Fashion is a tricky niche in the online marketing world. Advertising across the various platforms can work well. Some is still underpriced if you’re able to find the right niches. But a lot of it is very competitive. This is true especially as your fashion brand gets larger.
And SEO can be even trickier. Fashion is often about changing trends. What’s in style today is out of style tomorrow. That can make for a never ending need for fresh content that is hot today and forgotten tomorrow. And in many ways that goes against “evergreen” content that Google loves just as much as fresh content.
If you’re struggling with SEO for your fashion blog, here are some thoughts.
1. Mix Timely & Timeless
Fashion often requires a mix of timely and timeless articles. For example, you can write about the trends happening right now or that are gaining momentum heading into a new season. Colors, cuts, etc. You want to be in on what’s happening now. If you publish a blog post and use snippets on social media and start getting traction it can lead to more search results. But they will likely be short lived.
Timeless posts might be more along the lines of what happened in the past. Things that people today are curious about as far as past trends. What people wore two decades ago. How the fashion industry has and hasn’t changed.
2. Q&A
Another blog strategy that works in just about every industry is question and answer. If your target readers and customers have questions, and they almost always do, then it works. You do anything you can to identify the questions they’re asking. Then provide the best answers you can with blog posts.
Listen to the questions people ask in person at your stores. Listen to them on the phones. Read what they’re saying on social media. Watch what they’re saying on social media. Ask for their questions on social media.
3. Interviews
Interviews can work really well for fashion blogs. I used to write for a shoe blog some time ago. I would talk to the merchandisers several times a year. I would schedule recurring meetings with them before each new season to discuss upcoming trends.
This way I could publish content that was kind of ahead of the curve. Then when people starting search for it our posts were already published and ready for them to read.
And interviews can extend beyond buyers and merchandisers. If you’re able to get folks with some name recognition their brand can help boost your SEO because people will be searching for information that they’re sharing.
4. Guesting
Much about SEO today is about brand recognition. The more people that know about and search for your brand the better. Obviously that’s easier the bigger your brand is. One great way to build a brand at any stage is guesting. Guest podcasting. Guesting on video channels. Guest articles.
Go where the attention already is and work on ways to get your brand in front of them. Some channels are expensive. Others are less so. It’s not a one time thing. It’s an ongoing strategy.
Think of late night talk shows. It’s all guesting. A guest comes on and chats and plays games and entertains for a few minutes. In exchange, they get exposure for themselves and for a movie or song in front of a very large audience.
5. Frequency
The fashion world is full of creative people. It’s one of the best aspects of the industry. But creatives can often fall into a trap. It’s the trap of perfection. They don’t want to put anything out until it’s perfect. This can lead to a lack of frequency.
I was listening to a great podcast recently with the founder of a record label. He said he was frustrated by the accepted timeline for releasing music. He figured that if an artist had something they believed in they should release it. As often as possible. The label has become very successful in the last five years using this strategy.
High frequency is good. It leads to quality. The more create the more you learn. The more you improve.
The same works in blogging.
Conclusion
SEO is tricky no matter the industry. But with industries like fashion it can be trickier. You’re fighting against every changing trends. You’re going against a lot of competition. And there are always new brands coming onto the scene that can totally change things. If you’re struggling with SEO for your fashion blog, hopefully these tips can help.