5 Tips to Prepare Content Writing Strategy for eCommerce Store

For many consumers, the internet can seem like a quite homogenous place at times. You have hundreds of digital stores with similar designs all boasting cheap prices on the highest quality goods and services, all using the same imagery and descriptions whilst trying to be distinct in the eye of their audience. It’s natural then that, despite it being more prevalent in our day to day lives than ever, distrust of the internet as a whole has never been higher.

People are simply finding it harder and harder to trust the things they buy or see online. This means that anyone genuinely interested in providing a quality product or service must go that extra mile with their eCommerce SEO and copywriting to show that they aren’t just another low-quality dropshipping company. So, whether you’re an established business looking to maintain your position within the digital landscape or you’re a new store trying to find ways to break through, understanding the process of eCommerce content writing will be invaluable in your pursuit of success.

1. Understand Who You’re Writing for, and Why You’re Writing for Them

In the past, many businesses have a content marketing specialist with a very defined and immoveable idea of who their audience is. This is a fantastic thing when it comes from a place of genuine research and insider knowledge. However, the idea of “common sense” quite often trumps both of these things, especially as people try to transition offline experiences into the online context.

To put it plainly, the internet requires a different approach and perspective than the traditional storefront. You can’t rely on insights from a small, select area of foot traffic to provide you with a clearly defined picture of what’s to come once you have the potential for a global audience at your doorstep. So, when you’re trying to reach your audience, the main thing you need to do is research.

2. Where Should I Be Looking?

Luckily for you, the internet is filled with opportunities to educate yourself on who is looking for your product. After all, it’s unlikely that you are the first to bring your specific niche to the digital world. Even if you are, there are sure to be a number of businesses that are working in similar fields.

In other words, if you have competitors that are doing absolutely fantastic things in the digital landscape, look through their websites and see what you can potentially learn and adapt from them. However, make sure that you avoid falling into the trap of copying their work entirely. You want to work out what they’re doing right, but you still want to be offering an online identity and brand that is uniquely your own.

If, however, you want to take a more direct approach to learning about your audience, there are other methods available to you. One of the more interesting ones is to use competitor analysis with third-party SEO tools. These tools allow you to gather and download practically any information you could need from your competitor websites like eBay or Amazon. You can easily analyze the data as an up-to-date look at the status of your particular market.

3. Make Sure Your Brand Tells a Story

One of the main issues that cause people to shy away from online shopping is that they can’t confirm that there is a trustworthy person on the other side of the transaction. Whilst this is always going to be a difficult thing to overcome given the relatively impersonal nature of eCommerce, that doesn’t mean you can’t make changes to provide a more personal experience to your customers.

Ask yourself some questions when planning your website’s “About Us” section:

• What makes me different from my competitors?
• What can I reasonably promise my customers?
• Why did I start this business to begin with?
• Do I have any relevant experience in this field?
• Does my business have a history, or do I have a history that is relevant to my business’ current situation?
• Is my business a force for good? If so, how and why?

These are just a few examples, but they all come together to answer the overarching question:What can you offer for your customers to identify with?

4. Why Do People Care Who I Am?

Whether it’s logical or not, we as customers have a tendency to personify the brands we give our money to. If we see that a company we love has aligned with a cause or worldview we disagree with, either directly or indirectly, it can hurt in the same way as a friend holding those same ideals.

So, with that in mind, go into your eCommerce writing with a level of empathy and honesty whilst also thinking about how your company could be perceived by newcomers. A good, charismatic paragraph of copy can sometimes be all you need to win out over a competitor. So, go out there and be charming.

5. Have Character, and Don’t Be Afraid of Adjectives

Colourful language is one of the most overlooked parts of good online copywriting. Businesses just seem scared of describing their products in any way that may be considered interesting or unique. This will lead to thousands of products that are completely impossible to differentiate between.

This may work if you’re purely focusing on eCommerce SEO, as search engines have historically prioritized simple language. However, what happens once you have a customer on your product list and they can’t see the difference between each item? Adjectives and colorful language can completely reshape a customer’s perception of your brand. It’s why many of us will see massive differences in the quality of sunglasses despite most of them being made by the exact same company, Luxottica, using the same materials. Branding is important, and the words you use to describe yourself and your products will inevitably shape that brand.