Once upon a time, I was a personal blogger. Back in 2011, as an impulsive New Year resolution, I started a blog and continued it right through to 2019. I changed the name and focus a couple of times, but It remains the only NY resolution that lasted beyond February!
I happen to love spreadsheets and pre-planning – but if the thought of listing blog ideas and content pillars leaves you cold, I can help in one of my one-hour brainstorming sessions.
You can also head over to Answer the Public and get more long-tail keyword ideas based on common questions, prepositions and comparisons.
These offer a great starting point but they don’t provide info about the popularity or difficulty of the search term. Without this information, you might find yourself writing a post about a topic no one is searching for or getting lost in a sea of bigger and higher-ranking sites.
Keyword research is a great brainstorming exercise that also gives you data on search volume and ranking difficulty to help you choose the best possible phrase.
You can engage a professional to do this but you can also do some of this yourself by using free* keyword research tools like:
* note these free tools offer limited searches and/or limited results.
As a rule of thumb, you’ll want a keyword phrase that has at least 10 searches a month and a difficulty score under 40. When I find good keywords, I add them to a spreadsheet and use them to develop a draft title and focus for the blog (see my spreadsheet example above).
Again, if keyword research seems like a huge hassle, I can help you out. I use a tool called KeySearch and can not only come up with a list of keywords but also recommend where you can use them across your site (including blogs).
My Home Truths/Positive Special Needs Parenting/Inclusive Parenting
In those days, blogging was all about comments and connection. Sure, traffic was important. But it was the comments and conversation that kept me going and saw me host a weekly blogging linkup for several years. More than a decade on, personal blogging is a different ball game. Most of the OGs have passed the baton of sharing personal stories with a new guard of influencers. Instead of measuring comments on blog posts, conversation and connection happen on social media, with likes and shares now the main metric. I suspect this is why so many people no longer see the value in blogging – especially small businesses and eCommerce stores that never got a lot of comments in the first place. But, it’s time to look at things differently – because there are a ton* of benefits to having a small business or eCommerce blog. *Not literally a ton – but there are more than a few!What are the benefits of blogging in the 2020s?
The early 2000s were truly the halcyon days of personal blogging – especially for comments and connection. Times may have changed and technology has evolved – but that doesn’t mean blogging is no longer relevant. Blogging still offers brands a great opportunity to build trust, demonstrate authority, share vital information and guide customers towards action. Small businesses and eCommerce stores can harness blogs to:- provide more detailed information on specific topics and anticipate customers’ questions
- guide the customer journey by taking customers from awareness to consideration to conversion
- form the backbone of content marketing – with blog content clustered around core topics
- take the opportunity to rank for more keywords to increase online visibility through organic SEO.
How business blogging drives helpful content
Blogging is arguably more important than ever for business owners. Especially when viewed through the lens of Google’s E-E-A-T update (Experience – Expertise – Authority – Trust).
Google E-E-A-T Diagram (sourced from Moz)
This update to Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines puts more weight on these four criteria when Search Quality Raters analyse pages and posts to identify helpful content for users. If your content ticks all four boxes, it’s more likely to rank higher in search results. Blogs are a great way to share helpful content for readers and consumers. And Google is more likely to reward your business if you offer quality, relevant and trusted information that demonstrates your experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness.Experience
We all want first-hand information when researching products and services. Content written through the lens of experience will be considered more useful than content written by someone who has never used or seen it first-hand. Blog posts make it easy to share real-world experiences, especially those focusing on case studies or reviews.Expertise
Blogs have long been a vehicle for sharing knowledge and expertise. Let’s face it, you can’t create a web page for every topic or issue (that would be one unwieldy website!) However, a blog post allows you to share the intricacies of your area of expertise and showcase your knowledge to readers who are especially interested in what you have to say.Authoritativeness
In the era of ‘fake news,’ subject authority is more important than ever. Blogging helps you develop a reputation in your niche, especially when you provide quality information in a specific subject area. It’s much easier to prove your authority when you stick to what you know best and avoid discussing random subjects or irrelevant topics.Trust
There’s a reason Google has put trust at the centre of E-E-A-T. Trust is the key to everything. Good quality blog posts help build trust with your readers and move consumers further along the customer journey. When blogging, boost your trust factor by naming the author, citing sources, reviewing for accuracy and only linking to trusted online resources.eCommerce blogs and SEO
Improved Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the biggest benefits of blogging for eCommerce and small businesses. The reason? More keywords mean more chances to rank. Every time you publish a post, you have a fresh opportunity to rank for more keywords. It’s mathematics at its finest! Blogs are especially useful for targeting long-tail keywords – longer search phrases that are more targeted and easier to rank for than short-tail or broader keywords. These are more specific search terms that have less search volume but are more likely to meet the needs of the user. In terms of helpful content, this is where you’ll find the sweet spot for Google and your customers. Stay tuned for a future post (or three!) about keywords…5 tips for starting an eCommerce blog
Now that you understand the many benefits of blogging for small businesses, you’ll want a piece of the action. But where do you start? When I work with eCommerce stores and small businesses, I always give them the following 5 tips to help them get off the ground and get the most from their content investment. You’ll notice that none of these tips cover the specifics of writing. The reason? For eCommerce blogs to have the most impact, you must get the foundations right first. That means stepping away from the keyboard and doing some research before taking on the challenge of the blinking cursor (which will be much easier after this – I promise!)Tip 1: Identify 3-5 topic categories
One of the biggest barriers to blogging is settling on a topic to write about. That’s why this is my number one tip for business and eCommerce blogging – it helps to clear the mind. Also known as content pillars, topic categories help you stay focused and create relevant content for your audience. Depending on your business, blog topics could be divided into:- Product categories – e.g. electronics sellers might create topics aligned with the products they sell (mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches and accessories)
- Target audiences – e.g. women’s fashion stores might focus on the life stage of customers (pregnancy fashion, postpartum comfort, busy mum life, midlife chic)
- Customer challenges – e.g. meal prep companies might share content to help solve common issues (save time, minimise costs, easy recipes, storing food)
I happen to love spreadsheets and pre-planning – but if the thought of listing blog ideas and content pillars leaves you cold, I can help in one of my one-hour brainstorming sessions.
Tip 2: Do some basic keyword research
With your content pillars in place, it’s time to see what customers are searching for across your chosen topic areas to decide on the focus of each post. There are several ways to do this. A quick and easy way is to head to Google, type in your content pillar (i.e. pregnancy fashion) and see the most common keywords for that term via Google Suggest.
You can also head over to Answer the Public and get more long-tail keyword ideas based on common questions, prepositions and comparisons.
These offer a great starting point but they don’t provide info about the popularity or difficulty of the search term. Without this information, you might find yourself writing a post about a topic no one is searching for or getting lost in a sea of bigger and higher-ranking sites.
Keyword research is a great brainstorming exercise that also gives you data on search volume and ranking difficulty to help you choose the best possible phrase.
You can engage a professional to do this but you can also do some of this yourself by using free* keyword research tools like:
* note these free tools offer limited searches and/or limited results.
As a rule of thumb, you’ll want a keyword phrase that has at least 10 searches a month and a difficulty score under 40. When I find good keywords, I add them to a spreadsheet and use them to develop a draft title and focus for the blog (see my spreadsheet example above).
Again, if keyword research seems like a huge hassle, I can help you out. I use a tool called KeySearch and can not only come up with a list of keywords but also recommend where you can use them across your site (including blogs).
Tip 3: Create a blog template
The next way I recommend getting started with blogging is to create a template that you can use for every blog post. You may already have a blog on your site, but it might just be a blank text field with an annoying blinking cursor, making it even harder to get started. Developing a set structure for your blog posts helps:- create a consistent look and feel
- make your content easier to read
- overcome that dreaded blinking cursor
- incorporate on-page SEO
- simplify content creation (for you and others).
- Metadata information – this is used by search engines and people (via search results) to determine what your post is about. This includes your Title Tag, Meta Description, Content Pillar and Keyword information.
- Page structure – this helps keep you on track as you write your post. This includes headings and subheadings, where images and graphics go and the purpose of each paragraph to ensure the reader stays engaged.
- Formatting – this ensures every post looks consistent to help build your brand. Think text colours, fonts, brand assets, tables and images. This is especially important if more than one person contributes content to your eCommerce blog.
Tip 4: Pay attention to SEO
One of the BIG benefits of blogging for business is the SEO potential of adding value with long-tail keywords. So, don’t waste your time writing a blog for no return – ensure you do everything you can to optimise your on-page SEO for maximum visibility. Start by including your primary and/or secondary keywords in each of these sections of your blog post:- Title Tag (also known as your Page Title)
- Meta Description
- Page URL
- Image Alt Text
- Main Heading (H1)
- Subheadings (H2, H3, H4)
- Anchor text links (using text to link to other pages)
- First 100 words of content.
Tip 5: Understand different blog formats
The final step is understanding the different ways you can write blog posts (yes – there is more than one way to blog!) Blog posts come in all shapes and sizes and are designed to achieve different outcomes. List posts tend to be shorter and provide a quick overview of a topic to introduce readers to an issue, while deep-dive posts are used to demonstrate subject matter expertise (SME). Here are 8 examples of different blog formats you can use in your business:- List posts (e.g. 5 ways to rock a cardigan in winter; 4 benefits of going gluten-free)
- Question posts (e.g. How to clean your coffee pot; Why you can’t skip moisturising)
- Comparison posts (e.g. MYOB or Xero?; 2024 bento box comparison guide)
- How-to posts (e.g. How to get the most from ChatGPT; Your 5-step guide to summer)
- Case Study posts (e.g. How Kate found renewed confidence with [product name])
- Deep Dive posts (e.g. Makeup Tutorial for New Mums; The Ultimate Guide to Kids)
- Opinion posts (e.g. Why I find AI frustrating; I’m not sold on this look – here’s why)
- Story posts (e.g. A Woman, a Baby and an Idea: The Road to [business name])
