When implemented properly, blogs or weblogs as they are also known can achieve two positive things for an ecommerce company.

1) Drive qualified traffic (traffic with an intent to buy products) to their website.

2) Generate additional revenue by monetizing the traffic that does not flow through to the actual site.

So one might naturally ask, “what is the right way to implement a blog?”

Well, there is no right or wrong answer to this, however based on experience I’ve seen one specific method that when utilize has produced sales conversion rates in the area of 24% – 28% (visitors that come from the blog to the online store and then purchase a product.)

Here is the methodology that produced these results.

While reading, keep in mind that this blog has been setup as an “independent third party review” type site.

Step 1:
Get yourself a new domain name that relates to your ecommerce business or industry.

For example, if you sell widgets, and your company name is “Widgets Galore” then you may want to consider the domain name for the new blog being bestwidgetreviews.com (or something related to that concept.)

The key to choosing the right domain name is to make sure you approach it from the stand point of this being an independent third party “reviews” site for your industry or products.

Step 2:
Get new hosting for this domain and site. Although not mandatory, it is preferable to choose a host that is not the same as your current provider. Just make sure they are reliable.

Step 3:
Now that you have your new domain and hosting, it’s time to get the blogging system in place.

Choose a blog platform you are comfortable with and install it on the server. One tip you’ll want to think about is the more control you have over the blog system, the better off you’ll be in the end.

There are a variety of systems to choose from. A few of the more popular platforms are WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace, TypePad, and b2evolution.

Step 4:
Ok, you’ve got everything in place, now it’s time to start blogging. The remaining part of this article will address how you should approach your blog entries, and how to maximize the revenue opportunity from the traffic generated.

Setting your blog up for success.

One of the first keys to success is to keep in mind that when posting, you must appear that you are an objective third party providing information on numerous businesses within your respective industry. Yes, that can even mean competitors or distributors in some cases.

It may even be beneficial to get a trusted outside third party to do the blogging for you.

Providing what appears to be biased information in your posts can cause readers to quickly feel you are self promoting your own products and company. That can have an adverse effect on the outcome.

No, you’re not trying to deceive them. You’re looking to provide them with an assortment of helpful information on your industry that is objective and unbiased. The information you provide will help them during their decisions making process.

If you show any bias toward your own product, the effect overall is diminished. This is do in large part to readers thinking “is this product really that good, or are they just trying to sell me on it because they own it?”

Sure, you can refer to your company or products more frequently than others during posts, but doing that too often could get you the opposite results you’re seeking.

Let me give you an example.

Would you be more inclined to purchase a car based on what Consumer Reports presents in their reviews, or would you be more inclined to purchase that same car from a dealer that is breathing down your neck trying to force feed it to you because they say “it’s the best?”

More than often the answer is pretty simple.

Consumers put more weight on independent third party reviews than they do on companies that promote themselves.

Now, let’s generate some revenue

You have got your blog in place, it’s time to generate revenue.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t always matter “where or how” you generate the revenue, the fact is that you are generating it.

Ideally, you want the readers of your blog to purchase your products. However, the reality is that you may generate traffic to the blog, but not all that traffic will funnel through to your site. Likewise, not all that traffic may be qualified to by what you offer.

Don’t fear. You can still build revenue from those “non-qualified” channels as well. Here’s how.

We already know that blogging from the proper third party perspective in this case did lead to a 24% – 28% sales conversion rate. That was visitors who moved from the blog to the ecommerce website and then made a purchase.

But what can we do about the other visitors who didn’t funnel through to the website and instead leave at the point of the blog?

We can still generate revenue from them as well before they leave by implementing traffic monetization strategies which seek to target those needs your products could not fulfill.

Traffic monetization is a powerful concept that can aid in producing additional revenue for your company without ever selling a single product.

It is a strategy that should be carefully planned and implemented. You don’t want to hurt your chances of gaining a new customer, but you want to make sure that if they were not qualified in the first place you attempt to present them with offers that may fit their needs and in the end add revenue to your bottom line.

Forms of traffic monetization are many and can be quite complex but the most often implemented strategies involve CPC, CPA, and affiliate deals that pay you for “referring the business.” I won’t go into the specific details in this article as it’s a topic that deserves its own space.

For now, this article merely presents options available to you which can assist you at increasing conversion from your store by maximizing both the qualified and non-qualified traffic a properly implemented blog can bring your way.

With all these acronyms like RSS, XML and terms like “syndication feeds” floating around the Internet, it can become confusing to say the least understanding what each actually means and more importantly how you can use them to benefit yourself and stay up-up-date on the latest content posted to this site.

I’ll go into a few details below on these terms, but in short, if you “subscribe to a feed” (as it is called) using RSS, then what you are in effect doing is getting all the latest updates (posts and download contributions) from this site sent to your computer without the need to check email. The updates are sent directly to your computer via your internet browser or your chosen “feed reading software” (more on those below).

As an example, if you use Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc… as your “home page” (the page you are taken to when you open up your Internet browser), then you could have new posts that I put on this site show up directly on that page. It’s just like getting the “weather” or “news” sent to you. It’s easy, and convenient, and you don’t have to check email to stay up-to-date. :)

Readers like Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc… are called “web based readers” because you do not need to install any software on your computer to get them working, and you read the content directly from your web browser.

Definitions

The best place to get information and definitions on the terms I am talking about here is through Wikipedia entries on XML, RSS, Web Syndication and Web Feed. If you have never utilized Wikipedia in the past, you may want to bookmark it as it contains a wealth of information on just about any topic you want.

RSS Basics

You use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to syndicate or subscribe to the feed of a website, blog or almost any media content online (that of course offers an RSS feed). Feeds can be for music, videos, content, articles, or just about anything you can think of. When you “subscribe” to the feed of a web site, it means you do not have to go visit the website to read the latest content. Instead of you “visiting the site”, think of it as the “site coming to you”. The purpose of subscribing to an RSS feed is to therefore make it more efficient for you to read your favorite content.

How to Subscribe to a web site’s RSS feed

Sometimes the best explanation is a good sample visual. So, I have put together a short video tutorial on how to subscribe to this web site’s RSS feed using a web based reader. In this example I am using Google as my “home page” only because that is my preferred search engine of choice and the one I have set to show when I open my browser.

At the top right corner you will see an orange RSS link button. To subscribe to my feed all you do is click that link. If you do not have a feed reader yet, most of the time you can register for the one of your choosing after clicking that link and selecting it. You may also use the search box further down this post to search Google for a large variety of information on RSS Readers.

Here is the video tutorial on how to subscribe an RSS feed using ZenCartOptimization.com as an example.

What can Happen if You Provide an RSS Feed To Your Shopping Cart?

So, now that you know what an RSS feed is, and how it works, you should already have an idea of how it could be used to increase sales from your online store.

Imagine this — every time a user opens his or her browser window, along with the daily news and weather report comes a listing of YOUR products, right from your store! Yes, it can happen, but you have to first offer them an RSS feed. And if they are constantly seeing a listing of your latest offers or products, you can be sure they are qualified to buy (or they wouldn’t have subscribed to your feed in the first place).

So, you have an idea of how many “potential” customers are viewing your “feed” (i.e. your stores products) each day. Now, it’s your job to put the right content and offers in front of them to make them buy! The limits are now endless (and you don’t have to worry about your email offers being blocked as spam etc…) In short, you’ll have a target base of qualified customers that are “listening” to you with open ears. Give them what they want, and watch them buy.

Where to Find Feed Reading Software and Web Based RSS Readers

As indicated, there are currently two types of feed reading methods available. The “Software” route, and the “Web Based” route. For your convenience, below is a handy search box that will allow you to search Google and get a list of any number of RSS Readers. I already pre-filled in the search box for you, all you have to do is click “Find RSS Readers”. I’ll leave it up to you to choose your preferred one.

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