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SEO Blog Writing Tips and Strategy
Every online shop wants the same thing: more of the right people discovering what they sell.
SEO is how you help that happen.
Think of SEO as the structure that helps your blog get found. It supports the great writing you are already doing and makes it far easier for readers to land on your posts at the exact moment they need them.
Get found, get read,
get results
SEO can feel mysterious when you are looking at it from the outside. Full of acronyms, tools, rankings, and conflicting opinions.
But at its very heart, it’s simply based around this concept: Search engines want to match good information with the people looking for it. Your job is to help them figure out what your content is about.
TBD
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Technical SEO
This is the vehicle itself.
The engine, the framework, the petrol. It's the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes your site work properly: site speed, mobile optimisation, clean code, proper indexing. This is usually handled by your web developer or platform settings.
On Page SEO
This is the directions.
The skill of the driver. The knowledge of where you're going and how to get there safely. This is what you control with every blog post you write: your topics, your keywords, your structure, your internal links, and, importantly, the quality of the writing itself.
Author bios.
Search engines look for signals that your content is written by someone who understands the subject properly. This is known as E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
It sounds technical, but for e-commerce it’s very simple: Google wants to show content that feels reliable, helpful, and created by a real human who has genuine insight into the topic. Link to a blog post about "how to write a good author bio for your blog"
Keyword section
1. Listen first
Start by looking at:
• your own product reviews
• competitor reviews
• questions in your DMs
• comments on social posts
• emails from customers
• communities or forums related to your niche
People tend to reveal exactly what they’re trying to solve, such as “my hallway always feels dark”, “my dog scratches his collar”, or “I can never get these stains out”.
Start compiling a list of potential keywords and phrases.
2. Bring those phrases into a keyword tool
Pop your list into a tool like Keysearch, Ubersuggest, or Ahrefs.
You’re looking for:
• search volume
• keyword difficulty
• related phrases
• common questions
• alternative wording
• hints at comparison or buying intent
This is where you see whether a topic has legs. Essentially, you're checking whether enough people are searching for this to make it worth your time.
3. Consider search intent
Are they researching, comparing, or ready to buy?
Two people might type almost the same phrase, but be in totally different stages of the journey.
For example:
• “how to clean white trainers”
= someone researching
• “best white trainer cleaner UK”
= someone ready to buy
Both are great topics. They simply sit on different parts of your content calendar.
4. Study the top-ranking posts
Click through the first few posts and look at what they’ve done well.
Ask:
• How have they structured the content?
• What examples have they chosen?
• Are there product mentions?
• What links are included?
• What gaps could you fill with your own insight?
If the top results feel thin, you’ve found a big opportunity.
If the top results are strong, you know you need to bring extra detail, examples, and experience.
Top tip:
Remember that low search volume isn’t a bad thing
Most keywords get fewer than ten searches a month.
This is completely normal.
A blog wins through consistency, not viral unicorn posts.
How to Choose the Right Blog Topics
A blog post topic for e-commerce needs to focus on two main factors:
your products and your values.
Your products, naturally, because every topic should connect with something you sell. You want those orders dinging in, after all!
Your values, importantly, because your blog is a fantastic place to share more about you as a company. Talk about things happening in your community, share fun behind-the-scenes titbits from you and your team, and show your place in the industry.
Finding blog ideas for your business blends creativity with data.
There’s no point writing about a topic that nobody is going to read.
Equally, there’s no point in writing blandly about a topic that means nobody will want to read it!
[download my blog post ideas lead magnet]
Topic clusters
This is a paragraph area where you can add your own text. Just click “Edit Text” or double click here to add your own content and make changes to the font. It's a great place to tell a story about your business and let users know more about you.
List Title
Add a general description of the items listed below. You can introduce the list and include any relevant information you want to share. Double click to edit the text.
A clear, specific title that matches the reader's intent and includes your target keyword naturally.
One target keyword that fits naturally into the title, intro, at least one heading, and your meta description.
Subheadings that guide readers through the page and break up the text. Use H2s and H3s to create a clear hierarchy.
Internal links that support the reader's journey. Link to related blog posts, your pillar pages, relevant product pages, and helpful resources on your site.
External links where useful. Industry data, authoritative resources, studies, or tools that back up your points. This shows you've done your research.
Images with descriptive file names and alt text.
[download free SEO checklist]
table of seo tools to have a look at:
TinyPNG / ShortPixel
Google Analytics (GA4):
Google search console
Ahrefs
SEMRush
Google Keyword Planner
Screaming Frog
Mangools
Frase
Surfer SEO
AnswerThePublic
It’s the question on everyone’s lips…
Do blogs even matter now AI is in the picture?
You can give up and claim that blogging is dead, and nobody will read them, and everyone will just ask ChatGPT so what’s the point.
But that first question then prompts another question:
Where does AI get its answers from?
Content online.
And without new blog content, without existing blog content, AI can’t answer the questions.
So then the question becomes: do you want your customers to get their content from your competitors or do you want them to get it from you?
Human-led insights have growing influence.
Edit this paragraph to highlight a specific service or feature you offer. Click "Edit Text" to begin editing the content and make it your own.
New, fresh, current content becomes more important than ever.
Edit this paragraph to highlight a specific service or feature you offer. Click "Edit Text" to begin editing the content and make it your own.
FAQ About SEO for E-Commerce Blogs
Do I need to buy an expensive subscription to Ahrefs or SEMrush?
Not necessarily. Naturally, most of the paid tools will have more resources and functions than the free ones, but that doesn’t mean you have to fork out on lots of subscriptions.
My advice would be to opt for the free versions at the beginning and see whether you’re able to do everything you need to. If you can, great! No need to upgrade to one of the paid tools. But if you’re struggling to get the answers you want, then it might be worth it.
How long does it take to see SEO results from blogging?
Should I optimise old blog posts or just focus on new ones?
What's the ideal blog post length for SEO?
As a blog writer, I will always write the post to be the length it needs to be. Which sounds like a bit of a cryptic answer, but
Can I use AI to write my blog posts for SEO?
3 tiers of blog writing services CTA