Shopify for Blogging: Tips and Best Practices

Did you know you can have a blog on Shopify? You can use the popular e-commerce platform to publish blog content that is engaging, visually appealing, easy to navigate, and optimized for search engines.

Today, we’ll be sharing our top tips on using Shopify for blogging. You’ll learn how to create your Shopify blog, optimize your content for search engines, and promote your blog to a broad audience. We’ll also cover how to monetize your blog using Shopify’s e-commerce features, like selling digital products and setting up subscriptions.

Beginner bloggers (and some experts too), will find the tools and knowledge to create a successful Shopify blog in a few steps. So it is the moment to dive in and discover how to leverage the power of Shopify for the blogging success of your online store.

Is Shopify a Blogging Platform?

No, it is not a Blogging platform but it is an e-commerce hosting and website builder with a built-in blogging platform. Since the main niche of Shopify isn’t blogging, its features are not as robust as the features in popular standalone blogging platforms, like WordPress.

Shopify blog features aim to help businesses build and nurture an audience to generate more traffic and drive sales by creating content that is interesting, valuable, and attractive to your audience. Though Shopify is not specifically for blogging, it is worth considering this platform for your content marketing efforts.

Why Should My Shopify Store Have a Blog?

There are multiple benefits related to using Shopify as a blogging platform, your reasons will depend on your objectives and the type of e-commerce you own. Among the popular reasons to have a blog for your Shopify online store, we have:

Increasing Traffic

When you regularly publish high-quality blog posts your chances of attracting new visitors to your Shopify store increase exponentially, and they help improve your search engine traffic.

Building Brand Awareness

Having a Shopify blog allows you to showcase your brand’s personality, values, and expertise, to establish or improve the connection with your customers.

Boosting Engagement

Blogging provides an opportunity to interact with your customers and gather feedback on their interests and preferences, which can be invaluable for the growth of your e-commerce store.

Driving Sales

Blog content can help to highlight your products, their benefits, and their unique features. It can become an excellent resource to educate your audience on the real value of your product or service offer. Include this type of content among your blog post ideas and double the benefits with only one publication.

Establishing Authority

Position yourself as an industry expert and earn your customers’ trust by sharing valuable information and insights in your blog posts. Writing quality content is an excellent strategy to nurture existing customers and attract new ones.

How to Set up a Blog on Your Shopify Store

Follow these simple steps to set up a blog on your Shopify store.

1. Log in to your Shopify account and navigate to the “Online Store” section. Then click on “Blog Posts” to access the Shopify blogging platform.
2. Select a theme that aligns with your brand and complements your online store’s design. Shopify offers a range of customizable themes to suit your needs. It is possible to create your custom theme if you have the technical expertise.
3. Start creating blog content: once you have your theme, your keyword research, and your blog post ideas it’s time to create your first blog post. Click on “Create Blog Post” and add a title, body text, images, and any other elements you want to include. You can format your post using headings, subheadings, bullet points, and more. Check some Shopify blog examples to get a better idea of what you can do.
4. Customize your blog’s settings to ensure that it aligns with your brand and serves your customers’ needs. You can set up categories, tags, and featured images to make it easier for visitors to find your content.
5. Publish Your Blog Post: when you’re happy with your blog post and settings, it’s time to publish it. Click on “Publish” and your blog post will go live on your Shopify store’s blog. You can also create a content calendar for future dates and times if you prefer.
6. Promote Your Blog post: now that your blog is live, it’s time to promote it to a wider audience. Share your blog posts on social media, and email newsletters, and link them from your Shopify store. You can also optimize your blog posts for search engines and attract more traffic to your store.

These steps will help you create an engaging blog post on your Shopify to drive traffic, build your brand, and engage with your audience.

Blogging Basics & Best Practices

To help you get started, we’ve put together some blogging basics and best practices to increase your chances of success.

Choose a Niche and Topic related to your e-commerce store

Before writing, decide on a niche and topic for your blog to stay focused and attract the right audience with your Shopify blog.

Create Quality Content

Creating content is the backbone of your blog, so it’s essential to produce high-quality, informative, and engaging blog posts. Use headlines, subheadings, bullet points, and images to break up the text and make it easy to read.

Use Keywords

Target keywords and phrases to introduce your content and improve organic traffic. Be careful and avoid keyword stuffing, which is overusing keywords to the point that it affects the quality of your content.

Promote Your Blog

Don’t just publish your blog posts and hope for the best. Be proactive, and promote your blog on social media, email newsletters, and other platforms to increase your audience.

Engage with Your Audience

Respond to comments, ask questions, and encourage discussions to build a community around your Shopify blog.

Be Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to blogging. Create a content calendar and stick to it to build trust with your audience and establish a predictable rhythm.

These blogging basics and best practices will put you on the right path toward creating a successful blog that engages and connects with your audience and brings traffic to your Shopify stores.

FAQs

Which Shopify Theme Is Best for Blogging?

Users can find multiple templates on Shopify Theme Store, however not all of them consider search engine optimization for blogging. The following list provides insight into the best themes for your Shopify blog.

Narrative

The Narrative theme is a great option for bloggers who want a clean and minimal design. It features a customizable homepage, and post layout options, and users can add featured images to their blog posts. The theme is also mobile-friendly, which is important for Search Engine Optimization and user experience.

Minimal

As its name suggests, the Minimal theme is simple and clean, perfect for bloggers who want a minimalist look. This theme has a mobile-responsive design, and it is highly customizable, enabling changes in the color scheme and typography to match your brand.

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn theme is another popular choice for bloggers. It features a responsive design, a customizable homepage, and a variety of post-layout options. The theme also has social media integration, helping share your blog posts on social media platforms.

Impulse

If you’re looking for a more modern design, the Impulse theme is for you. This theme features a responsive design, a customizable homepage, a variety of post layouts, and built-in support for video, which is a great way to engage your audience.

Boundless

The Boundless theme is for bloggers who want a visually appealing design. It features a full-width homepage, customizable post layouts, and multiple typography options. This theme is also mobile-friendly, which is elemental for SEO and user experience.

Can I Export My Blog Posts From Shopify?

Yes, you can. Export your blog posts from Shopify like an XML file. The file can be imported into another platform or used to back up your content.

1. To export your blog posts from Shopify, follow these steps:
2. Log in to your Shopify admin dashboard.
3. Click on the ‘Online Store’ tab in the left-hand sidebar, then click ‘Blog Posts’.
4. On the Blog Posts page, click on the ‘Export’ button.
5. Choose the blog that you want to export from the dropdown menu.
6. Choose the date range of the blog posts you want to export or select ‘All dates’ to export all posts.
7. Click the ‘Export blog posts’ button.

Shopify will generate an XML file containing the blog posts within the selected date range. Save this file to your computer or import it into the desired platform.

Consider that while you can export your blog content from Shopify, the images or media files associated with your blog posts will have to be manually downloaded and saved.

Additionally, if you’re importing your content into another platform, you may need to reformat it according to the new platform’s requirements.

How Do I Promote My Blog on Shopify?

Promoting your blog on Shopify is vital to increase visibility and drive traffic to your online store. Here are some ways to promote your blog on Shopify:

• Social media is a great way to promote your blog posts and reach a wider audience. Share your blog posts on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and include a link to your blog.
• If you have a newsletter, include internal and external links to your latest blog posts in your email campaigns. It will encourage subscribers to visit your blog and engage with your content.
• Optimize your blog posts for search engines. Include relevant keywords in your headlines, meta descriptions, and content. It’ll help your blog posts rank higher in search engine results pages, which can drive more traffic.
• Reach out to other bloggers in your niche and offer to write guest posts for their blogs. It can help you reach a new audience and build relationships with fellow bloggers.
• Consider paid advertising to promote your blog posts on platforms like Facebook Ads, or Google Ads. It increases the chances of reaching a targeted audience and drives more traffic to your Shopify blog.
• Respond to comments and questions on time to build a community around your blog.

In a Nutshell

Shopify provides a blogging platform that can become an excellent tool for content marketing campaigns for your online store. A blog on Shopify has the potential to increase traffic, build brand awareness, boost engagement, drive sales, and establish authority.

Setting up a blog on Shopify is easy, and by following the basics and best blogging practices, you can produce high-quality, informative, and engaging content that resonates with your audience.

Use Shopify’s blogging platform to drive traffic, build your brand, engage with your audience, and build a successful and relevant e-commerce store.