Should an Ecommerce Website Have a Blog?
Los Angeles Internet Marketing •
December 6th, 2007
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(Disclaimer: I am extremely biased towards blogs. I have already come to the conclusion that blogs are always beneficial. Consider yourself warned!)
Here are the issues:
- What are the pro’s and con’s of having a blog on your ecommerce site (The Theory)
- What are the other experts in the field saying about having blogs on your ecommerce site
- What are the big guys doing?
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What are the Pro’s and Con’s of having a Blog on your Ecommerce site?
The disadvantage of having a blog on your ecommerce site is simple- and pretty factual. The people coming to your site are coming in order to buy. When you add in a blog, you are diverting their attention from buying. This is a risk, and why would you risk losing sales “just to have a blog on your site”? That sounds way to “I don’t know marketing from beans, I just want to be hip”.
The are a couple of things that blogs “may help” in. First of all, many people on the internet are researching what they buy before they actually buy. By having a blog, and especially if that blog has a post about that item, you are helping the consumer complete their research, and thus they stay longer on your site, and you increase the likelihood of them buying from you.
Additionally, I have a firm belief - based on my own e-tail experience, that more important than price is the relationship you build with your customer. If you can create a connection with that customer their whole “logical research online” mentality just goes down the drain, and they tend to convert better on your site than on competitors, and are also not as worried about price.
They are willing to buy the item from you, even at the higher price. Also, they tend to be more of a repeat customer, which means that you can generate sales without having to pay your marketing costs again.
Then of course, there is the obvious advantage that when you have a blog, there is more of an excuse to post content, and get links to your site… SEO etc…
As far as the concern that that the blog would divert shoppers attention, I have two things to point out. First of all, the blog doesn’t have to be on the product search, or detail page. Second of all, it could be that having links to information about the item is beneficial. (We’ll see more about that when we analyze ecommerce sites that have blogs.)
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What are other experts saying about having a blog on an ecommerce site?
Stephan Spencer, the president of Netconcepts, a very experienced ecommerce optimization company recently posted an article up on CNET about the need for ecommerce sites to create blog posts that are engaging or in his words, “Your blog should be about connecting and communicating with your readers. Share some holiday stories, maybe your favorite recipes, or offer helpful packing and shipping tips. Any product mentions should be done carefully and subtly and in moderation.”
Here’s another interesting post about the different ways to create a blog on an ecommerce site. They claim that there are 7 different ways to have a blog on an ecommerce site… and use current sites as case studies… (Unfortunately, they don’t tell us who they are, which hurts their credibility. Their 7 styles are:
- Deals - Real truly good deals, example, woot.com.
- Being Hip - Talk about the newest trends in your marketplace, example, audiofederation.com.
- Become a resource - Help your customers use in their area of interest. Example - gourmetfusion.com.
- The Story - talk about how you got into the business, how the products answer problems, what you are proud of… example, clunygreyjewelry.com.
- Related Stories of interest - if you are in a field that doesn’t really generate much interest, for example car tires - or ball bearings, then blog about related topics of interest. Example, subzerowine.com.
- The Guru Blog - establish your presence as an authority on the topic… but make sure you really are an authority. Exmample, joelonsoftware.com.
- Customer service blog - get all your FAQ’s down on your blog… Example, arcadianlighting.com.
Additionally, I was the SEO liaison for one of the companies I worked for previously. They had hired USWeb to do their SEO work, and one of the case studies they used to convince the CEO of the importance of blogging was from another client of theirs, Lussori.com, a high end jewelry designer, who got a 300% increase in organic traffic using USWeb’s help. One of the things that US Web implemented was a blog on Lussori’s website. As you can see in the screen shot below, their blog URL is prominently displayed in the top navigation.
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What are the “Big Guys” doing?
As far as blogging goes, there are a couple of interesting twists. Ebay has started doing implementing some Web 2.0 Features. eBay Blogs, Ebay neighborhood and much more. Now to be honest, ebay isn’t much proof. They’re earnings are starting to flatten as they corner their market share, so they are trying to be innovative. As an ebay seller, I haven’t seen much implementation of their “web 2.0″ stuff, and I’ve been hurt by some of their changes.
Truth is, I should be researching how to capitalize on ebay’s ideas, but I’m pretty swamped here right now, clients and all. However, they are definitely pointing a finger in the new direction, and interestingly, it’s not just blogs, it’s also creating community. Something that is smart considering how many users they have. (Duhh! Why didn’t they think of it earlier.)
The next one is Amazon. I personally think that Amazon has done a phenomenal job at integrating content with their website. They have one of the most comprehensive databases of content per product. They encourage users to post reviews on the products, and have a blog as well. (This was supposed to be strictly about ecommerce sites using blogs, not about being “web 2.0 friendly”) .
Another multimillion dollar ecommerce site, Newegg, has created a unique domain just to host more user interaction, eggxpert.com, a blog, forum, and “online tech community designed specifically for PC & consumer electronics enthusiasts”.
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David Jaeger is the owner of About Results Marketing, a Los Angeles Internet Marketing company. They specialize in not only increasing your online visibility, but analyzing your business from nuts to bolts. He’s glad to help business owners, so give him a call at 866-539-3549, and see how he can help you market yourself better online.
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very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
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