A blog in your PrestaShop webshop: why you don't need WordPress next to it

With a blog you write about what matters to your customers: tips, inspiration, guides and news. Every article is a new way into your shop. Someone searching Google for a solution lands on your article and immediately sees the products that help them further.

The problem with a separate blog

That is why many shops run WordPress next to their webshop. It works, but it has downsides:

1. Two systems to maintain, update and secure.
2. A second login and a different way of working.
3. A different look, so the blog does not feel like part of your shop.
4. An awkward link with your products: readers first have to go back to the shop to order.

A blog inside PrestaShop itself

If your blog runs inside PrestaShop, you write in the back office you already know, the blog automatically uses your theme's style and you link products directly to your articles. Readers see those products below the article and order with one click. The other way round, the article appears on the product page as extra information for people who are still in doubt.

What matters for SEO?

A blog only helps if search engines understand it properly. Pay attention to these points:

1. Clean URLs, such as /blog/your-article-title, instead of long addresses with numbers.
2. A dedicated meta title and meta description per article and per language.
3. Canonical URLs against duplicate content, and hreflang if you write in several languages.
4. Structured data (schema.org BlogPosting) with title, image, date and author.
5. A sitemap, so Google finds new articles quickly.

Tips to get started right away

1. Write about questions customers actually ask you. Other people type those same questions into Google.
2. Link every article to the products that go with it.
3. Schedule articles in advance so your blog regularly shows something new.
4. Selling in several countries? Translate your best articles, because outside your own language there is often less competition.

Cloverfield Blogsmith

With Cloverfield Blogsmith you get a complete blog in PrestaShop 1.7, 8 and 9. Posts, categories, tags and comments live under one menu in your back office. The module takes care of clean URLs, dedicated meta fields, canonical and hreflang, BlogPosting data, its own sitemap and an RSS feed. You link products to posts, schedule posts in advance without a cron job and preview them through a preview link. Comments are protected against spam, and the blog works in 7 languages and in multistore.

In short

1. A blog is an extra way into your shop through Google.
2. A blog inside PrestaShop avoids double work and links articles directly to your products.
3. Take care of clean URLs, meta fields, hreflang, structured data and a sitemap.