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How to Add Wordpress Blog to Shopify

In the eCommerce world, blogging is a powerful tool that can help you grow your business. Adding a blog to Shopify can help you to build and expand your customer base, increase sales, and keep your customers engaged with useful content. But before you can reap the rewards of blogging, you need to know how to add a WordPress blog to your Shopify store.

We want to take you through the nitty-gritty of adding a WordPress blog to Shopify. We will go over the steps you need to take, from setting up your WordPress account to adding the blog page to your Shopify store. We will also cover some best practices and tips for ensuring that your WordPress blog is an effective marketing tool. Read on!

When to Consider Adding WordPress Blog to Shopify

add wordpress blog to shopify

There are many instances when adding a WordPress blog to Shopify might be beneficial. They include:

More Customizability

Even though Shopify's built-in blog capabilities are quite comprehensive, you may want to add more customizability and flexibility to your blog. WordPress offers an extensive range of features and functions that can give your blog a more personal feel. This ranges from the ability to customize themes and layouts, to adding additional plugins for enhanced functionality.

Increased SEO Potential

WordPress is the world's most popular content management system and has been optimized for search engine optimization (SEO). Adding a WordPress blog to Shopify can give you access to powerful SEO features that can help you get your content found on Google and other search engines.

This doesn't mean that the Shopify blog feature doesn't offer SEO benefits. In fact, it includes built-in tools to improve your blog's visibility on search engines. However, if you want to take advantage of more advanced SEO features and options, adding your WordPress blog to Shopify is the way to go.

Improved User Experience

WordPress offers a wide range of design and customization options that can help you create a better user experience for your blog visitors. This includes the ability to add interactive elements, such as polls or surveys, and other features that can increase engagement with your readers.

Faster Loading Times

wordpress blog on shopify

Adding WordPress to your Shopify store can also help your blog to load faster. Since WordPress is a self-hosted platform, it can better optimize your content for faster page loading speeds. Also, WordPress is known for its effective caching system, which can further speed up page loading times.

Additional Add-Ons Needed, Not Currently Supported on Shopify

One of WordPress' greatest strengths is its large library of plugins and add-ons. They range from social media marketing tools to eCommerce functionality, giving you access to features that might not be available on Shopify.

You may need these additional features in order to add certain functionality to your blog, such as adding a shopping cart or setting up newsletter sign-ups. Since Shopify does not currently offer these features, adding a WordPress blog to your Shopify store can be the most viable solution.

WordPress Subdomain vs Shopify Blog

One of the longest-running debates in the world of online business is whether to use a WordPress subdomain or a Shopify blog. Some quotas argue that WordPress offers the better option, with its easy-to-use platform and extensive customization capabilities. Others prefer Shopify's more user-friendly interface and wide selection of themes.

In this section, we break down the factors you should consider when deciding between a WordPress subdomain and a Shopify blog.

Setup

adding wordpress blogs to shopify

Ease of use is a factor you can't throw under the rug when you want to add a blog to Shopify. Setting up a Shopify blog is almost trivial, requiring no coding or technical knowledge whatsoever. 

All you need to do is log in to the admin dashboard, choose a theme, and start populating your blog with content. You can publish content, moderate comments, add products to Shopify blog posts, and manage media without any technical know-how.

WordPress subdomains, on the other hand, require at least a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. You'll need to purchase a domain name separately, then configure your hosting account settings. The process involved varies depending on the hosting provider, but you can find plenty of tutorials to help you along.

As far as ease of use is concerned, Shopify wins hands down. Even the most technically challenged individual should have no trouble setting up their blog.

Customization and Design

Both WordPress subdomains and Shopify blogs allow you to customize the look of your site. With a WordPress subdomain, you can install themes from the official repository or upload your own. You can also use plugins to add features such as contact forms and social media integration. The options are virtually limitless.

Shopify, on the other hand, offers a variety of themes to choose from, but customization options are limited. You can customize the look and feel of your blog with HTML and CSS code, but if you don't have any experience with coding, this option isn't ideal. However, Shopify does make it easier to create a professional and stylish blog with minimal effort.

When it comes to customization, WordPress has a clear edge. But with a few Shopify apps and a little bit of knowledge, you can turn your Shopify blog into an eye-catching masterpiece.

SEO

Before we unveil a clear winner as far as SEO is concerned, we need to outline several SEO factors that you should consider.

  • Speed: The process of resolving your WordPress subdomain to its IP address can add a few milliseconds to your page loading time. This is because WordPress hosts all its subdomains on a single server. The native Shopify blogging platform, on the other hand, is hosted on a cluster of servers. This provides faster loading times and better performance, which is great for SEO.
  • Technical SEO: WordPress offers more control over the technical aspects of SEO. You can enable SEO plugins and edit your website's meta tags, titles, and descriptions with minimal effort. The native Shopify blogging platform does not have a robust SEO suite, but you can combine the power of Shopify apps and our Shopify SEO services to get the same level of control.
adding wordpress blogs to shopify
  • Content: Both WordPress and Shopify blogging platforms allow you to create compelling content that is optimized for search engines. You can add meta tags, titles, and descriptions to your blog posts for better visibility.
  • Verdict: When it comes to SEO, neither WordPress subdomains nor Shopify blog has a clear advantage. We recommend that you combine the power of our SEO services with either a WordPress subdomain or a Shopify blog for the best results.

Versatility

Change is inevitable, and this is especially true when you use Shopify for blogging. Google algorithms change constantly and you may need to adjust your content strategy to keep up with the times.

WordPress offers more flexibility when it comes to adapting your website for changes in search engine algorithms. With over 55,000 plugins available, you can easily add new features or change the look and feel of your website.

The Shopify blog is a bit more rigid. There is a plugin directory, but it's nowhere near as comprehensive as WordPress. Thankfully, Shopify makes it easy to add features and customize your blog with the help of third-party apps.

So, Which One Is Better?

In the end, it all comes down to your individual needs and preferences. If you need a blog with maximum customization options, WordPress is the way to go. Shopify blogs are great if you want an easy-to-use platform that requires minimum effort and coding knowledge.

At GoldenWeb, we highly recommend the Shopify native blogging platform, for a good reason. It not only offers great features and customization options but also integrates seamlessly with Shopify stores. This makes it ideal for businesses that already have an established presence on the platform.

How to Add WordPress to Shopify

Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s move on to the core of this article – how to add a WordPress blog to Shopify. Below is a step-by-step guide to show you how to get started.

wordpress blogs on shopify

Get Hosting

The first and most important step is to get hosting for your WordPress blog. There are several types of hosting available, including:

  • Shared hosting: This type of hosting offers shared resources, meaning that multiple websites are hosted on the same physical server. It’s the most budget-friendly option, but it can be slow and unreliable.
  • VPS hosting: VPS hosting gives you a dedicated server where your website is isolated from other websites on the same physical server. It provides more reliability and speed than shared hosting, but it’s also more expensive.
  • Dedicated hosting: Dedicated hosting is the highest-end type of hosting available. This gives you a physical server dedicated to your website, so there’s no resource sharing with other websites. It provides the ultimate level of reliability and speed, but it also comes at a hefty price tag.

We highly recommend using a VPS or Dedicated hosting for your WordPress blog. These two options provide the best combination of performance, reliability, and value for money.

Set up Subdomain

A subdomain is a subdirectory within your main domain. For example, if your main domain is mydomain.com, then you can create a subdomain such as blog.mydomain.com (or whatever you want). This is the address where your WordPress blog will be hosted.

To set up a subdomain, log into your hosting control panel and look for the “Subdomains” section. From there, you can add a new subdomain and point it to the directory where WordPress is installed.

Install WordPress

There are several ways to install WordPress. The easiest and most popular way is to use Softaculous or Fantastico, which are auto-installers available on most hosting control panels.

You can also install WordPress manually. To do this, simply download the latest version of WordPress from the official website and upload it to your hosting account. Then run the installation script to complete the setup process. However, this is a time-consuming process, so we recommend using an auto-installer instead.

Customize WordPress

wordpress blog add on shopify

Once WordPress is installed, you can start customizing it to fit your needs. This includes things like installing plugins, changing themes, and creating content. There are thousands of free plugins and themes available to choose from, so you can make your blog look exactly the way you want it. You can even add some content to your blog just to give it a head start. If you sell food products, for instance, you can add recipes to the Shopify blog and link them to the products in your store.

Modify DNS Records

This is where things get a bit technical. To point your WordPress blog to your Shopify store, you need to modify the DNS records for your domain. This allows you to point visitors from your domain name (such as mydomain.com) directly to the subdomain where WordPress is installed (e.g., blog.mydomain.com).

To do this, log into your hosting control panel and find the “DNS Records” section. From there, you can add a record for your subdomain and point it to your Shopify store. 

Depending on your registrar, you may need to add a CNAME record which is an alias for your Shopify store. For instance, you can add a CNAME record that points blog.mydomain.com to myshopifystore.myshopify.com. On others, you may need to add an A record, which points the IP address of the server to your Shopify store. For instance, you could use an A record to point blog.mydomain.com to the IP address of your Shopify store.

Once you’ve added the DNS records, it may take a few minutes (or up to 24 hours) for them to take effect. After that, visitors will be directly redirected from your domain name to your WordPress blog.

That's it! You now have a blog connected to your Shopify store. This process may seem complicated, but with a little elbow grease, you can easily get your WordPress blog up and running in no time.

wordpress blogs adding on shopify

Partner With A Professional Shopify SEO Expert

Including a Shopify SEO expert in your Shopify SEO strategy ensures your blog content is properly optimized and you are able to drive search traffic to your store. At GoldenWeb, we want you to focus on running your store as we take care of all your SEO needs.

We start every SEO project with a full SEO audit, where we check over 285 on-page, off-page and technical SEO factors to identify potential quick-win opportunities that we can leverage for SEO and organic traffic growth.

After implementing all of the suggestions from the full SEO audit we put together a content and SEO strategy to increase your rankings and organic traffic.

To get a glimpse of how we work, we offer a free mini-audit where we go through 10 factors from the full SEO audit, to see if your store is a good fit for the full SEO audit that covers 285 potential SEO quick-wins.

Deven Davis

RomaDesignerJewelry.com

"GoldenWeb’s work has been amazing for us.

We already had a decent base with content and structure, but their work has positioned us to continue to make gains in very competitive areas."

Alex Smith

ShopSolarKits.com

"Benjamin and his team have been great to work with, have proven themselves with a ton of results.

Benjamin goes out of his way to provide value in all areas of the business as he's an operator himself."