posts per week. However, it is more important to prioritise quality. Now all you need to do is stick to the plan. If done correctly, you can expect to see the first results in around six months. If your shop has already established a presence in your niche, new blog posts can attract your first customers within just a few days.

Optimise internal linking

As the posts in your topic clusters should automatically overlap slightly time and again, you have plenty of scope for internal linking. These are useful for readers, as they allow them to gain a comprehensive overview 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. Similarly, you should link to relevant products; this will also have a positive impact on their rankings.

Conclusion – If you’re going to set up a Shopify blog, do it properly!

I hope I’ve managed to convince you of the importance of a blog. If you’d like to set up a Shopify blog to support your shop, you should adopt a goal-oriented approach right from the start. With the right content plan and a bit of SEO knowledge, you’ll be able to boost your visibility and reach within a maximum of six months. If you need help with any of the steps, please feel free to get in touch and we’ll help you create a brilliant Shopify blog. As a Shopify agency, we draw on our expertise across all areas of Shopify marketing. So we can also support you in other areas too.

Frequently asked questions about setting up a Shopify blog

Can you create a blog on Shopify?

Yes, you can create a blog on Shopify. Shopify offers a built-in blog feature that allows you to publish posts, create categories and insert images. This means you can carry out content marketing directly within your shop without needing an external platform.

Is the Shopify blog worth it?

Yes, the Shopify blog is worth it because it helps you get found organically via Google and build trust with potential customers. A blog boosts your shop’s visibility, improves your ranking for relevant keywords and can therefore increase your turnover in the long term.

How much does it cost to set up a blog?

Creating a blog on Shopify doesn’t cost anything extra, as the blog feature is included in every Shopify plan. So there are no additional charges – just the standard monthly cost of your Shopify plan. You can also choose to invest in premium themes or apps to enhance your blog.

Can you make money with a blog on Shopify?

Yes, you can earn money with a blog on Shopify by directing visitors to your shop via your posts and turning them into buyers. Through targeted content marketing and SEO, you can generate free traffic that promotes your products. In addition, you can use affiliate links, collaborations or your own digital products.

How do I set up a Shopify blog?

To create a Shopify blog, first go to the ‘Online shop’ section in your Shopify dashboard and select ‘Blog posts’. Click ‘Create blog’ to set up a new blog, then enter the name and description of your blog. You can then add posts by clicking ‘Create post’ and specifying the content, featured image and categories. Using Shopify’s built-in tools, you can customise the layout, optimise SEO settings and seamlessly integrate the blog into your e-commerce website.

What features does a Shopify blog offer?

Shopify offers a wide range of blog features 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 organise content, and integrated SEO options to improve search engine visibility. In addition, Shopify allows you to integrate social media, enable comments to interact with readers, and customise 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 shop?

You can measure the performance of your Shopify blog using various analytics tools and metrics. One option is to use Google Search Console, which you can link to your Shopify shop to gain insights into search behaviour on your blog. You can analyse metrics such as page views, impressions, click-through rate and the average keyword position to assess the effectiveness of your blog posts. In addition, Shopify itself offers built-in analytics tools that provide insights into your blog’s performance within the Shopify dashboard, including the number of page views, the most popular posts and visitor behaviour. By regularly monitoring and analysing these metrics, you can improve the performance of your Shopify blog and optimise your marketing strategies.

What steps can I take to improve my Shopify blog?

To improve your Shopify blog, there are a few steps you can take:

• Creating high-quality content: Publish relevant, engaging and informative content on a regular basis that appeals to your target audience and offers them added value.
• Search engine optimisation: Use relevant keywords in your blog posts, optimise meta tags and descriptions, and ensure you have a user-friendly URL structure to improve the visibility of your blog posts in search engines.
• Integrating multimedia: Use images, videos and infographics to make your content more visually appealing and encourage your readers to engage with it.
• Engage with the community: Allow comments on your blog posts and actively engage with your readers to build a community around your blog.
• Promotion on social media: Share your blog posts on various social media platforms to increase your reach and attract new readers.
• Performance analysis: Monitor your blog’s performance regularly using analytics tools to understand which content is performing well and where there is room for improvement.

What strategies are best for promoting my Shopify blog?

There are several effective strategies for promoting 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 eye-catching visual content and actively engage with your followers to boost engagement.
• Email marketing: Build up an email list and send regular newsletters to your subscribers to keep them informed about new blog posts. Personalise your emails and include calls to action to spark your readers’ interest.
• SEO optimisation: Improve your blog’s visibility in search engines by incorporating relevant keywords into your content, optimising meta tags and using a user-friendly URL structure.
• Collaborations and guest posts: Look for opportunities to collaborate with other bloggers or businesses in your niche. Offer to write 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 yours, and ask them to share your blog posts or talk about them. Influencers can help you quickly expand your reach and attract new followers.
• Content distribution strategy: Use various channels such as blog directories, forums and online communities to promote your blog posts and attract new readers.