This document discusses how blogging can help ecommerce businesses attract qualified visitors, improve product visibility, engage audiences, and increase conversion rates. It provides tips for optimizing blog content for SEO through keywords, links, and images. Recommendations are given for using blogs to showcase products and industry expertise while engaging readers through giveaways and guides. Tracking blog traffic and email captures is advised to nurture leads. Segmented email marketing is highlighted as a way to better target customers. The presentation concludes by promoting a HubSpot software demo to help businesses implement inbound marketing strategies.

1. Blogging for eCommerce
Attracting qualified visitors that generate leads and sales
Mike Redbord & Mike Ewing
Ecommerce Directors @HubSpot
Twitter: @redbord & @inboundcommerce

2. Today’s Agenda
Blog Definitions
Optimizing Content For Traffic
Improving Product Visibility
Engaging Your Audience
Growing Conversion Rates
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3. A New Era for eCommerce:
Writing Content that Attracts Buyers
Blogging for eCommerce

4. What is a blog?
Part of a website which can be regularly
updated with content
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5. What is in a blog?
Articles
• Educational & Informative
• How To
Product Guides
Video
Images
Contests
Industry News & Updates
Event Coverage
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6. Why should I blog?

7. Drive Qualified Traffic!

8. Optimizing Your Blog Posts:
On-page SEO
Blogging for eCommerce

9. Plotting Your Course – Choosing Your Keyword

10. Visualizing The Long Tail
• Less Difficult
• More Qualified Visitors
• Limitless Opportunity

11. On-page SEO Elements
Page Title
Page URL
Headings (H1)
Meta Description
Images
Alt text
File Name

12. Enhancing Your Product Pages:
Internal Linking
eCommerce and Inbound Marketing

13. Linking the blog and product pages

14. Why?
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15. How do I position products in a blog?
Anchor text
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16. Where should I place product links?
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17. Increasing your site’s authority:
Attracting Quality Inbound Links
eCommerce and Inbound Marketing

18. How do inbound links affect rankings?
Inbound links act as a vote or a reference.
Some inbound links are more or less
valuable than others.
Total authority is split equally amongst
all outbound links on a page.
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19. Which would you rather link to?
vs
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20. Growing Reach:
Keeping Your Audience Engaged
eCommerce and Inbound Marketing

21. Engage via FREE product
DO: run giveaways, contests, and give away product
Do NOT: expect visitors to engage without incentive
Source: community.ronayers.com
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22. Provide relevant tips and guides
DO: share guides and interesting tips related to your products
Do NOT: write something that under 50% of your audience would read
Source: blog.shopodyssa.com
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23. Strut your product expertise
DO: use your product expertise to promote your products
Do NOT: expect repeat visitors if your content is boring or not in-depth
Source: blog.andythornal.com
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24. Provide industry-insider views
DO: use your industry expertise to educate your audience
Do NOT: engage in too much industry-chatter unless you see demand
Source: blog.gillespieflorists.com
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25. So you’ve got content – now what?
Site Traffic
(search, direct, email, social, etc.)
Link from homepage to blog
Remarkable Blog Content
(giveaways, contests, news, expertise)
Blog & landing pages capture emails
New blog posts
update subscribers via email
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26. Result: Traffic and engaged subscribers
See their case study on HubSpot.com: http://www.hubspot.com/customer-case-studies/bid/7240/Ecommerce-
Website-Increases-Online-Sales-by-40-Percent-With-HubSpot
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27. Offers to keep visitors engaged
Contests Ebooks
Coupons Checklists
Quizzes Printable coupons
Giveaways Buyer’s guides
Bundled deals Calculators
Event-related Surveys
In-store coupons Webinars
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28. Enhancing Your Conversion Rate:
Converting Visitors into Emails & Sales
eCommerce and Inbound Marketing

29. Holy Blog! Sales & Email Collection Done Right
29 Source: info.swankyblooms.com

30. Experiment with different offers!
Surveys with attached coupons net
you valuable information and keep
your customers happy
30 Source: moosejaw.com

31. Direct Visitors to Products!
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32. Direct Visitors to Products!
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33. Segmented email marketing
As you learn more about your customers and
future customers through their site interactions, you
can do more and more segmented email marketing
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34. HubSpot Can Help Make It Happen
Inbound Marketing Works
eCommerce and Inbound Marketing

35. eCommerce Live Software Demo
Register at hubspot.com/ecomm to
learn how to the HubSpot software
can help you:
• Generate more qualified traffic
• Turn that traffic into leads and
customers
• Analyze your sales and marketing
efforts
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