2020 was a tough year for brick and mortar stores as the pandemic brought about a major shift in consumer shopping habits. In 2021, it’s clear that the surge in online shopping is more than just a temporary trend.
So what does this mean for your e-commerce business?
In short, this signals that brands will need to put in additional time and effort to stand out in the rapidly growing e-commerce space. Content will be a key factor in distinguishing your brand.
Here are some tips to help you create content that will not only build brand awareness but also entice potential customers to convert:
Planning is Key
It takes a strategic content plan coupled with SEO tactics to ensure your brand stands out amongst the competition. A well-formulated plan can generate over three times as many leads as outbound marketing for half the cost, which is always a good thing!
- Write for your audience: Writing strong content won’t mean anything unless you’ve identified the right audience. Taking the time to understand your target audience is an important step in creating successful content. When brainstorming content topics, consider common pain points or questions your audience may have. For example, if your target customer is price sensitive, consider creating comparison guides, posts highlighting the long-term value of your product, or even a giveaway.
- Always keep your goal in mind: Whether it’s brand awareness, conversion, or shareability, you must tailor your message accordingly. (Ex: an awareness message would focus on introducing your brand, while a conversion message would feature a strong purchase CTA). By putting the user first when creating content, you’ll be on track to gain qualified traffic and sales in no time.
- Identify your content gap: Since search engines are the leading e-commerce traffic drivers, everything in your content plan should be optimized for organic search. Uncovering keywords at every stage of the marketing funnel will allow you to engage your customers more effectively based on where they are in the buyer journey. Be sure to take a look at competitor content and keyword rankings as well. This will help you identify new opportunities that can be adapted for your brand.
Diversify Your Content
When creating content for your site, test different mediums so you can determine which posts resonate most with your audience.
- Blog posts: Blogs are one of the most cost-effective ways to connect with your audience while increasing your organic presence. This type of content will allow potential customers to discover your brand through non-product-related search queries and topics. Take advantage of this lengthier content format to dive deeper into product or brand specifics, showcase lifestyle images, and tackle seasonal trends.
- Videos: Videos are one of the best ways for e-commerce brands to create engaging content. According to Google, 55% of shoppers use online videos to guide their purchase decisions. When hosting product videos on your website, be sure to utilize schema markup to boost organic search visibility. Schema markup allows search engines to understand the content in your video and display more relevant details on the results pages, which improves click-through rate. By providing more information in the HTML code, search engines will be able to display information such as video duration, description, and upload date (check out all the possible tags here). You can also host videos on YouTube where optimizing descriptions, titles, and tags can expand your reach even further.
- User-Generated Content: A majority of customers find user-generated content more influential than brand-created content. Utilizing user-generated social media posts, product reviews, and Q&A sections will humanize your brand and establish a sense of trust in purchases.
Create Unique Product Page Descriptions
Product pages hold a significant amount of SEO value but are an often overlooked factor on e-commerce websites. Keep the below optimization tips in mind when reviewing your product pages:
- Formatting and placement: When targeting relevant keywords, be sure to utilize both paragraphs and bulleted lists to deliver your message. Bulleted lists will highlight key product features while longer descriptions are great for detailed information to increase conversion. Additionally, advertisers should vary keyword iterations throughout the page. Placement above the fold, image captions, and below the fold sections will naturally embed target keywords without keyword stuffing. There is no optimal number of keyword iterations, but an ideal density is around 1-2% (the target keyword should appear 1-2 times per 100 words).
- Unique value: If your products are listed across multiple e-commerce sites such as Amazon, ensure that each site’s description is unique and optimized for your target keywords. Each product category or page is an opportunity to create meaningful descriptions that highlight your selling points.
Utilize the Power of Social Media
The power of SEO to promote your brand doesn’t stop at creating optimized content. Social media is another powerful tool that brands can use to expand their organic reach.
- Repurpose: Repurposing content for your brand’s social media channels will amplify your message to a larger audience. When reposting your content, make sure the right social media channels are leveraged for each post. Long-form content performs better on platforms such as Linkedin or Facebook, while short-form content, infographics, or videos perform better on Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
- Foster mutually beneficial connections: Don’t forget to reach out to other publications or influencers that may benefit from sharing your content. Building backlinks and referral traffic will further strengthen the SEO value of your e-commerce site.
Begin Planning Your Content Roadmap Today
In this new era of online shopping, it is crucial now, more than ever, to tap into the potential of search-optimized content marketing at every level of the marketing funnel. Implementing a strategic content creation cadence will immediately impact your business, so get started today!
For more advice and support on building your e-commerce content marketing strategy, contact [email protected].