Top 10 Ecommerce Blogs Your Brand Should Imitate

Along with a great product, most successful DTC brands have a few things in common: a customer-first approach, an identity with soul, and a seamless digital experience. Achieving all of these things might sound challenging, but there’s one thing that can help you create a first-rate digital shop for your customers: a blog.

Why does your DTC brand need a blog?

A thoughtful blog can help your customers feel more educated and excited about your brand. That connection should help drive sales. In fact, HubSpot reported in its 2021 Executive Marketing Leadership Survey that 20% of marketing leaders said that company blogs were one of their "most important channels" for hitting goals.

With revenue in the ecommerce market projected to reach around $986 billion in 2022, a creative blog may be just what your brand needs to stand out (and secure a portion of those sales). 

What does a “good” blog look like? 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to content. A good blog is strategic, fits your brand, and speaks to your audience in a way they’ll appreciate. 

“DTC brands who think about producing blog content as ‘blogging’ are missing the point. The point of any marketing channel is to grow a business,” said Taylor Coil, product strategist at New Haircut.

A strategic ecommerce blog should take into account, at a minimum:

• SEO: A blog is one of the more cost-effective ways to drive organic traffic to your site. The more quality content you publish, the more likely your site is to rank higher in search results — hopefully generating sales and growth for the brand. 
• Branding: As we mentioned earlier, successful DTC brands seem to have a soul of their own. You can’t neglect that personality in your blog. Instead, dig deeper into what your brand values and aesthetics are.
• Your community: Once you have an audience, keep them engaged with your blog. Use quizzes, surveys, and social media to find out what they care about or what questions they have about your products, and use that data to fuel your content calendar with relevant topic.

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Similarly, if your brand and your community are dedicated to certain causes, use your blog to share how the company is making an impact and give simple suggestions for how your customers can join you. 

While we won’t dig too much into metrics right now, it’s worth mentioning that it takes data and constant iteration to run a successful blog. Your team should set some KPIs (key performance indicators) to track. Common blog KPIs include page visits, social shares, bounce rate, SERP rank, and traffic referral sources.

It takes time and effort for a blog to be successful, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not seeing immediate results. Not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at a few ecommerce blogs for inspiration. 

10 ecommerce blogs and what we like about them

1. Honey Mama’s

Honey Mama’s is a women-owned company that makes cocoa truffle bars. The company’s nutrient-dense (but decadent) treats are wrapped in punchy packaging, and its blog matches the brand so well. 

While using recipes for a blog isn’t groundbreaking, Honey Mama’s stands out with bright, high-quality images and copy that speaks to its audience. Most of the recipes incorporate one flavor of Honey Mama’s bars—built into a delicious but healthy treat recipe.

And the post pages themselves are so well thought out. The copy is simple, the ingredients list has interactive checkboxes, and the sidebar showcases the featured product. Plus, there’s a “Shop Now” link for each featured product, so customers can shop directly from the blog. 

It can be difficult for smaller brands to create such a cohesive digital experience for customers. Honey Mama’s is lovely to look at and has a high potential to drive sales. 

2. OUAI

The OUAI blog has a very OG blog feel to it. Readers can break the posts up by category, but if you just scroll the blog homepage, you can tell the OUAI team puts a lot of thought into the post topics.

They do an incredible job of balancing beauty education, product education, and social issues. Thanks to the blog’s topic curation, it’s very clear to visitors what the company cares about. And the posts dedicated to causes state specifically how the brand feels and what it’s doing. 

Although the blog as a whole definitely feels like a community hub for its customers—more a place of learning—OUAI hasn’t forgotten about conversions. Along with subtle links in the content, there’s a pretty and functional “Shop This Story” scroll beneath each article. 

So if someone finds the post useful, it’s simple for them to purchase and try the products that seem like a fit for their needs. 

3. Rainbo 

Rainbo’s blog is surprising in the best way possible. It’s visually stunning, especially considering Rainbo is a mushroom company. 

The Rainbo blog is really a masterclass in selecting images for a brand. The photos they use are eye-catching, perfectly fit for the brand, and memorable. The team at Rainbo works with both photographers and designers to help make its blog so special. “We have a brand manifesto that we worked incredibly hard on with various professionals that we reference to assure that all of our copy and images reflect this,” the team said. 

The topics chosen are both fitting for the brand and SEO purposes. Titles such as “How to cook with Mushrooms” and “Mushroom Foraging Guide” are informative and Google-friendly.  

And, as a good blog post should, there are relevant links in the posts to make purchasing simple for visitors. 

4. Le Labo

Le Labo, a fine fragrance brand, has one of the most original approaches of the companies here—so original that it’s not technically a blog. The company has created “Le Journal,” an original-content broadsheet that’s available in stores (in print!) or online. 

Flip through the journal, and you’ll find quippy weather forecasts, jolly, scent-related astrology predictions, interviews with staff, scent spotlights, and other community-focused stories. 

Sure, this isn’t a great approach for SEO, but it’s absolutely delightful. Walking into a physical storefront and picking up a brand editorial adds a tactile layer to a shop that caters to the senses. It’s a strong creative move in terms of branding and audience engagement. 

5. Italic 

Much like the brand itself, Italic’s blog is subtle—almost nondescript. But that’s not a bad thing. The content is well-written and there’s plenty of it, which helps with SEO, of course. Like many larger brands, Italic’s blog skews toward that of a publisher. 

Instead of recommended products, the sidebar features related articles. There are a few, well-placed product links, and each post has a boilerplate CTA and button to explore the Italic shop. 

This isn’t a blog designed to only convert, it’s a blog designed to drive organic traffic and engage visitors. And hopefully, visitors will find something they like along the way. 

6. Care/of 

Care/of, a DTC vitamin and supplement company, has a beautiful and well-written blog. The blog’s banner speaks volumes about the brand and serves as a great category intro for readers.

Care/of’s blog is so simple to navigate — whether from the top menu or by scrolling. And it loads quickly, giving visitors a great experience. 

The blog posts themselves are perfect for SEO and brand authority. Most of the content has been medically reviewed by a professional and the articles are backed by scientific studies, bolstering the brand’s claims and building trust. 

Again, this is a great example of a company that knows the space it operates in. To stand out in a crowded wellness market is difficult. 

The Care/of’s blog really sets them apart from other brands: Its credible content supports the benefits of its products, and the UX is fantastic (which makes it more likely to rank well in search).

More ecommerce blogs we love

We don’t want to swamp you with information, but we felt that these other blogs are worth checking out. If you have time to explore, take a peek at these other great ecommerce blog examples: 

7. Copper Cow Coffee

Here’s another brand that uses recipes for its blog. Things we love: search-friendly title names (e.g., Homemade Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Recipe), simple navigation, and a “Shop This Recipe” section to close each post. 

8. Lovevery

This is the only brand we’ve touched on that sells products for children. One of the best features of this blog is the option to “Explore by age.” The brand recognizes that people will want different resources and products depending on the age of the kid they’re shopping for — this makes it much more friendly to navigate.  

9. Day Owl

Day Owl makes sustainable bags and totes, but its blog primarily focuses on the company's mission, social causes, and the community. It proves to visitors that it's a values-driven brand. 

10. Thinx 

The Thinx blog (dubbed “The Periodical”) is lovely. One of the best parts about it is how well it speaks to its audience. The content and images are inclusive, the topics are search friendly, and the posts are packed with information and supporting links. SEO aside, the blog topics are well selected to educate and bolster the Thinx community. 

How much effort should your brand put into your blog? 

We can’t tell you exactly how much time to put into your brand’s blog, but we can say that it’s in your best interest to put as much effort as you can into your content. 

The early stages of your content adventure will require the greatest lift, but trust that your work will pay off. In 2021, the number of internet users worldwide reached about 4.9 billion, and content is one of the primary ways that these people will discover your brand—either finding it organically in search, getting a link from a friend (the new word-of-mouth referral) or coming across a neat article via social media. 

Need help encouraging word-of-mouth? ReferralCandy rewards your customers for referrals, helping you sell more. 

For many digital brands, a blog is the cornerstone of their content strategy. A blog can act as a hub for the rest of your content marketing.

For example, it gives your whitepapers and case studies a place to live online. And a blog can be a great place to anchor newsletter themes and social posts—along with linking to specific products, you can link to stories, interviews, and educational resources that live on your blog. 

The best time to start your blog is today

A blog is something that benefits brands in the long-term. It’s one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website, build authority and trust, and provide value to your customers. 

A few things to keep in mind as you start (or continue to improve) your blog: 

• Have a plan (that includes an SEO strategy). 
• Create a content calendar that incorporates your blog posts, newsletter, social, etc. 
• Choose images thoughtfully. 
• Drive conversions with CTAs and appropriate product links. 
• Stay true to your brand.