Smaller ecommerce sites simply are unable to add content consistently. Does Google recognize ecommerce sites as give them leeway about adding new content? I know some sites that sell a certain kind of widget can add articles talking about how to use it, how to install it, how to maintain it, what news there is, blah blah blah. But some products you can't really do that for, if you are selling ONLY bolts and nuts I don't really see how you can keep adding content to this type ecommerce site without making up @#$% up along the way. (assuming the site catalog is maxed full of products)
Are you trying to post your articles on a daily basis ? If that is the case, then why dont you post your articles once in a week or thrice in a month, instead of trying to post it daily. This way even if you have limited number of articles, you can post them at intervals and dont get penalized by the search engines I dont think google might give any kind of leeway to any sites because of the reason of shortage of articles
I know where you are coming from, this can be frustrating. One loop hole would be to add a product review section to the sites products I know Magento Ecommerce does this automatically, you can write reviews on all your own products. This content addition strategy is also very well placed for increasing search engines rankings because the content is below the products, very good structure.
china_girl, nope, I don't have any articles to write, that is my point. I have a nuts and bolts store that sells a product that does not need much auxiliary information. So when it comes to adding fresh content I can basically only add new products, but I can only add so many products before I run out. =( simon_lissa, I do have an area for products reviews. By clicking a button on the product page the visitor is redirected to a page with a little bit of product info and reviews by customers. Reviews are very slowly built. I do have a blog I am working on, but that is a squeeze blog to attract a wide spectrum of keywords that funnels into my ecommerce site. Even this I can only add an blog post every two weeks or so.
Why don't you go for a wider "writing category" within the niche your products belong? Nuts & bolts do come from a category; right? So if you can't write much about them, write something about the category which is more approachable and is relevant to your site. For example: If I am only selling car audios system, I can't write about it all the time; for two things, it might overdo the keyword usage; and secondly readers might get bored of reading about the same thing on the same topic. BUT what I can do is that I can write with a variation. I can write in a way of providing tips, providing updates, providing readers several options (product comparison), offering them discounts, telling them how they can get the most from this/these products. In this way, I am not only covering my product(s), but I am also bridging the gap between my readers/customers and my company/site. I know the limitations of writing for some of the niches/products, but if we would just move ahead and go for a wider category, I am sure things will help that way. Good luck,
Thanks for the great reply. Me my setup, I do have a narrow niche nearly as tight as just nuts and bolts. However, keeping the analogy going, I guess I could write articles talking the different types of metals used and their characteristics, famous bolts as seen on TV (frankenstein), and even talk about the history of bolts such used in landmarks and such. My point is, I will have to reinvent myself due to having a narrow niche and find new angles of approach to writing interesting material. Thanks everyone, I am beginning to have a flood of ideas. =)
Adding content is not only for webpage... Just add one more menu called blog... in this blog update content regularly....
That is a good idea of having the blog integrated into the ecommerce site. I am looking into both sides of having a blog.mysite.com vs. mysite.com/blog The concern I am looking in to is that google likes 'authorities' so diluting the keywords on the site may lessen the strength of the keywords I am heavily concentrating on. As I said, I am researching my assumptions, so any input would be nice to have.
i think you should update some news in your site, similiar your product . You will keep your customer stay in your site longer.
Could you maybe write about the application of each product i.e. the product is made from X and is ideal for use outdoors as it will not rust. Talk about the measurements, metric imperial etc. Possibly include such 'useful!!!!' content within a tab so that it is not solely for the reader of the site but the search engines, but ensuring that if a user does read the content it is informative. The old problem, but any content is better than no content to allow the search engines to understand what the page relates too and hopefully rank it accordingly.
If you are not able to write descriptive content on the product that you offer, what you can do is, concentrate on the features part. You can also use free classified adds, social networking sites, social bookmarkings and such options. Internal blog on your website will also help.