- The document summarizes James Brockbank's presentation on effective content marketing strategies for ecommerce businesses. - It discusses how link building practices have changed since 2012 due to Google updates, and how brands now need to earn links through high-quality story-driven content. - Data from a study of 253 content pieces from 57 ecommerce retailers is presented, showing the most successful formats for landing links are guides, infographics, and interactive content, as long as they tell an interesting story. - Common topics and domains that link to ecommerce content are identified, and examples are given of link building campaigns that earned hundreds of links from major publications.

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The State Of eCommerce
Content Marketing [2018]
James Brockbank
Managing Director & Founder - Digitaloft

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I’ve got a
confession
to make …

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10 years ago,
I built links using:
 Private blog networks
 Article spinning
 Link directories
 Press release distribution services
 Blog comments
 Web 2.0 profiles

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Who didn’t?!

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This is a link I
(ashamedly) built
back in 2009...

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Today I earn
links like this...

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By telling
stories to the
press using
data-led
content assets
like this...

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But first,
let’s rewind to
April 24, 2012

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I was on
holiday in
Florida...

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The office
called me…

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Clients who
ranked #1 on
Google the day
before were
now nowhere
to be seen.

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Organic
traffic looked
like this...

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SHIT!

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These guys
weren’t so cute
anymore, eh?

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We had to get
good at marketing!
We could no longer
buy or build links;
we now needed to
earn them!

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Wasn’t that
what PRs did?!

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If you want to
succeed at SEO...

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You need
BIGlinks!

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But isn’t earning
links to eCommerce
stores tough?
Aren’t most brands buying
sponsored posts or gifting
review products?

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B
ang head he
re

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Rule #1
Don’t ever buy sponsored
posts for SEO purposes.
You’re wasting your money.

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Rule #2
Gifting review products
may be a great influencer
strategy but forget it for
link building.

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You just have to
get smart...

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&understand how
eCommerce stores
can land links from
top-tier press

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Journalists
cover
stories...

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...not
content.

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But stories come
in many different
formats...
Lets look at what’s
actually working for
brands in 2018...

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In January, we conducted a
study of 253 pieces of content
from 57 eCommerce retailers
over the past 3 years…
80,114
links in total

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We wanted to
understand …
 What content formats land links
 Common linking domains
 Trends amongst topics
 Subject proximity to brand offerings
 What a successful campaign looks like

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Content Format vs. Number Of Content Pieces
The below shows the split of each of the content pieces by format:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Infographics[74]29.25%
Guide[73]28.85%
BlogPost[25]9.88%
Interactive[17]6.72%
Listicle[17]6.72%
Competition[14]5.53%
BloggerRoundup[5]1.98%
EventCoverage[5]1.98%
PhotoSeries[5]1.98%
ResearchArticles[4]1.58%
Images[3]1.19%
Interviews[3]1.19%
Reviews[3]1.19%
Surveys[3]1.19%
Animation[1]0.40%
Quiz[1]0.40%
Content Format
Number of Pieces % of Overall

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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Interactive92
Surveys71
Interviews29
ResearchArticle26
Guide21
Infographic21
BlogPost16
Competition14
Listicle13
Images12
EventCoverage10
BloggerRoundup7
Reviews7
PhotoSeries279
Average LRD
Content Format vs. Linking Root Domains
Looking specifically at the average number of linking root domains pointing to each piece of content, the study showed:

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But wait...
what about
infographics?
They’re still what everyone is producing?
Don’t they earn links anymore?

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The problem is that
most infographics
are shit...

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Many are just a (sometimes)
nicely designed listicle…
A format which, on average,
earns just 13 links.
An infographic is simply
a format to tell a story.
If there’s no story or hook,
you won’t land the links.

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Infographics can be
successful though,
right?

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403 links earned for
an online casino …
using an infographic?!

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You got it …
There was a story!

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0
10
20
30
40
50
Survey
Infographic
43
Research
Infographic
25
Listicle
Infographic
22 Instructional
Infographic
15
Average Linking Root Domains
Infographic Formats
Average Linking Root Domains

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You need to be landing links from
top-tier publications if you want to
compete at eCommerce SEO.

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Common Links
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
dailymail.co.uk[31]12.25%
express.co.uk[25]9.88%
stokesentinel.co.uk[24]9.49%
goodhousekeeping.co.uk[24]9.49%
cosmopolitan.com[24]9.49%
mirror.co.uk[24]9.49%
lovemoney.com[23]9.09%
idealhome.co.uk[22]8.70%
prima.co.uk[22]8.70%
telegraph.co.uk[22]8.70%
Link Intersect Analysis
(Common Linking Domains)

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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Lifestyle[120]47.43%
Entertainment[22]8.70%
Sports[21]8.30%
Travel[21]8.30%
Seasonal[18]7.11%
Parenting[17]6.72%
Technology[11]4.35%
Business[7]2.77%
Health[5]1.98%
Environment[2]0.79%
Finance[1]0.40%
Students[1]0.40%
HomeImprovement[7]2.77%
Content Topic
Subject Matter
Content Pieces

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0
10
20
30
40
50
Arts&Crafts[8]6.67%
Food&Drink[21]17.50%
Health[6]5.00%
Home&Garden[19]15.83%
Relationships[7]5.83%
Relaxation[3]2.50%
Shopping[2]1.67%
Sleep[8]6.67%
Weddings[2]1.67%
Fashion[44]36.67%
Lifestyle Sub-Topic
Lifestyle Sub-Topics
Content Pieces

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Subject Proximity to Brand Offerings
Content Pieces
Content Pieces
Off Topic Pieces [5] 1.98%
Average LRDs 36
Related Topic Pieces [78] 30.8%
Average LRDs 47
On Topic Pieces [170] 67.2%
Average LRDs 22

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Content Marketing Is Not
The Same As Advertising…
Create Content For Your Audience,
Not Your Brand

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So what does
a successful
eCommerce link
building campaign
look like?

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Perceptions of
Perfection
(Superdrug):
941
linking root
domains

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Sleep Calculator
(Web Blinds):
442
linking root
domains

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The Perception
of Colour
(Buy T-Shirts Online):
395
linking root
domains

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How Much Are Your
Instagram Posts
Worth? (Inkifi):
269
linking root
domains

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The most successful
content campaigns
have a few things in
common…
They’re unique
They’re telling stories
They’re data driven
They cannot easily be replicated
by competitors
They’re not 100% on brand

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What Topics Do Your
Audience Care About?
What Are Journalists Covering?

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To recap...
Invest your resources into story-
first content marketing and work to
earn links from publications which
carry authority
Don’t waste time gifting review
products to earn links
Don’t waste money buying
sponsored posts
Put your effort into
content marketing

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Journalists cover stories,
not content
Content marketing is NOT
advertising; go tell your ‘brand’ team
You need to create the content your
audience WANT to consume
Do something new, different or
better tell people about it

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THANK YOU!
james@digitaloft.co.uk @BrockbankJames