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Link Building Through Content Marketing

A young asian woman writing on a laptop while working on marketing strategies for a Shopify DTC store.

It's no secret that running an eCommerce site is no easy task, as nearly every eCommerce entrepreneur will agree that the job is not for everyone.

One of the biggest hurdles many e-commerce entrepreneurs face is encouraging other domains to link to a product page. When a company is first starting, it can become expensive to send out free products and pay influencers to do sponsored reviews.

In addition, natural links can go a long way due to the sheer fact that they are not sponsored. Because of this, any successful e-commerce store must build natural links around the internet, but we the product pages to top search engine ranking results.  

Unfortunately, link building has never been accessible, and it does take a lot of perseverance and commitment to achieve. ECommerce entrepreneurs can best build their link database by engaging more with their customers or hiring a link-building agency

Studies show that content marketing is one of the best ways eCommerce entrepreneurs can engage with their customers.

Content marketing can take several forms:

  • Blog posts
  • Videos
  • Social media sharing

The idea is to create content that holds the customer's attention just long enough to get them interested in a brand or product. Customers are not visiting store websites to read a novel but are there to find products that will fit their needs. It's essential to keep any content on the store page short, sweet, and to the point to keep the customer's attention.

Content marketing doesn't happen overnight and does require some research and planning before attempting:

  • Set content goals before setting out your content marketing plan. Understand what you are looking to achieve with your project, and be sure to write it down.
  • Make a list of influencers in your field who may be interested in helping you with your content marketing plan. Think of bloggers or social media gurus interested in your product. You will want to consider collaborating with these influencers as part of your content marketing plan.
  • Understand which customer you are marketing to. It's essential to develop a buyer persona so you can understand who your customer is, what they want, and what they need.
  • Understand the buyer's journey. Everybody goes through a thought process before making a purchase. They notice they are having a problem or something is missing from their life and therefore begin to consider options to fix it. They then determine to purchase a product that fits their needs and will look to your store to make that purchase.
  • Create a contact calendar and stick to it. Decide how many blog posts you would like to have published each day or week, and commit yourself to post every day at peak hours of leadership.
  • Determine the networking which will be used to distribute your content. To succeed with content marketing, you must have an effective outreach program.
  • Plan to repurpose old content that may be used for a similar purpose in the future.
  • Be sure to know how to optimize your content, as all content should be fully optimized to perform at its best.

Once you understand the basics of a good content marketing plan, you can begin your journey.

Understand that not all visitors to your page will convert into buyers. A high conversion rate means that a high percentage of your page visitors will purchase before leaving the page. It's essential to have a high conversion rate, and if visitor rates are significantly higher than buyer rates, you may want to consider some marketing or product changes.

The primary way to achieve a high conversion rate is to present yourself as the leading authority in your field. Your customer should believe that by purchasing from you, they are getting the very best product and shopping experience available, making it essential that you would validate your company with authoritative content.

Some of the most reliable types of authoritative content used to increase traffic and conversion rates include:

  • Definitive or comprehensive guides on topics in the field.
  • Guest blogging on a popular and classic site also in your area.
  • List-based content.
  • Crowdsourced content.
  • Any recognition or awards the company may have received.
  • Comparisons of your product versus competing company's product.
  • Infographics related to your products or field.
  • Reader contests.

Another popular category used to create authoritative content is the DIY or how-to class. How-to types are trendy on the web and are some of the most frequently searched topics through Google daily. Therefore, how-to guides are top-rated among customers, particularly when they relate to a product you may be selling. This also assures the customer that they will know how to use your product when they get it if they've already been able to witness how it works in real life.

In addition to how-to's, buyer's guides and product videos can also deliver the “how-to” feel in a different, less saturated style.

If there's one way to gain readers' trust, it's to include statistics with sources that can be backed up. Therefore, using case studies as part of a content marketing strategy can be extremely rewarding and should be included in any content marketing plan.

Customer reviews and testimonials are another great way to gain your customer's trust, as they will feel less at risk purchasing your product with other customers having attested to its quality.

Finally, successful content marketing should include excellent visuals that will please the eye of the reader. The reader is not there to read a wall of text. Therefore the design element of all content is crucial to its success.

Some visual elements to consider include:

  • Slides
  • PDF
  • Video
  • Audio
  • Infographics

Once you've developed your content marketing plan and decided which types of content you would like to create, it's time to begin promoting and distributing the content you created.

Be sure to use your social media, email lists, blogs, and websites as the first step in sharing your content. Be sure your content is optimized for sharing, and share it at peak times of the day and week.

Once you share your content with your friends and family, it's time to begin distributing it on other channels. This step of the process is potentially the hardest, as it requires the attention of influencers in your field to succeed.

The easiest way to get in touch with influencers is first to identify which will most likely work with you and then build solid relationships with them once you've established content. Let them know that you look up to them, but treat them like business partners, not celebrities.

Share their content, and ask for their advice when necessary. Once you've gained their trust, they will be far more likely to share your content with their audience, which is what you were trying to achieve.

Once you've used your social media accounts and have reached out to influencers, it may be time to look to page channels to continue your content marketing plan. If you feel that you can justify other outreach channels, they are an excellent final step to reach an audience that may not have seen your content before.

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