9 reasons why a blog is a must for an online store

Many e-sellers are surprised when they hear about the need to have a blog for an online store. They assume that they are selling, not writing. Unfortunately, this approach is a huge mistake. Read the following article to get to know why.

What is a company blog?

I’ll start quite broadly because I want to ascertain if you know why you should run a business blog. An online store needs a platform to publish content as it is part of the brand on the internet. How does this translate into real effects? According to the statistics available on the HubSpot website, companies that run a blog can count on:

• 55% more users visiting the site;
• 97% more links pointing to the site;
• 434% more indexed pages on Google;

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, you can already imagine the potential of running a blog in an online store.

I would add one more benefit. Publishing content on your platform is a free solution. Unlike advertising, on which you sometimes have to spend a lot of money.

9 benefits of creating a blog for an online store

Let’s get into the details – below are some of the main benefits of blogging for owners of online stores. To begin with, I would like to point out the most obvious fact. A store that publishes online content will always be one step ahead of its competitors that do not conduct such marketing activities.

A blog is SEO support for your online store

Many online store owners consider blogs as a kind of whim. Especially novice sellers. It is due to their ignorance of the functioning of today’s internet. These people do not know how important an element of SEO activities is to running their platform with texts.

And yet the publication of articles is a terrific opportunity to attract potential customers to your eCommerce website. Of course, the published content must comply with the principles of SEO copywriting and the blog should be optimized.

You must also remember a certain drawback related to the positioning of pages. Namely, the effects of SEO are noticeable only after several months of work. Here, advertising has an advantage over positioning because the return on investment is almost immediate.

Building an expert brand

By sharing valuable content on the blog, the online store begins to be perceived as a credible brand. Such activities lead to building relationships with users. According to the principles of social psychology, people are more likely to buy from the retailers they like.

Moreover, by posting valuable content, there will be a chance that users will share it on the internet. It will also improve the perception of your store’s brand.

However, remember that blog content in the store should not be dominated by intrusive purchase incentives. A blog is primarily about sharing knowledge with users.

A blog can save your time

Imagine that you have a certain product in your store. You created a description, and photos, and even so, your clients keep asking you similar questions about it. So there is some element that gives rise to confusion. 

You regularly get phone calls from buyers wanting to know how to handle this troublesome product. When you run a blog in an online store where you educate users, you can refer such a customer to an article explaining the rules of using a troublesome product.

But not only that! People who have not yet made a purchase can learn from blog content about the items they are interested in. In this case, the articles become a supplement to the product description. It is an opportunity for you to discerningly smuggle in the content of the article the advantages of the product. There is a good chance that the customer will buy it from you.

You can use a blog to announce news about your eCommerce

A blog is a great space to inform users about the offer of your store. 

Suppose you launch an innovative product on the market that no one in the country is selling yet. You can describe it in detail in the article, and then share such content in email marketing campaigns, and ads on Facebook and Google.

Furthermore, you can put a blog post into a list of a few short reviews of the products you are selling out in the store.

Supplement product descriptions

Thanks to the blog, you can supplement product descriptions. You can choose the best ones, the best-selling ones, or the ones you’d like to sell and dedicate an entire article to them. Or even a series of articles!

This way, you will describe them in detail, from every angle. You can devote more space to the disadvantages of certain products, compare them to competitors, and do other things that are not appropriate on the main store page.

Such a description with flaws and a supposedly objective comparison can convince many customers. Each of us is a thinking person, homo sapiens, so we all realize that it is hard to find a reality in commercials. A blog description or a review that considers the flaws will show the product from a more human side. And this can convince a customer to buy.

You can show yourself and your team from the human side

You can show your company from behind the scenes. You can show how you work, have fun, and laugh. You can show your internal events. Or even a private life – be it yours or other employees’ lives. It’s better to do business with passionate people than with robots based on code and programming languages.

Show product presentations and how to select goods

There is a reason why you have these goods in your store and not others. They had to turn out better in something that you chose them. After all, you did not sit down with your friends and did not draw or roll the dice! You can show the process of selecting products for your offer from the inside. You can show analysis and decision-making processes.

After all, your client is also facing the same decision at this point! Now he chooses which product to buy. If your actions are fair and your arguments are accurate, show them to the client! There is a good chance that the same conclusions will be reached.

The source of the conversion

A blog and an online store are a perfect combination that can help your mailing base constantly grows. Of course, if you do mailing at all. And if you don’t, you should start. And your blog will be a perfect help in creating an email list for your eCommerce email marketing.

On the blog, you can place a form with a subscription to the newsletter. You will allow users to download a free lead magnet if they give you their email address. It is how you can develop your email marketing database.

The blog will help to build a community for your online store

Doubtlessly you also see the possibility of commenting on articles on some blogs. While this may not seem valuable to you, it’s an effective way to build a community of users to discuss your posts.

It happens that commenters ask questions to the author of the post. It is also a superb opportunity to establish direct contact with a potential client, which helps to build stronger relationships with your community.

Of course, let’s not be charmed. A community built around a blog will never be as powerful as that of one of your social media channels. Nevertheless, it is worth involving users in discussions.

Summary

I just mentioned the most important advantages of creating a blog for your eCommerce. Blog and online store are a perfect match. What other advantages can you see? Let us know in the comment section if something comes to your mind! It will be a beneficial supplement to the article.