Does a blog help a Shopify store rank?

A blog can help a Shopify store rank, but only for the searches that product pages cannot answer, such as how-to and comparison questions. A blog does not help just by existing. It works when each post answers a real question from your buyers, after your product and collection pages are in good shape.

What can a blog do that a product page cannot?

A product page answers “I want this”. Much of what people search comes earlier: how to choose, how to use, what the difference is. Those questions need an explanation, and a product page is a poor place for one.

• It gives you more pages that can match a search. A post on how to care for linen can appear for a search that your linen sheets page never would.
• It gives you pages to link from. Google finds new pages mainly through links, and a post can point to the products it discusses.
• It answers objections. A clear post on sizing or materials also helps someone who is already on your store.
• It gives other sites something to link to. A useful guide is a more natural thing to link to than a product page, and Google recommends earning links rather than paying for them.

What can’t a blog do?

It cannot make up for weak product pages, and it does not transfer a ranking to your products by magic. A reader who arrives for a how-to answer may not be ready to buy. Treat a blog as a slower way to be found, not as a sales channel you can switch on.

A blog can also hurt your time budget. Publishing posts that nobody searches for costs hours and brings nothing back.

Should you start a blog now?

Which posts are worth writing?

Pick topics your buyers actually search for, within what you sell. Our keyword research method helps you find them. Three types tend to suit a store:

• Buying guides: how to choose a size, a material or a model.
• Care and use: how to clean it, set it up or make it last.
• Comparisons: two options your customers hesitate between, with an honest answer.

What does Google warn against?

Google’s guidance on helpful content lists warning signs that apply directly to store blogs:

• Publishing on many unrelated topics in the hope that some will rank.
• Choosing topics because they are trending, not because they suit your audience.
• Summarizing what others said without adding anything.
• Writing to reach a word count.
• Changing dates to look fresh when the content has not changed.

Scale makes this worse. Google’s spam policies define scaled content abuse as generating many pages mainly to manipulate rankings, and using AI to produce many pages with no value for users falls under it. Ten posts that help your customers are a better plan than a hundred that do not.

How will you know if it works?

Search Console’s Performance report shows which searches lead to each post, along with impressions and clicks. Check that your post appears for the kind of query you wrote it for. Google says some changes take months, so judge over a long period, not after a week.

When you are ready, here is how to write a Shopify blog post that gets found.

If you would like the posts written for you, Forgefont offers SEO blog posts as an option on your order, and an SEO blog subscription for adding new optimized posts to your store. Neither can guarantee a ranking, but both save you the writing. See both options in the configurator.