Generate hands-off traffic to your site with content strategy
Developing and refining your e-comm site’s content is the kind of un-sexy task that pays dividends long term. Optimizing for SEO isn’t a magic bullet, but future you will be super grateful in six months to a year when you start seeing major bumps in your organic traffic - all because of the content you posted now.
Why is an SEO-informed content strategy so important for e-comm brands to consider? The fashion and beauty brand owners I work with tend to be super focused on the visuals of their brand and its products - as they should be! - but neglectful of the content side of their site. But without solid content - some of it longform - it’s going to be really hard for Google to properly categorize your brand’s site and display it to the right people in search results. This means that in the long run, you’ll miss out on the benefits of lots of (free!) organic traffic. (For more on the why of SEO, check out my article here.)
Let’s get into what types of content will do the most for your website, and how you can write the most impactful content possible - ensuring lots and lots of qualified traffic.
Why is longform content good for my brand’s SEO?
Any type of relevant, helpful, keyword-rich content that you add to your site is useful (both for Google and for customers). However, Google’s search formula rewards longform content (1,000+ words) for a few reasons:
Longer content keeps visitors on your site longer
More copy gives Google more data to crawl, which helps them to better categorize your site and optimize for it in search results
High-quality, comprehensive content tends to generate more (and better) backlinks
Writing quality content is the number-one most important thing you can do to improve your site’s SEO. If you’ve ever clicked into a blog post that you hoped would be helpful, only to find it was essentially just word salad, you’ll know what I mean. Good content keeps people engaged with your site, which helps boost your site’s authority in Google’s eyes.
I want to reiterate that developing a content strategy isn’t a magic bullet solution - this is about creating useful content over time so that you can increase your search results in the next six months to a year, and beyond. But as a brand owner, when you consider the cost of creating great content now versus spending on pay-per-click ads forever, you might find it’s worth your while to develop a content strategy after all.
How long does my e-comm content need to be?
You might be getting stressed seeing me use the phrase “longform content” so many times. The good news? As of 2024, longform content (likely) no longer needs to be SO long to attract relevant traffic.
With the increasing popularity of short-term content - like TikTok and YouTube Shorts - and the influx of longform AI-generated content, Google no longer necessarily assumes that length = authority.
What does this mean, practically, for your e-comm brand?
Focus on creating helpful content that matters to your customers. Display brand authority, and - above all - make sure you market that content effectively.
I’d still try to aim for a 1k word count as a benchmark, but remember that - especially for fashion brands - sometimes, less can be more. If you want to read a more in-depth breakdown of content length trends, check out this article from Neil Patel - it’s great.
You and I both know that not everyone visiting your online store will become a buyer.
But what if I could help you to bump up that percentage?
I’m convinced! How do I create an SEO-informed content strategy for my e-comm brand?
Step #1 - Complete some keyword research.
Keyword research is the process of identifying the strongest words and phrases you can use to capture Google’s attention. Your brand’s main offerings will be the jumping-off point for keyword research. To get started, come up with a short list of the main concepts related to your brand, expressed as short phrases. For example, some of Reformation’s brand-specific keywords might be:
Bridesmaid dresses
Wedding dresses
Sustainable women’s clothing
Vacation dresses
Carbon neutral fashion
If your brand has existing name recognition - like Reformation - then you’ll also want to include the name in some of your initial searches, like “Reformation dress.”
Once you’ve compiled that list of essential phrases, which are called your seed keywords, it’s time to do research on each. The goal at this stage is to expand your list to include any phrases or keywords that get high search volumes in Google. You may also find, as you research each of your seed keywords, that other phrases begin to appear that you want to capture. This is good: keyword research is all about exploring your options.
Here are the best keyword research tools to try for free (or with a free trial):
Moz or SEMRush: these are the top two SEO platforms, and both offer free trials. Since these platforms are so in-depth, I’d recommend starting a free trial and pulling all the data you need for the year ahead.
Google Keyword Planner: this does require a credit card to be input, although you’ll only be charged if you enable a paid ad campaign. It’s a little less intuitive of a platform than Moz or SEMRush, but there are tons of explainers online.
Wordsteam free keyword tool: this is the most bare-bones option, but it’s totally free.
Google Search Console: if your site uses Google Analytics, you have automatic access to Google Search Console, which is free and shows you exactly which keywords your site is already ranking for.
As you start to research, remember that you’re looking for keywords with both specificity and relevance, not just total search volume. For example, if you’re Reformation, you’ll likely see the keyword “women’s dress” gets the most search hits of any relevant keyword. That’s all well and good - and you can certainly include the phrase on your site, I won’t stop you - but is it specific enough to actually be useful? Likely not. Your goal is to strike a balance between the broad and the brand-specific so that you capture the right organic traffic.
Pretty soon, you’ll have compiled a list of tons of keywords. Now that you’ve generated this data, remember: your goal isn’t to jam as many relevant keywords as possible into your content (like those word salad articles that we’ve all come across). Only use keywords that are relevant and fit in with the (hopefully good) ideas that you want to get across. Here are the best way to utilize those keywords you pulled:
As replacements for phrases you were already going to use. For example, let’s say you’re writing a blog post on how to source ethically made bridesmaid dresses. You may search “ethically made bridesmaid dress” as a keyword and learn that “sustainable bridesmaid dress” ranks higher. Great! Let’s use that phrasing instead, since Google will likely reward it.
In headers. Google focuses on your site’s header copy to help them make sense of a page’s content. Good headers don’t just help Google, though - they also help readers who may be skimming your article. Make sure to include relevant keywords in your headers as often as possible. (Again, without your content becoming a repetitive word salad.)
For example, let’s say you’re still working on that article about bridesmaid dresses. Rather than using “Sourcing Tips” as a header, make sure to really spell out the content for Google with something like “Bridesmaid Dress Sourcing Tips.”
As inspiration for new, relevant content. More on that in step #2:
Step #2 - Start compiling your keyword research into topic ideas.
Your content should be as unique as your brand is, but hopefully by now you’ve started noticing patterns around useful content you could create. I’d recommend grouping your keyword research into relevant groups based off of your product offerings or services so that it’s easy to reference. (This is a great moment for a spreadsheet!) For example, here’s what content buckets for Reformation could look like:
Articles on sustainable (or upcycled) fabric sourcing
Styling guides for different on-brand events (destination weddings, bridal showers)
How and why to offset carbon credits
Influencer takeover posts and curated collections
From there, it’s time to start the (hopefully) fun and creative part: brainstorming new content.
Need some help coming up with content ideas? Here are a few tools and brainstorming ideas:
Can you phrase a keyword or phrase as a question, and then answer it? Continuing with Reformation as an example, a prime question to answer might be: “How are we reducing carbon emissions in 2023?”
Use a site like Answer the Public to pull frequently asked questions related to your target keywords. (This site is where the above screenshot came from - it’s so helpful!)
Are there any content gaps on your site that your direct competitors are covering? Maybe you’re a small skincare brand and you notice competitors are writing longform blog posts on their product’s formulations. Use competitor research as a way to identify and fill in those gaps.
Are there any keywords your site is already ranking for that you want to double down on with additional content? As mentioned above, I like to review Google Search Console, note the keywords that I’m happy to be ranking for, and develop additional content in those areas - so that I can pull in even more targeted traffic.
Step #3 - Build your content outline.
I find content outlines super helpful to keep my writing process focused. Outlines also help you be strategic about including all of your great keyword research and ideas so that you provide the most value to readers (and, let’s be honest, to Google).
Not sure where to get started on your outline? I’ve found ChatGPT to be super helpful to draft short outlines on a given topic. You don’t have to follow their suggestions word-for-word - and I recommend that you don’t, in fact - but the tool is helpful to give you a sense of what readers may expect from an article on your topic. (Reminder: do not have AI write content for you. Google is already working on ways to spot AI-generated content, and you will eventually be penalized for using it on your site.)
I also like to Google some of my target keywords as I work on an outline and see what competitors are doing with similar content. Ask yourself: what differentiates your brand? Where can you bring your specific expertise and provide value to readers? The goal isn’t to plagiarize competitors: you’re doing market research to learn how to set yourself apart.
Your content outline is also a great place to come up with headers.As mentioned in the keyword section, Google places an emphasis on any text marked as a header, so you want to take special care to write descriptive headers that include relevant keywords (without being too repetitive).
Step #4 - Get writing!
This is pretty self-explanatory, but it bears repeating: all the SEO optimization in the world won’t help you if you aren’t creating useful or entertaining content.
Your goal should always be to create content that helps your customers in some way. Maybe that’s by providing the best information possible so that they can make informed purchases, or by inspiring them with your brand’s story, or by explaining how to use or style your products. You have to come up with the right answers for your unique brand positioning.
Just remember, if you are creating content from a place of helpfulness, I can guarantee you’ll see better SEO results even if your keywords aren’t perfectly optimized. Come up with a creation cadence that feels doable for you, and get writing.
And, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and need some inspiration, think about Glossier! The megabrand started off as a beauty blog, Into the Gloss, which is still running - and publishing amazing content - a decade later. Their content is varied, but feels consistently engaging and is perfectly targeted to the Glossier customer. That’s your goal, too.
Step #5 - Before you post - write your new content’s meta copy!
Meta copy consists of the page titles and descriptions that show up in Google’s search results, like so:
I won’t be getting into the technical details in this article, but do take the time to set useful meta titles and descriptions for any new pages of content you post on your site. (Need help writing your own meta copy? Check out my guide here.)
Where should I be aiming to add this new content on my site?
Blogs are a natural fit for this type of keyword-rich content, and I think every fashion or beauty brand would do well to have one on their site. But you have some other page options, too:
About the brand, brand story pages
Look Book pages
Sustainability and sourcing pages
How to style/product use guides
When in doubt, check in on what your competitors are doing - and aim to do better. Remember, if your existing customers aren’t interested in reading every page of content, that’s fine! Your goal with all of this content creation is to help capture new, relevant organic traffic. If your current customers read and enjoy it, too, that’s just the icing on top.
When - and why - to refresh your longform content
Google rewards sites that refresh their content regularly. As part of your content strategy process, set reminders to come back to key pieces of content and update them in some way, even if it’s small. Can you add a new, relevant link? A couple of additional sentences? Anything counts in Google’s eyes - they just like to see that your site isn’t stagnant. If this feels overwhelming, prioritize which content to refresh based on your site’s page traffic. It’s always the most impactful, SEO-wise, to tweak and expand your most popular blog post, rather than a page no one actually reads.
Ready to dig in further? Read my full guide to content refreshes here. And, as a bonus, check out my SEO content checklist - it’s targeted specifically to e-comm brands.
Use longform content to supercharge the rest of your marketing
Great news: now that you’ve spent all this time writing aligned longform content for your website, the rest of your brand’s marketing efforts are about to get a whole lot easier. I recommend a waterfall content strategy, where you put the most effort into your site’s content and then repurpose it further down the line, from longform writing to content snippets, like so:
Your longform content (like a blog post) lands on your site, where it can slowly draw organic traffic over time…
Meanwhile, you repurpose that blog post into an email newsletter, which is a DIRECT line to nurture and communicate with your most loyal clients (who likely aren’t checking your website blog regularly)…
And then you FURTHER repurpose snippets of the blog post into micro-content, like captions or video voice overs, that can be used across social channels.
This content strategy is all about working smarter, not harder with your marketing efforts and content creation, and investing the MOST time and effort into channels that you have total control over - like your website. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Wondering how SEO efforts fit into your brand’s broader marketing strategy? Learn more here.
Have questions? Get in touch. I answer all messages personally.
