How To Start A Blog For Your Etsy Shop

One of the best ways to build and promote a craft business is by having your own website and blog.  It allows you to provide valuable information for your potential customers and present your handmade business professionally.

The best way to start a blog for your Etsy shop is with a WordPress site and inexpensive hosting.  A WordPress site allows you to customize everything for your blog just as you want it including your domain name (which is your web address) and you can connect a store like Shopify or Woo Commerce if you want to sell your crafts from your own site.

I’ll show you how to start a blog for your Etsy shop and then we’ll talk about why you should have a blog for your craft business and what you can write about to promote your Etsy shop and make more sales.

This post contains affiliate links.  See my disclosure here.

How To Start A Blog For Your Etsy Shop

You can start a free blog for your Etsy business on sites like Wix and Blogger, but I really don’t recommend that unless you absolutely can’t afford to put a little money into starting a blog.

There are 3 reasons not to use free blogging sites to promote your Etsy shop.

Your web address doesn’t look professional.

When you blog on a free site your site URL is going to look something like this www.wix.yourblogname.com.  It will always have the site’s name before yours.

This doesn’t look very professional for running a business, but will do the trick if you really don’t have the money to put into starting a blog.

Your content doesn’t belong to you.

When you start your blog on a free site, the content belongs to them, not you.  If they decide to take down your blog posts or your entire blog they can.

You can’t connect a store to your blog on free sites.

You may not be interested in starting your own store on your website right now, but when your craft business grows to be more successful you’ll probably want the extra security of having your own store for your craft business.  There is no option to add a store to a free blogging platform.

The Best Place To Start A Blog For Your Etsy Shop

The best place to start a blog for your Etsy shop is on WordPress.  WordPress allows you to have your own custom domain like www.yourblogname.com so your site is branded and professional.

You can also customize your site to look however you want by choosing a theme that fits the brand of your craft business.

You own your content on a WordPress blog.  So you never have to worry about anyone else taking down blog posts that you spent hours writing.

You can integrate a store on WordPress through Shopify, Woo Commerce, and many others.  I always thought I’d never add my own shop to my website because I was content selling on Etsy, but I eventually realized the value in having my own shop and decided to add one.  You never know where your craft business will go in the future.

Here’s what you need to start a blog for your Etsy shop.

Hosting

A hosting company is basically how your blog or website gets on the internet.  There are a lot of hosting companies to choose from and they can get quite expensive, but the best one for beginner bloggers is Bluehost.  Their prices are super affordable at only a few dollars a month.

I’ve used Bluehost for the last 4 years for this blog and never had any problems.  Their customer service is always really helpful on the occasions I’ve needed help with something.  So that’s who I recommend as a hosting company to start a blog for your Etsy shop.

Domain

Your domain is your URL or web address.  You’ll want to choose something related to your craft business or Etsy shop to match your brand.  When you sign up for hosting with Bluehost you get a free domain name.

They have a domain name checker during the sign up process so you can try names and find one that’s available for your Etsy business blog.

Theme

Your WordPress theme is what determines how your website looks.  You’ll want to look carefully at themes to see what your home page options are, color and text options, and the overall layout of the site.

There are usually customizations you can make but many of the elements cannot be changed.

You can get free themes or purchase a theme.  You’ll be prompted to choose a theme when you go through the process of setting up your hosting with Bluehost.

The process of setting up your blog is pretty simple as you set up your hosting account, but I also wrote this step-by-step blog post on how to start a blog if you need some additional help.

Do I need a blog for my Etsy Shop?

You can definitely have a successful Etsy shop without having a blog.  But…

If you want to create a lasting business that can provide a full time income for you and your family for years to come, it’s best not to rely on only one platform.

What if you accidentally break one of Etsy’s rules and they close your shop?  You would be completely out of business if you only rely on them for traffic and sales.

I had a similar experience happen to me on Amazon.

A customer told them that I was selling used items.  Which wasn’t true or even possible since I make everything by hand.  I don’t really know what happened or why the customer said that, but Amazon removed my best selling product that was bringing in at least $100 a day for me.

They didn’t close my shop, but them removing that item was a huge blow to my income and my ego.

Having a blog for your Etsy shop allows you to be valuable to your customers and attract thousands or even millions of new customers that never would have known about your products.

What should I blog about for my Etsy business?

To write a helpful blog for your Etsy business, you’ll need to consider who your customers are and what their problems are.

What can you help them with that’s related to your business?

For example, if you sell hair bows for kids, your target audience would be moms (specifically with little girls).  You could write a blog about motherhood, or being a dance mom, or being a cheerleading mom.

The idea is to write content on your blog that is helpful to your target audience that you can also sprinkle in your products to make people aware of what you sell.

This is a way for you to connect and build a relationship with your ideal customers and let them know that you understand them.

How often should I write blog posts for my Etsy business?

Having a blog for your Etsy shop doesn’t have to be difficult and time consuming.  You can write one blog post per month if writing isn’t your thing.

If you enjoy writing and have enough time you can blog more often.  The more content you have out there, the more chances you have of your ideal customer finding your products.

If you don’t really enjoy writing or don’t have much extra time because you have a busy Etsy shop to keep up with, you can always hire someone to write your blog posts.

You would want to find a writer that knows about the topic of your blog so it feels authentic.

Where to promote your blog posts after publishing

Once you’ve hit the publish button, how do you get more traffic to your blog posts for your Etsy business?

The best place to promote your blog posts is on Pinterest.  I wrote a complete guide on how to use Pinterest for your Etsy shop.

You can also promote your blog posts for your Etsy shop on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and any other social media platforms that you use.

If you have a YouTube channel, you can make a video on the same topic and link to your blog post in the description box.

You can also send a helpful email to your email list and link to your blog post.

Be sure to check out this post with the best places to promote your Etsy shop.