How to Build Content for YourEcommerce Business?

Organic search is one of the primary drivers of traffic for

most ecommerce businesses. And, over time, the content

you provide those searchers can become a powerful source

of conversions, too. But search engine optimization

requires a long-term perspective. The content you publish

and the strategies you implement today won’t necessarily

lead to explosive results tomorrow.

Nevertheless, if you ever decide to sell your business,

building your content archive helps you prepare for that

eventuality. Content, in fact, is a key component of your exit

strategy.

So, here are some tips on how to build content for your

ecommerce business.

1. Set aside the time necessary to strategize and

create content :

Content creation takes time, sometimes a lot of time. If you

don’t budget for it in your schedule, you will end up

procrastinating. And the longer you put off that necessary

content creation, the less likely you are to do it effectively.

You may not even do it at all. For better or for worse, search

results are more competitive than they’ve ever been.

Unless you happen to be in an uncrowded niche, executing

without a strategy is like shooting in the dark. If you don’t

do your keyword and competitive research, create an

editorial calendar, define roles and manage the creation

and publication of content, you're unlikely to see a good

return on investment.

That's why you need a plan. You need to recognize the

amount of time and effort required to generate quality

content on an ongoing basis, and set aside the time and

resources necessary to maintain a consistent publishing

schedule.

Even if you choose to outsource content creation, you need

to be aware of what steps to take, what your goals are and

how you can work with freelancers or agencies to reach

them.

2. Focus on creating high-quality content :

A lot has been said about content quantity versus content

quality. When you prioritize quantity over quality, inevitably

your content quality suffers, making it less valuable to your

target audience. As unglamorous as it may sound,

consistency should be your focus. If quality is all you focus

on, content development could quickly become

cumbersome and laborious.

If quantity is all you focus on, you’ll just increase your

bounce rates and reduce dwell time on your site. Both

extremes are detrimental to your end goal of using content

to consistently attract visitors to your site.

If you’re publishing five times per week, but lack the staff or

resources to maintain your quality standards, consider

reducing your publishing frequency to two or three times

per week. This will allow for a more meaningful balance.

Also, take time to define what "quality content" actually

means. It does not always mean long-form, image-rich,

media-rich content. Sometimes, answering questions in a

specific and concise way can be more beneficial to the end

user than long, rambling answers with a lot of words that

are only there to meet a word-count criterion.

3. Be useful and interesting :

Are you constantly pushing promotions and offers through

your blog? While your audience will certainly appreciate

special deals on products they’re interested in, these types

of posts often aren’t great for SEO, and don’t have much

long-term value, if any.

Content marketing is about value creation. You will attract

more visitors to your site and rank higher in search engines

by focusing on being useful and interesting rather than

promotional. Since organic search traffic is one of the main

sources of traffic for ecommerce sites, it’s important to

invest in your long-term success.

How can you be useful? Answer common questions, create

tutorials, write how-to posts. You can be interesting by

writing listicles or being controversial. You can engage your

audience with infographics and videos. There are many

different content types to choose from, which can play to

your strengths. Start a podcast if you are better at speaking

than writing. Start a video series if your niche is highly

visual. Determine what makes the most sense based on

your skills and resources. Also, keep these considerations in

mind when you’re hiring content creators.

4. Hire 'smart' to avoid complications :

There are several ways to execute your content strategy.

You can hire freelancers, work with agencies, bring on new

staff or handle content creation completely in-house. Each

scenario has its pros and cons, and it’s important to be

aware of them. Freelancers -- especially highly paid ones --

often bring a lot of expertise to the table, and are also good

for one-off projects. The downside is that they work on their

own schedule, and you may need to take several tries to

find the right fit.

Working with a content agency can be time-saving and

efficient when you’re passing on instructions to your writers.

Contracts also make the work and costs predictable but can

be hard to terminate once signed. Hiring a dedicated team

member, on the other hand, can be advantageous since

this person will be committed to the project, and you can

pick and choose whom to hire based on experience and skill

level. But staff members can also be expensive, and may

take considerable time to train.

Another option is to handle content creation completely

in-house without hiring additional staff. The advantage here

is that you know what you want, and you don’t have to

communicate your standards and relay instructions to

someone outside of the company. The downside is that

having a staff carries high overhead costs, such as health

insurance and office space. It may take time to find the

right fit for your business, so be patient and remember your

end goal.

Conclusion :

Reducing owner involvement is a key piece to selling your

business. Creating systems and documented procedures

makes it possible for others to know exactly what will be

required of them if and when they buy your business. You

should have a documented strategy for content creation

that can be carried out by the new owners.

Building content takes time, and so does SEO. The best way

to ensure long-term success is to stay steady. Publish new,

quality content consistently, and put the right

infrastructure into place to keep the engine running. Work

with those who understand what you’re trying to achieve,

and hone your strategy continually.

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