When running an ecommerce business, there are numerous different metrics you should track. However, calculating your revenue sometimes comes down to two simple numbers – your website’s traffic and conversion rates. This might sound a bit over-simplified, but these two numbers should be the basis of your business analysis. There’s a number of ways to raise your conversion rate, but it won’t be of too much use if your overall traffic is below par. Starting a blog is a great way to boost your traffic in the long run. Here’s how it works.
Why do I need a blog?
It’s quite simple. A technically flawless website and a great product simply won’t be enough for your business if your website isn’t reaching anyone. The fact that you sell great stuff doesn’t mean you’ll get discovered by your potential customers. There are two ways how a blog helps you in this respect – by improving your SEO and by attracting the audience with interesting content.
When it comes to SEO, writing blog posts regularly means that your site is being constantly updated and active, which will affect your rankings positively. Also, more pages mean not just more internal links but more potential backlinks from other websites. Finally, running a blog gives you a chance to create quality content around the desired keywords related to your brand and your industry.
Nevertheless, there are more straightforward benefits for your website and your brand in general than this. You can build a broader, more comprehensive content marketing strategy around your blog. You’ll want to draw the attention of potential customers with non-promotional content that is actually relevant to them. Once they know about your blog and start reading it regularly, you’ll just need to subtly remind them you’re selling stuff and redirect them to your product pages. So how do you create content that attracts people to your website in the first place?
Should I hire someone to write it?
This depends on a lot of factors, but you should definitely consider doing it. Even if you are very talented and knowledgeable, doing everything by yourself while running a business at the same time won’t be easy. And posting new stuff regularly is very important if you want your blog to be successful. Paying copywriters might look like an unnecessary investment, especially if your business is still in the initial stage, but it’s worth it. Even taking fast business loans to give you a little financial boost for additional expenses like this is a reasonable idea.
No matter what you decide – to write it yourself, to hire writers or to combine these two, you need to understand what a quality blog post looks like. You shouldn’t just sit back, relax and let the writers do all the work, but you should be actively engaged as well. So, when it comes to the very content, there are a few things you should know.
Keywords: relevant and useful
It’s crucial to understand that to have well-written content is far from enough. Your blog should be relevant and contain useful info tightly related to your industry. Of course, first, you’ll have to figure out who your preferred audience is, what’s relevant to your customers and answer questions they’re interested in. Therefore, doing a thorough research on who your target audience is and adapting your voice and style to them is the vital first step.
It’s very important to build a sense of trust between you and your audience. Show that you’re informed and familiar with the most interesting topics in your branch. Don’t be too salesy and pushy, since this is still not the step where you’re supposed to convert and make people buy something.
By proving you’re competent in the field, you’re looking to gain authority. Once people trust you, they’re much more likely to trust your product as well and give it a chance. They should have a sense that you’re helping them with something, not just selling them stuff. That’s why an attitude of a friend or an advisor is what you’re looking for here, instead of a standard salesman approach. In fact, 80 percent of your posts should be more or less completely non-promotional and posted for the sake of good content alone. This way, simple and subtle call-to-action buttons at the end of your posts will do more for your conversions and sales than if you just keep persuading people to buy your product without providing any value for them.
Final touches
Once you’ve done all this, there are a few small details that can additionally improve your traffic if done right. Firstly, always break blocks of text with interesting and industry-related images, videos or infographics. Furthermore, consider guest posting, since guest bloggers can provide fine content for your website, and even generate a lot of traffic if they happen to be influential in the field. Finally, you should carefully analyze the numbers, listen to the feedback and try to adapt your content accordingly.
Running a blog on your website does demand some additional effort, but it’s well worth it. It helps you reach more people potentially interested in your product and makes them familiar with your brand. This way, you’re building your company’s image and showing your expertise on the matter. If you manage to do this properly, you could see some positive results for your ecommerce business very soon.