Should you outsource your product content creation? Yes! Here are 4 great reasons why.

Great content should feel natural. It is clear, concise, and compelling. Expertly presented, it helps convert browsers into buyers. But producing polished, informative content for your e-commerce store on a regular basis takes an enormous amount of time and know-how.

Fortunately, help is at hand! Here are four reasons why you might want to consider outsourcing this vital piece of your e-commerce marketing strategy:

 1.    Increase content effectiveness

Professional, well-written content will drive clicks and conversions. But it's not just about writing. In today's competitive environment, e-commerce sites need graphics, videos, and podcasts as well as great photos to go with product descriptions. Outsourcing content creation to an agency means you have access to a large pool of talent – writers, editors, photographers, videographers and so on. It's difficult to hire the staff able to take on all these tasks, but outsourcing will give you the expertize you need, just when you need it.

2.      Put effort where it's most needed

Your team is busy. They have other duties to complete by deadline. Tasks that they do well. Creating and managing content is way down on their "To Do" list. Outsourcing content creation means you get a team of professionals immersed in the marketing and content field. Do your employees have the time and knowledge to keep on top of the latest content trends and strategies? Outsourcing may be a good option to tap into the experience of a team of specialists.

3.      Guide the buying experience

Consumers like to make informed buying decisions. More information on products equals higher customer satisfaction and lower product returns. Product descriptions are just the start. A team of professionals can put together user and how-to guides in a wide variety of formats, from simple text to fully immersive interactive styles that can support the buying experience. This type of skill tends to be needed at infrequent intervals, so hiring extra employees with the expertise could be a waste of precious marketing dollars.

4.      Gain a fresh perspective

Outsourcing content creation can be a great way to get the perspective that only a fresh pair of eyes can give. A different angle might just be what's needed to boost sales of slow-moving items. A diverse team of skilled content creators could revitalize your product content and descriptions, tailoring them to your customers' needs.

Outsourcing isn't for every e-commerce store, but if you find you lack the time or expertise to create eye-catching content in-house, partnering with a team of experts who take the time to get to know you and your products might just be the answer. It's something to consider at your next marketing strategy meeting.

How can SEO drive your e-commerce business?

Search Engine Optimization: Why are these three words so important to your e-commerce business?

Not optimizing your site content and product descriptions for search engines such as Google, is a bit like not bothering with a sign or a window display for a physical store. There’s no point in selling your products online if no one can find them. Let’s look at three components of SEO that can help drive potential buyers to your e-commerce store:

Keywords are essential in matching your product with a buyer. The more specific the keyword, the higher the chance your product will appear early in search results. Consider using long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords are more specific and less common than their one or two word counterparts. They focus on the uniqueness of your product. For example, if you sell dog food, simply using dog food as your keywords is not enough to make you stand out in a crowd. You’ll be one of about 213,000,000 sites using the words dog food. Think about what makes your dog food different.

You may come up with natural, organic, grain free dog food. Using this longer string of text in more places means that if someone is searching for natural, organic, grain free dog food, your store is more likely to be included in the results.

Another benefit of long-tail keywords is that, even if those specific words are used less in a normal search, people searching for natural, organic, grain free dog food and finding your site, are more likely to buy. The longer and more specific the search terms are, the higher the chances of conversion from browser to buyer.

Content is crucial. The content on your e-commerce site needs to be fresh and, above all, unique. Search engines are wary of duplicate content. For example, you could simply copy and paste the manufacturers’ description for your product. But, apart from the fact those descriptions tend to be overly technical or boring, it’s duplicate content and won’t help your search rankings.

Rewrite the product description to make it more appealing to the potential buyer. This is where defining your buyer persona can help. If you know who’s likely to buy from your e-commerce store, you can write a product description almost tailor made to appeal to them.

Finally, make sure your site is mobile-friendly. While research has shown that not everyone is comfortable making a purchase on their smart phone or tablet, a large percentage of shoppers will at least search for goods and services while on the move. And, beginning in April 2015, Google started to penalize sites that are not mobile friendly, allowing all those mobile window shoppers to possibly land on a competitor’s site.

There are other important components to SEO, but getting started with these three will see your e-commerce business off and running at a good speed.