How to write a blog post on Shopify in 7 easy steps

Figuring out how to write a blog post on Shopify can feel confusing the first time you open the admin panel and see every setting field staring back at you. 

Between blog setup, content editors, SEO listings, and visibility toggles, it’s easy to lose track of what actually needs your attention before a post goes live. The good news is that publishing a blog post on Shopify is easier than it sounds.

This guide walks through that process in 7 steps. It covers how to write a blog on Shopify, draft and format your post, add images, set the author, add SEO data, and publish.

Along the way, you’ll pick up practical Shopify blog tips and see how a tool like Contentpen can speed up research, drafting, and publishing. By the end, you’ll have a workflow you can repeat for every new post.

Key takeaways

• Shopify includes a built-in blog editor under Content -> Blog posts, so no third-party app is required to publish your first post.
• Setting up a blog and writing an individual post are two separate steps inside the Shopify admin.
• Set SEO titles, meta descriptions, tags, and images for every single post.
• AI tools such as Contentpen can speed up drafting, image creation, and publishing.

Is Shopify a good place to start a blog?

Shopify is a genuinely capable place to start a blog, mainly because the tool sits inside the same admin panel you already use to run your store. 

Every store ships with a default blog category called News. You can rename it, add more categories, or leave it as is. 

You can see the exact procedure for setting up your Shopify blog in this video by Hogan Chua on YouTube:

Because posts live on the same domain as your product pages, blog content can send direct traffic to the items you sell, creating a close-knit ecosystem.

Can Shopify handle everything related to blogging?

While you can publish blogs directly to Shopify, the platform does lack some features necessary to stay competitive in highly populated niches. For instance, Shopify lacks built-in SERP analysis and support for other SEO/AEO processes. 

It does give you an editor and basic SEO fields, but it doesn’t run keyword research, competitor analysis, or track how posts perform months after publishing.

Therefore, the best idea is to use a content system and an SEO analytics tool like Contentpen to keep posting to Shopify consistently and efficiently.

How to write a blog post on Shopify in 7 steps

Writing and publishing a blog post on Shopify comes down to 7 steps that you have to take inside the Shopify admin panel.

Each step below maps to a specific screen inside Shopify, so you can follow along inside your own store as you read.

Step 1: Set up your Shopify blog

Before you can write a single post, you need a blog to publish it to, and Shopify makes this step quick. 

From your admin panel, go to Content -> Blog posts and click on the ‘Add blog post’ button. 

Then, you would have to choose a blog template or theme, according to the type of blog you are trying to post. For example, listicle, How-to guide, informational post, etc. If there’s nothing else besides the default template, you should create ones specific to each format later.

After these settings are done, you will add everything about your blog in the designated fields. This includes your title, body content, images, links, excerpt (summary), meta title, description, and slug. Make sure to click ‘Save’ to lock in the details for the post.

One thing that people skip is adding the new blog to your store’s main navigation menu. Because a blog nobody can find won’t get read, no matter how good the content is.

To do this, go to Sales Channels -> Online Store. From the top drop-down list of menus, click the ‘Create template’ button. We will create a template for a page where our blogs will be shown to the users.

Add a ‘Hero’ image and style the page however you want. You can also use the built-in Shopify AI assistant to help you with the design and look. 

After you’re done, link up your saved blog posts on this page to help your audience discover your content with ease.

Step 2: Choose a topic that supports your products

Pick organic keywords before you create content and copy-paste it inside the Shopify editor.

There are two ways to find your perfect topic:

#1: Search for phrases relevant to your product

Use a simple Google search for phrases that discuss something related to your product or service. Make notes of the content already posted: What type of blogs (listicles, comparisons, How-to guides) are they making? How are they structuring their topics?

#2: Capture keywords from competitors

The best way to write blogs on Shopify (that we’ve personally followed) is to see what your competitors are doing. Try to match them with blog topics that contain lucrative keywords for your field.

Use a dedicated competitor analysis tool like Ahrefs to dig out keywords your rivals are using. 

For instance, Maui Jim is a big sunglasses brand. If you are in that niche, you can paste Maui Jim’s site’s URL inside Ahrefs and go to Site Explorer -> Organic Search -> Top organic keywords to analyze what terms they’re ranking for.

Looking at the analysis, pick whichever non-branded keywords you can find.

The reason this approach works well for small businesses is that branded phrases like “Maui Jim Warranty” are already authority-owned and, naturally, would be difficult to rank for.

Therefore, using generic, educational keywords like “how to measure PD” (short for pupillary distance) is actually a better idea.

Any optician or glasses brand looking to capture organic traffic and improve share of voice in that niche can write a comprehensive guide on this topic to build online authority.

In general, your content marketing strategy should be built with different types of blogs. These may include buying guides, step-by-step how-to posts, and seasonal or gift guides tied to your catalog.

This approach ensures the maximum semantic coverage and captures all types of audiences for your platform.

Step 3: Write the post title and content

With a blog ready, go to Content -> Blog posts and click Add blog post. Enter a title first, since Shopify won’t let you save a post without one, and titles can run up to 255 characters. 

Keep your main keyword near the front of the title for readers and search engines.

Then, enter your body content in the ‘Content’ field using a rich text editor similar to a word processor. 

Use your primary keyword in the first 100-150 words of the blog post (in the introduction). If your blog title is question-based, start by answering it first. 

For instance, for the title, ‘How to cook a zucchini pasta’, throw in glimpses of the actual procedure first. Tell the audience that you need to sauté the zucchini in a hot skillet with a little oil for 2 to 3 minutes until tender before going into the post.

CTA placement approach

Place CTAs (calls to action) inside the body content, preferably at the 40-50% content mark or the 75% mark. These placements are important for two reasons:

• If the user is nearly halfway through your post, you’ve already established some sort of authority and trust with them. They are likely to take an action if you give them one to take.
• If the user is nearly done with the content, they’re looking to take an action. Give them a button they can click on to land on your Shopify store or your newest catalogue.

Users won’t take an action if the CTA is right at the start, too detached from the context of the post, or too “loud” (e.g., annoying pop-ups on scrolls).

For example, if you are writing a post on ‘How to cook a Zucchini Pasta’, you can ask the users to check out your canned Zucchini Pasta offering right in the Shopify store. The CTA is relevant, and if placed correctly, it entices the users to click through.

Besides writing the post, don’t forget to format the post properly. Use headers to break up sections, bold sparingly for emphasis, and utilize internal linking to product pages so readers can find their way around your store.

Step 4: Add a featured image and format visuals

Every post benefits from a featured image, which shows up on the blog landing page and often in social previews. 

Shopify recommends the JPEG file format for blog images. Click the image icon in the toolbar, choose to upload or select an existing file, then click Done.

Don’t stop at the featured images. Break up long stretches of text with in-content images throughout the post, which can be your product showcase.

Readers scan online content quickly, and a well-placed photo or product shot gives their eyes a place to rest before they keep reading.

Step 5: Set author name, tags, and excerpt

Scroll to the Organization section to handle a few details that shape how your post is categorized and previewed. 

The Author dropdown only shows the store owner or staff members with admin access, so POS-only staff and outside collaborators won’t appear as options.

Confirm the correct Blog is selected too, especially if your store runs more than one.

Besides this, set the following things before posting the blogs:

• Use tags and group posts into browsable categories to help matching posts surface in on-site search results.
• Enter an excerpt for the blog, which is a short, custom summary shown on the blog landing page instead of an automatic text snippet.

Depending on your blog theme, you will see an option to link to other written blogs or blog categories at the end of the post. Select them in the order you want the user to preview your content.

Step 6: Optimize the search engine listing

Before publishing, click the pencil icon in the preview section to control how the post shows up on Google.

This is where you set the page title, meta description, and URL handle, and Shopify shows a live preview as you type each field.

Field	Recommended limit	What happens if you go over
Page title	60 characters	Gets cut off in search results
Meta description	160 characters	Gets truncated in search results

Edit the SEO keywords carefully, using dashes instead of spaces between words. Review all the settings before hitting post.

Step 7: Publish or schedule the post

In the Visibility section, choose the ‘Visible’ option to publish the blog right away, or click the calendar icon to schedule posts for a future date and time. Click Save to lock in your choice.

How can Contentpen make Shopify blogging faster?

Contentpen is an AI writing tool built to take a Shopify post from an idea to a published page without switching between different tools. 

Instead of manually researching keywords, drafting in Shopify’s editor, and separately checking SEO fields, it handles everything for you to ensure faster blogging.

The Shopify integration ensures that your content is published with all the necessary details (author name, tags, keywords, etc.) with a full GEO-pass inside one workspace.

That direct integration removes the copy-paste step most Shopify blog apps still require, helping boost your workflow efficiency.

Besides all this, Contentpen also takes care of your visuals. You can select your brand colors, style, and logo settings, and the AI image generator will ensure to create featured and in-article images that reflect your brand. 

The built-in media assistant also stores all generated visuals for your brand in one place, so that you can reuse visuals whenever needed.

Contentpen also provides a post-publish layer. The SEO opportunities feature helps you track posts that quietly lose traffic over time, surfaces changes needed to grab quick wins, and does those fixes for you with a one-click content refresh.

SEO opportunities are a great way to increase traffic to your Shopify blogs after publishing. You can also promote your posts to social media using our ContentStudio integration. You can also run newsletters to get more audiences to your platform.

For content growth teams and agencies juggling several Shopify stores, bulk generation and multi-language output also help keep a consistent publishing cadence going without adding headcount to the team.

Summing it up

Writing a blog post on Shopify comes down to a repeatable sequence. Start by setting up your blog, picking a topic that supports your catalog, and drafting the title and body in the rich text editor. Then, add images, fill in the organization settings, and publish or schedule the post.

Shopify’s built-in editor genuinely covers everything needed to get a post live, from formatting to SEO settings, without installing a single app.

However, pairing Shopify’s native tools with a platform like Contentpen for research, drafting, direct publishing, and post-publish tracking can significantly simplify your workflow. This frees up more resources for you to invest in product hunting, creation, and strategizing.

Frequently asked questions