Do
you have a blog for your
online
store
?
If
the answer is no, or you don't give your blog much attention, then
why not?
A
blog can be an awesome tool to use for your online store – and it
comes with a ton of benefits. Take a look at this blog to find out 5
reasons why you need to keep your blog up and running today, and how
you can use it to your advantage:
#1.
It will drive traffic
-
Websites
that blog will typically have
97%
more inbound links.
Blogging
and SEO go hand in hand. Now we're not saying you should create
hundreds of blog posts and stuff them with keywords in the hope that
you'll drive traffic to your store. This is an old technique that
doesn’t work. What you need to do is start creating actionable blog
content that your customers can learn something from.
How
to drive traffic with blog posts:
When
a person jumps on Google, they have a question that they need
answering. What you need to do is find out the questions that your
customers are asking, so that you can start to create content that
specifically focuses on answering those questions.
That
way, you'll be naturally using keywords in your post that will help
drive targeted traffic to your site – and because that content is
highly useful and written around a topic within your niche, this will
encourage other sites to link back to that content as a valuable
resource, which in turn will increase your inbound links.
#2.
It will increase your social following
-
Interesting
content is one of the
top
3
reasons people follow brands on social media.
When
it comes to your social strategy, it can be difficult to know what to
post to keep people engaged and increase your followers. And that's
what's so great about a blog. It gives you a voice on social to help
you stand out from the noise and connect with your customers.
How
to increase your social following with a blog:
Coming
up with a regular publishing strategy will ensure that you have
enough content for your social feeds. So long as you come up with
topics that are relevant to your audience, and that you follow the
5:3:2 rule to make sure that you don't overload your feeds with
promotional content, then you'll boost your fans.
Last
week we talked about
how
to make your store stand out on social
,
so check out our post to find out more about the 5:3:2 rule.
#3.
It will attract leads
After
you've got the traffic to come to your site, your next step is to
turn them into a lead. We probably don't have to tell you that this
isn’t as easy as it sounds, but did you know that you can
significantly increase your leads by applying a conversion strategy
for each blog post you create?
How
to attract leads with your blog posts:
The
key to attracting leads is to include downloadable content within
your blogs - and it could be any type of content such as an ebook or
a checklist. The idea is that once they click to download it, they'll
be taken a separate landing page in which they'll need to enter their
contact details to receive that content – and there you'll have
gained your lead!
Just
remember to ensure that your downloadable content is related to the
topic of your blog post, yet provides something extra so that it
encourages the reader to download it.
#4.
It will influence people to buy
-
61%
of consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post that they
read.
This
is probably one of the most attractive benefits for you to see. It's
true - a blog really can help you sell more stuff! But you gotta make
sure you're smart...
How
to influence people to buy with your blog:
The
trick is to talk about your products, but in a non-promotional way.
So how do you do that? Well, your customers have a problem that you
can solve with your products. So by creating 'top-tips' or 'how-to'
blogs that show how your products can solve their problems, you'll be
focused on their needs ahead of yours – which will result in them
realizing that they need to buy your product!
#5.
It will build up trust
-
70%
of consumers prefer to learn about a company through its blog,
rather than ads.
Yep
that's right, blogging isn’t just a tool to drive traffic, leads
and sales – it's also a platform that people like to see when they
visit your site. Once you start blogging, you'll help to educate
people on your brand which will build up trust and a following.
How
to build up trust with your blog:
It
can be hard to dedicate time to creating blog posts, but once you
have a dedicated strategy in place, you'll help to build a subscriber
base of people who will tune in to read your posts. Do your research,
find out who your audience is and come up with ideas that
specifically target them. This will also encourage them to share your
posts with their followers – and you'll be well on your way to
creating raving fans for your store!
Takeaway
If
you want to improve SEO, increase leads, build up trust, and sell
more products then you should really consider blogging. It's a great
tool to use and it doesn’t cost a lot to maintain! So long as you
target your topics to your audience then you'll quickly see all of
the above benefits!
Take
a look at our previous post to find out
how
to set up your Ecommerce blog
using AmeriCommerce. Or if you want to take our ecommerce
solution
for a spin then give us a call today!