How to write a Shopify blog post that gets found

A Shopify blog post gets found when it answers one question your buyers really search for, directly and in plain words. Choose the question first. Answer it in the opening lines, explain it with what you know, link to the right products, then complete the search listing in your admin before you publish.

1. Choose one question

One post, one question. “How to choose a yoga mat thickness” is a post. “Everything about yoga” is not. Good questions come from customer emails, returns, and keyword research for your store. Before you write, check that nothing on your store already answers it. If a post is not useful to someone who already buys from you, skip it: a blog only helps when it serves your buyers.

2. Write down what only you can say

This is the step most posts skip. Google’s self-assessment questions ask whether your content offers original information and goes beyond the obvious, or mostly rewrites other sources. Note what you know from selling this product: what customers get wrong, what you changed in your range and why, and which option you would advise against. Put in only what is true. Do not invent a test, a customer story or a statistic.

3. Put the answer first

Open with the answer in two or three sentences, so a reader can stop there if that is all they need. Then write sections for the details. For a question like the one above:

• Opening: the answer, with the thickness that suits most people.
• Section: what changes with thickness.
• Table: thickness by type of practice.
• Section: what to check besides thickness.
• Close: a link to the mats that fit.

Use headings that say what comes next. Google says heading order does not affect Search, and there is no ideal number of them, so write them for the reader. Lists and tables make comparisons easier to scan.

4. Stop when you have answered

You will see different figures on length. Shopify’s help suggests at least 500 words for blog posts. Google says there is no ideal word count, and it lists writing to a target length as a warning sign. A good test is to read the post aloud and cut whatever you would skip if a customer were in front of you.

5. Add links and images

• Links: point to the products or collections the post discusses, and to related guides. Write anchor text that says where the link leads, since it tells users and Google about the target page.
• Images: use your own when you can, placed near the text they illustrate, with descriptive alt text.
• Your name: Google’s guidance encourages clear authorship. Choose a real author in the post’s Organization section.

6. Set it up in Shopify

According to Shopify’s blog documentation:

1. Go to Content, then Blog posts, and click Add blog post.
2. Enter the title and your content.
3. Under Organization, choose an author and a blog.
4. Add a featured image for the blog landing page.
5. Add an Excerpt. Without one, the landing page shows part of the post body, without images, formatting or links.
6. Open the search engine listing and edit the Page title, Meta description and URL handle. Dashes separate words in the handle, and spaces are not allowed.
7. In Visibility, select Visible, or schedule a date, then click Save.

For the two search fields, our guide to title tags and meta descriptions has examples. Set the handle before you publish. If you change it later, keep the Create a URL redirect option selected.

7. After you publish

Your sitemap updates by itself when you add a post, so there is nothing to resubmit. Add a link to the new post from a related product or an older post, so that readers and Google can reach it. Later, look in Search Console at which searches show the post. If they differ from what you expected, your post may need to answer them better.

A check before you publish

• Does the opening answer the question?
• Would you send this post to a customer who asked?
• Is every fact true, with sources checked?
• Does it say something the first search results do not?
• Is there a natural link to a product or collection?

Writing posts like this takes time that a store owner may not have. Forgefont offers an SEO blog subscription that adds new optimized posts to your store, as well as SEO blog posts you can order once. Compare them in the configurator.