Beginner’s Guide to Running a Successful Shopify Blog

Why blogging on Shopify is important

You’ve already put a lot of thought and effort into your product descriptions, landing pages, About Us page, and more.

So for an Ecommerce store, blogging may not be the first thing on your mind.

But it’s definitely worth considering!

First off, running a blog on your Shopify store can help you drive traffic to it.

Businesses that blog generate 55% more website visitors than those that don’t. They also get 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages.

When you publish quality content that fits what people are looking for, you’re more likely to show up on the first page of search results. So, you can attract people to your site, even if they aren’t specifically shopping for products.

This is especially important if you don’t have many products in your store, which also means you probably have fewer pages.

The fewer pages you have, the fewer pages get indexed by Google. This reduces your chances of showing up in search results.

Blogging fixes this issue. Every blog post is its own page and can show up in search results. Plus, you can tailor which blog posts you write to what keywords you want to rank for.

For example, if you sell health and wellness products, it’s important for you to attract customers who are interested in related topics. Here’s a post that ranks on the first page for the keyword ‘healthy skincare routine’ 👇

The keyword ‘healthy skincare routine’ doesn’t mean this person was looking for products. This search intent is typically related to seeking advice.

But since this business now provides the advice someone is looking for, they found a way to generate traffic.

People who read this post may then read other linked posts 👇

As a result, they’ll learn to trust this brand more and more. They’ll also get exposed to various products this brand offers as they read their blog.

Other blogs are also more likely to link back to your website if you have valuable content!

And if you’re wondering if people still read blogs — yes, they do. 80% of internet users both read blogs and use social media.

Another reason blogging on Shopify matters is to capture email addresses and convert your traffic into email subscribers.

When you generate subscribers from your blog traffic, you can make sure they come back more than once on your Shopify website to consume your content and purchase some products. If they don’t subscribe, they may forget about your brand and never come back to your site.

How your Shopify blog can help increase sales

One of the biggest reasons you should run a blog is to help you get more sales on Shopify.

When people read about a product, 60% will be inspired to seek it out. Content marketing also costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates three times as many leads.

But why does blogging help increase your sales at all?

There are several reasons why.

First off, because you drive more traffic towards your site, more people are likely to stumble upon your products. Even if they find you via a blog post, they may decide to browse your site, or they can find a link to related products on your blog itself.

But even if your readers don’t find your products right away, your blog can still help convert them over time.

This is especially true if they find your blog helpful. If your advice helped them find solutions for their problems, maybe your products will, too 👆

When you convert readers into subscribers, you can also use the power of email marketing to generate more sales.

So even though you’re selling products on Shopify, your blog doesn’t need to be focused on selling these products. You can take a long-term approach and:

• Publish more and more blog posts over time to attract relevant traffic

• Nurture these readers with quality content

• Convert them into email subscribers using popups, signup forms, content upgrades, or a quiz

• Convert your subscribers into buyers using promotional emails

Of course, you can still talk about your products in your blog posts, especially if it’s relevant to your topic. For example, Keep It Handsome sells men’s hair and beard care products, so it makes sense to discuss these products in a blog post about avoiding a bad hair day.

How to add a blog to Shopify

If you already have an online store on Shopify, you’re only a few steps away from being able to have a working blog.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin account.
2. Navigate to Online Store, then to Blog Posts.
3. Click on Manage blogs, then pick Add blog.
4. Choose a title for your blog. You can also choose how you’ll manage comments.
5. Pick a template for your blog from the Template drop-down menu.
6. Click Save blog, and you’re done!

There are a few more things you should do to optimize your Shopify blog. For example, you can edit the SEO data to make sure that your blog can properly show up in search engines.

Here’s how you edit your SEO settings in Shopify:

1. Make sure you’re still in the Manage blogs section of your Shopify admin.
2. Select the blog you just created for edits.
3. You’ll see a section called Search engine listing preview. Click Edit website SEO from there.
4. Start by writing a Page title. This can be up to 55 characters and is what will show up as a title on search engines:

5. Next, enter a meta description. This can be up to 160 if you want it to show up completely on search engines. Your meta description will show up below the page title:

6. Add the web address in the URL and handle section. Only do this if you want to change the current handle.
7. Click Save, and you’re done!

Shopify blog apps to consider

You can improve your Shopify blog and provide a better experience for your readers by adding a few apps. Here are some of the best apps available on the Shopify app store.

Related Blog Posts

Want to keep your readers engaged? With Related Blog Posts, you can quickly and easily provide suggestions for related blog posts for your readers.

Because this adds internal links between blog posts, this is also good for SEO.

This app allows you to customize how many related posts you display at once, style what the related posts look like, exclude certain blog posts from getting displayed, and so much more.

Plus, it’s free to use!

Pro Blogger

Unlike Related Blog Posts, Pro Blogger costs $5.99 a month (you can try it for free for 10 days).

However, in addition to adding related blog posts, you can also convert your readers into buyers by adding related products.

Pro Blogger allows you to add responsive sliders into your blog posts. These sliders display related products or blog posts. You can even add Buy Now buttons to make it as easy as possible to buy a related product.

In addition to these features, Pro Blogger also provides customizable Pinterest Pinit support to allow your readers to easily pin your posts.

DropInBlog

DropInBlog is packed with features that keep your Shopify blog easy to use, but as powerful as a WordPress blog.

Starting at $24 a month, this tool empowers you to:

• Get an SEO analysis as you type your blog post
• Manage your images
• Schedule future posts
• Duplicate existing posts
• Add videos from popular video websites
• Embed specific products into your posts (and create ‘add to cart’ buttons)
• Add related blog posts

However, some of the features are available with a higher price tier of $49, including scheduled posts, related blog posts, and unlimited total posts. You’re limited to 250 posts with the Lite plan.

SEO Blog Optimizer

SEO Blog Optimizer will give you instant SEO scores for every blog post. They’ll also tell you how you can improve your score.

With the free plan, you can get your automatic SEO score and easily add your meta title and descriptions. With the premium plan, which starts at $14.99 a month, you also get real-time optimization recommendations.

How to convert Shopify blog readers into subscribers

If you want to keep blog readers engaged with your brand on a long-term basis, you should optimize your Shopify blog and your entire website to convert them into email subscribers.

There are several ways you can do this. Let’s dive into some examples.

Provide a content upgrade

Content upgrades are lead magnets that are specifically tailored to build on the content of a blog post.

So, if you have a blog post about this year’s best summer looks, your content upgrade could be a list of summer wardrobes for inspiration.

Here is another example: if you’re selling items related to cooking and publish recipes on your blog, you can use them as content upgrades as well:

By adding a content upgrade to your blog posts instead of creating an opt-in box for an unrelated lead magnet, you increase the chances that readers will engage with that content.

That’s because you already know they’re interested in your blog post, so they’re likely to want to dive deeper into the topic if they decide to give their email address in exchange for a content upgrade.

Add exit-intent popups

Let’s say one of your site visitors just finished reading one of your awesome blog posts.

What do they do once they’re done?

Most likely, they’ll navigate towards the exit to close the browser so they can move on to something else.

Before they leave your Shopify store, perhaps forever, you can attempt to convert them as a subscriber by adding an exit-intent popup.

Exit-intent popups appear when website visitors act in a way that shows they want to leave your online store. For an Ecommerce store, exit intents can usually offer a special promotion or a giveaway in exchange for the user’s email address.

With Getsitecontrol, adding exit-intent popups is super easy. There’s no coding needed, and you can customize your popups to look exactly the way you want.

Create a quiz

Quizzes are a great way to convert readers into subscribers! They give your readers a fun, engaging experience that provides tailored results.

For you, they allow you to grow your email list while segmenting your readers by quiz results or answers to specific quiz questions.

You can use your blog to funnel site visitors towards your quiz. Whenever you publish a blog post that’s relevant to your quiz, you can add a link to it as a call to action.

Provide powerful opt-in incentives

As a Shopify store owner, you have powerful incentives at your fingertips to convert your readers into subscribers.

Throughout your blog posts, you can embed opt-in boxes to collect email addresses. But there should be incentives for readers to provide their email addresses other than ‘join our newsletter’.

Some examples include:

• A coupon for a percentage off their first order
• Free shipping on their next order
• Lots of points for your loyalty program
• Buy one, get one free promotion
• A free item on their next order

You can also advertise subscriber-only deals.

Just make sure that you actually deliver on this promise. For example, if you send an email with a ‘subscriber-only deal’, only to extend the promotion site-wide, your subscribers will be disappointed that this deal wasn’t as exclusive as it seemed.

Shopify blog examples to get inspired from

So what can you blog about, other than your products?

There are so many topics you can cover, but it all depends on what you sell and how you brand your business. For instance, if sustainability is part of your brand, that can be one of your recurring topics.

Let’s look at some real examples of Shopify blogs to inspire your own Ecommerce blogging journey.

The Lift by Knix

Knix sells seamless undergarments and functional yet comfy clothing. Sustainability is a huge part of their brand, but so is community building.

That’s why they blog about four distinct topics: wellness, community, parenthood, and culture.

The brand states that the goal of their blog is to support their customers and their community via expert knowledge and community stories. And with topics like giving birth during a pandemic, reading lists, knitting and the art of sustainable fashion, and inclusivity in the fitness industry, they provide a wide array of educational and inspirational content.

Brave New Motherhood by Kindred Bravely

Kindred Bravely’s blog aimed at breastfeeding mothers covers several topics related to motherhood, women’s health, and everything in between.

As you scroll through their blog, it’s easy to see how effective it is at answering common questions their target audience may have.

This can help them rank at the top of search results for these questions and nurture trust from nursing moms. And since they sell nursing bras, that’s pretty important!

They provide answers for topics like how to soothe a crying baby, what to bring to the hospital for delivery, frequently asked breastfeeding questions, date night ideas for new parents, and more.

The brand also uses their blog posts to promote their products whenever relevant.

The Love Club Blog by Love Wellness

Love Wellness sells several health and wellness products like probiotics, vitamins, and cleansers. Their blog helps educate their audience on these exact topics.

Plus, readers can easily shop for products mentioned in a post, since they add visuals to redirect them in the right direction.

Love Wellness also embeds their quiz on relevant blog posts:

Click and Grow News

Click and Grow sells small indoor gardens that anyone can use to easily grow edible herbs and veggies.

In addition to fun and interesting info about their brand and products, they also blog about deeper ways that you can use their products.

For example, they have posts about planting tips, what testers loved the most about their latest product, and how to reuse their Smart Soil as regular potting soil.

Since they target people who are interested in growing their own produce, it makes sense to empower their readers to do exactly that with their content.

Start your Shopify blog and grow your Ecommerce business

Blogging on Shopify is a cost-effective way to attract traffic, convert more readers into subscribers, and generate more sales.

You can either use this instead of paid marketing methods, or combine them to diversify your traffic sources and reduced your customer acquisition costs.

Whichever method you choose, you can make it easier to convert your Shopify website visitors into subscribers by using Getsitecontrol.