Shopify Blogging Guide: How to Add a Blog to Your Store & Top 5 Blog Apps for SEO (2025)

May 22, 2025

Shopify isn’t just for selling products – it can also power your content marketing. In this guide, we’ll explain how to use Shopify for blogging, integrate a blog into your store, and boost your content strategy. We’ll compare popular Shopify blog apps (like DropInBlog vs Related Blog Posts Pro, Automizely Page Builder vs Bloggle, and BlogFeeder vs DropInBlog) and recommend the top 5 apps for content creation and SEO. Finally, we’ll include a quick tutorial on creating a blog page in Shopify. Let’s dive in!

Can Shopify Be Used for Blogging? (Built-in Blog Features)

Yes. Every Shopify store comes with a built-in blogging engine out-of-the-box. This means you can create blog posts directly in your Shopify admin, helping improve your store’s SEO, engage your audience, and drive traffic to your site. Shopify’s native blog allows basic features like writing posts with images, adding tags/categories, setting an author, and enabling comments. It’s a convenient way to share updates, stories, and tips with your customers without needing a separate platform.

However, Shopify’s built-in blog is fairly basic. It was designed with simplicity in mind, so it lacks many advanced blogging features. For example, Shopify’s blog interface provides only rudimentary formatting options and no built-in SEO analysis tools or editorial workflow features. You can add meta titles and descriptions to posts, but you won’t get guidance on keyword usage or content optimization. Design customization is also limited – your blog will use your Shopify theme’s templates, which might be less flexible than a dedicated blogging platform. In fact, Shopify doesn’t support rich text formatting beyond the basics and uses its own Liquid templating for themes, making heavy design changes tricky for non-developers. Another limitation is the URL structure: blog posts live under a /blogs/ path by default (e.g. /blogs/news/sample-post), which can be a bit long and arguably not as SEO-friendly. And unlike some platforms, Shopify doesn’t let you embed products or dynamic widgets within native blog posts without custom code – a feature many content marketers crave.

Bottom line: Shopify can absolutely be used for blogging, especially for basic content needs. It’s integrated and helps with SEO by adding fresh content to your site. But if you’re a serious blogger or need advanced features (like robust SEO optimization, richer post layouts, or content planning tools), you might find the native blog features underwhelming. Fortunately, there are ways to enhance your Shopify blog experience – which is where specialized blog apps come in (more on those soon).

How to Integrate a Blog into Your Shopify Store

Integrating a blog into your Shopify store can mean two things: using Shopify’s internal blog or connecting an external blog. Here’s how to approach both:

Using Shopify’s Built-in Blog: This is the simplest path. Your store already has a default blog (named “News” by default) ready to use. You can create new blog posts in your Shopify admin, and they will appear on your storefront under the blog section. To make sure customers can find your blog, add it to your site’s navigation menu. For example, in your Shopify admin go to Online Store > Navigation, and add a menu item that links to your blog (choose “Blogs” and then your blog’s name). This will put a “Blog” or whatever you name it in your main menu so visitors can click through easily. Once set up, the blog is fully part of your Shopify site – using the same theme and URL, which is great for SEO. Any posts you publish will help drive organic traffic to your store by targeting relevant keywords and keeping your site content fresh.

Linking or Importing an External Blog: Some merchants already have blogs on platforms like WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr. You have a couple of options in this case. One simple approach is to link to the external blog from your Shopify navigation (as a menu item that opens your WordPress blog, for example). However, an even better approach (for SEO and user experience) is to integrate the blog content into Shopify itself. You can do this by importing your external blog posts into Shopify’s blog, or by using an app. For instance, the app BlogFeeder allows you to import posts from external platforms (WordPress, Tumblr, etc.) into your Shopify blog and keep them in sync. This means your existing articles will appear on your Shopify store’s blog section, and any new posts you publish externally can auto-sync to Shopify. By consolidating content on your Shopify domain, you boost SEO (no more splitting traffic between two sites) and provide a seamless experience where customers can read your content and shop in one place. In short, tools like BlogFeeder essentially integrate an outside blog into your Shopify storefront, saving you from starting from scratch.

No matter which method you choose, integrating a blog is crucial for content marketing. A blog on your Shopify store can educate customers, showcase product use-cases, improve trust, and organically attract visitors via search engines. Next, we’ll look at some powerful Shopify apps that extend blogging capabilities – from full blog platforms to handy add-ons – and see how they compare.

Comparing Popular Shopify Blog Apps

Shopify’s App Store offers numerous apps to supercharge your blog. Some provide a complete blogging platform with advanced features, while others enhance specific aspects (like SEO or post recommendations). Below we compare a few major Shopify blog apps head-to-head:

DropInBlog vs. Related Blog Posts Pro

These two apps serve very different purposes for your Shopify blog:

DropInBlog – SEO-Friendly Blog: DropInBlog is an all-in-one blogging platform that replaces Shopify’s native blog with a more robust, SEO-optimized solution. After installing, it embeds a new blog into your store that comes with a ton of features geared toward content marketers. DropInBlog has a built-in SEO analyzer that checks each post as you write, giving you real-time feedback and tips to improve SEO (almost like having an on-page SEO expert). It supports multiple authors and user permissions (so you can have guest writers or a team without giving full store access). You can embed products directly in blog posts, turning blog content into shoppable sections – great for showcasing items mentioned in an article. Other perks include scheduling posts to publish later, adding custom categories (unlimited), and even changing the default blog URL structure. Essentially, DropInBlog is for merchants who want a powerful blogging engine within Shopify that can drive search rankings and sales. It is a paid app (with plans starting around $24/month) and is highly rated for its functionality and support.

Related Blog Posts Pro: Related Blog Posts Pro takes a more focused approach. It’s a free app that adds a “Related Posts” widget to your Shopify blog. Instead of giving you a new blog platform, it works with your existing blog to improve reader engagement and internal linking. Once installed, the app will display a list of relevant posts at the end of each blog article (you’ve probably seen “You might also like…” on blogs – that’s what this does). It uses your post tags and other settings to determine which articles are related, and you can customize the look and feel of the widget. The main benefit is keeping readers on your site longer by suggesting more content they’ll find interesting, which can reduce bounce rate. It also boosts SEO through internal links – linking your articles to each other helps search engine crawlability and distributes page authority. Related Blog Posts Pro is simple to set up (no coding) and even lets you exclude certain blogs or include thumbnail images to make the suggestions more appealing. It’s completely free, making it a popular choice for Shopify bloggers who want to enhance their native blog without cost. The trade-off is that it doesn’t add new creation tools; it’s purely for recommending content.

For a quick comparison, see the table below:

Aspect	DropInBlog (Full Blog Platform)	Related Blog Posts Pro (Related Posts Widget)
Purpose	Replace Shopify’s default blog with a feature-rich, SEO-driven blogging system.	Suggest relevant posts on your existing blog to increase engagement and internal linking.
Key Features	SEO analyzer with real-time feedback; multi-author support; product embeds in posts; post scheduling; custom blog design/templates.	Adds a “Related Posts” section under blog articles; uses tags to improve relevancy; displays images and links to keep readers on site.
SEO Impact	High – built-in SEO tools help optimize content for search rankings; cleaner blog infrastructure improves SEO performance.	Indirect – improves on-site SEO via quality internal links and longer session times, helping spread SEO value across posts.
Pricing	Paid plans (e.g. Lite ~$24/mo, Standard ~$49/mo). 14-day free trial typically available.	Free (no cost at all).

Use DropInBlog if you need a complete blogging overhaul with strong SEO features. Use Related Blog Posts Pro if you’re sticking with Shopify’s native blog and just want to enhance engagement and SEO through related content suggestions.

Automizely Page Builder vs. Bloggle

Next, let’s compare Automizely Page Builder and Bloggle – Powerful Blog Builder. Both can help you create beautiful blog posts, but they have different strengths:

Automizely Page Builder (by AfterShip): Automizely is primarily a versatile landing page and content page builder for Shopify. It’s not exclusive to blogging – you can design entire pages (homepages, product pages, FAQ pages, etc.) using its drag-and-drop editor and template library. For blogging, Automizely provides a way to create custom-designed blog pages that are more engaging than a standard Shopify theme might allow. You can drop in elements like images, videos, buttons, testimonials, and more into your blog content. The result is a more visually appealing post that can potentially convert readers into shoppers (with, say, call-to-action sections). One advantage is that Automizely’s broad toolkit means you’re not limited to just blog posts – you maintain a consistent design across all pages. It also offers useful features like a sticky add-to-cart widget and saved section templates to reuse design blocks. Automizely has a Free plan (allowing 1 page) and paid plans (Essentials ~$35/mo for up to 25 pages, Pro ~$95/mo for up to 150 pages). This is generous if you want to try it out on a blog page. However, Automizely lacks specialized blogging tools: notably, it doesn’t include an SEO content analyzer or blog-specific features like post scheduling or category management. Think of it as a design tool first and foremost. If you’re comfortable handling SEO on your own (or with another app like Yoast) and just need better-looking posts, Automizely can work well.

Bloggle – Powerful Blog Builder: Bloggle is a dedicated blog-building app for Shopify. It was created to address the shortcomings of the native Shopify blog by providing both design flexibility and content optimization tools. With Bloggle, you get an intuitive drag-and-drop editor tailored for blog posts – you can create rich layouts without coding, using blocks for images, videos, product cards, buttons, quotes, etc.. There are ready-made templates to speed up designing your posts. Importantly, Bloggle has an integrated SEO score checker: as you write a post, it scores your content for SEO and offers suggestions (much like DropInBlog’s analyzer) to help you rank better. This guides you on keyword usage, headings, meta tags, etc., which is extremely useful if you’re not an SEO expert. Bloggle also emphasizes making blog content “shoppable” – for example, you can easily insert product widgets or buy buttons inside your articles to convert readers into customers. Additional features include support for multiple languages (great for international stores) and the ability to create unlimited blog posts (no page count limit). Bloggle offers a free plan (with basic features to test it) and a Premium plan around $24.90/month for full features. In summary, Bloggle is focused on blog content creation and SEO. It might not build a landing page for your Black Friday sale (like Automizely can), but it will likely make your blog content perform better in both looks and search rankings.

Key differences between Automizely and Bloggle:

Scope: Automizely Page Builder is a multi-purpose page designer (blogs, landing pages, product pages, etc.), whereas Bloggle is purpose-built for blogging. If you need a general page builder that can also handle blog pages, Automizely covers a broad scope. If your priority is a powerful blogging tool with SEO guidance, Bloggle is laser-focused on that.
SEO Features: Automizely does not include on-page SEO analysis or blog-specific SEO tools (you’d need to optimize content manually or use another SEO app). Bloggle includes an SEO checker that actively scores and helps optimize your blog posts as you create them – a big plus for improving search visibility.
Design & Templates: Both offer drag-and-drop editing. Automizely provides a wide range of page templates and elements (since it caters to all pages) and ensures they are all Shopify-compatible. Bloggle offers templates too, but specifically for blog layouts, and puts special emphasis on easy blog design (e.g., content sections like newsletter sign-up forms to grow your audience). In practice, you can achieve great-looking posts with either, but Bloggle might require less tweaking for common blog formats.
Pricing Model: Automizely has a free tier (1 page) which is nice for testing, but you’ll need to upgrade ($35+/mo) for serious use. Bloggle also offers a free plan (likely limited by features or number of posts) and then about $25/mo for full access. Both have similar high user ratings (~4.8/5★) indicating user satisfaction. Consider that Automizely’s price includes all pages (value if you use it widely), whereas Bloggle’s price is purely for the blog enhancements.

In short: Use Automizely Page Builder if you want a one-stop page designer to unify the design of your entire store (and you’ll handle SEO separately). Use Bloggle if blogging is a core part of your strategy and you want a dedicated tool that makes writing and optimizing blog posts easier.

BlogFeeder vs. DropInBlog

Our last comparison is between BlogFeeder – Blog Importer and DropInBlog. Interestingly, these two can even complement each other in some cases, but they address different needs:

BlogFeeder – Blog Importer: BlogFeeder is a Shopify app designed to pull in content from an external blog into Shopify. If you already have a blog on WordPress, Medium, Tumblr, or any platform that provides an RSS feed, BlogFeeder can help you centralize that content on your Shopify store. It works by importing your existing blog posts into Shopify and then keeping them in sync. Whenever you publish a new post on your external blog, BlogFeeder will automatically fetch and add it to your Shopify blog, so your store always has the latest content. This is incredibly useful for maintaining one content presence. For example, a company that has an established WordPress blog can use BlogFeeder to mirror those posts on their Shopify storefront, avoiding the need to manage two separate blogs. The SEO benefit is significant: by having all your content on the same domain (your Shopify store), you’re not splitting your SEO power. Visitors who discover your blog posts will be on your actual store, increasing the chance of product browsing, and all that content contributes to your Shopify site’s search rankings. BlogFeeder is a fairly straightforward app – it’s about integration rather than creation. It doesn’t provide writing or editing tools; you continue to use your external blog platform for that. It simply ensures those posts show up on Shopify. It’s priced at around $9.99/month for the service. Merchants who love their current blogging workflow but want Shopify site benefits often choose BlogFeeder. Keep in mind, because it’s importing content, the styling of posts might differ slightly and very complex post layouts might need tweaking once imported (small layout issues can occur in some cases).

DropInBlog – SEO Friendly Blog: We discussed DropInBlog earlier – it’s the full-fledged blogging platform integrated into Shopify. While BlogFeeder brings in content from elsewhere, DropInBlog provides you tools to create and optimize new content within Shopify. If you don’t have an external blog already (or you’re willing to migrate off it), DropInBlog lets you manage all posts in one place (your Shopify admin/apps) with a user-friendly editor. Its standout features include the live SEO analysis as you draft posts, which helps ensure your posts are search-engine-friendly, and the ability to embed products and other elements to make posts interactive and sales-oriented. Essentially, DropInBlog is about building an SEO-rich blog from the ground up on Shopify, whereas BlogFeeder is about bringing an existing blog over. DropInBlog is a larger investment (plans from $24/mo and up) but offers a comprehensive set of blogging features and can handle the needs of active bloggers (scheduled publishing, author profiles, categories, search functionality, etc.). Many merchants who want to take Shopify blogging to the next level go with DropInBlog for its all-in-one convenience and SEO focus.

Which to choose? If you already have a well-maintained blog elsewhere and don’t want to rebuild everything, BlogFeeder is a fantastic solution to integrate that content into Shopify and reap the SEO benefits of one domain. On the other hand, if you’re starting fresh or looking to upgrade your Shopify blogging experience with better tools, DropInBlog is likely the better choice for creating new content that ranks and converts. Some merchants actually use both: for instance, import old posts with BlogFeeder while using DropInBlog for new posts going forward – though that setup is more complex. Generally, it’s one or the other.

Now that we’ve compared these apps, let’s highlight the top 5 Shopify blog apps we recommend for content creation and SEO.

Tutorial: How to Create a Blog Page on Shopify (Step-by-Step)

Ready to start blogging on Shopify? Here’s a quick step-by-step tutorial to create your blog page and first post:

Access the Blog in Shopify Admin: Log in to your Shopify admin and go to Online Store > Blog Posts. By default, every store has a blog called “News” (you’ll see it listed there). You can use this as your blog or create a new one. To create a new blog section (if you want a different name like “Journal” or “Blog”), click Manage blogs, then Add blog. Enter a Title for your blog (e.g. “Blog” or “Insights”) and set your desired comment settings (open, moderated, or closed to comments). Save the blog. Shopify now knows you have a blog section ready.

Create a Blog Post: In the Blog Posts area, click Add blog post. This opens the blog post editor. Enter a title for your article and write your content in the rich text editor (you can format text, add images or videos, and insert links). On the right side, choose which Blog this post belongs to (select the blog you created or “News” if using the default). You can also add tags (keywords) to organize the content, and set an excerpt (summary) if you like. Under Visibility, you can either publish immediately or schedule the post for later. Once you’re happy with your post, hit Save, and then Publish (if you didn’t schedule it). 🎉 Your content is now live on your Shopify blog!

Add the Blog to Your Navigation: By default, your blog page might not be linked in your store’s menus. To make it accessible to visitors, go to Online Store > Navigation. Decide where you want the blog link (often in the main menu or footer menu). Click the menu (e.g., Main Menu), then click Add menu item. Name it “Blog” (or whatever fits). For the link, select Blogs > Your Blog Name from the link picker – this will fill in the correct blog page URL. Add it, then save the menu. Now “Blog” will appear in your site’s navigation. When visitors click it, they’ll see your blog’s homepage with the list of posts.

Design and Settings (Optional): If you want to adjust how your blog looks, you can go to Online Store > Themes > Customize. Navigate to the blog page in the theme editor. Depending on your theme, you may have options to show/hide the author, date, share buttons, etc., on blog posts. You can also edit the layout or typography here. Additionally, in Online Store > Blog Posts, click Manage blogs then edit your blog settings – here you can change the title of the blog, toggle commenting settings, or add an SEO description for the blog main page (under “Edit website SEO”). Make sure to fill in an SEO-friendly description and title for your blog page so search engines know what your blog is about.

Start Posting Regularly: Your Shopify blog is now set up. Going forward, just repeat step 2 for each new post. Consistency is key – publish quality content regularly to build readership and improve SEO. You might also explore installing one of the blog apps mentioned above to enhance your blogging workflow or SEO. For example, you could add Related Blog Posts Pro now to automatically show related articles under each post (improving engagement) or use an app like Yoast SEO to get SEO tips as you edit posts. Over time, monitor your blog traffic (Shopify’s dashboard or Google Analytics) and search rankings to gauge the impact.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to promote your Shopify blog once it’s live. Share your posts on social media, include links in email newsletters, and consider optimizing for relevant keywords so new customers find you via Google. A well-integrated Shopify blog can become a magnet for organic traffic and a channel for nurturing customer trust.

Conclusion

Blogging on Shopify is a powerful way to connect with your audience and boost your store’s visibility. With Shopify’s built-in blogging tool, you can get started in minutes, and with the help of specialized apps, you can overcome the native limitations to create a truly impactful blog. Whether you use a full blog platform like DropInBlog or spruce up the native blog with apps like Bloggle, Automizely, or Related Posts, the key is to provide valuable, engaging content that draws readers in and keeps them on your site. By following the steps and using the tools outlined above, you’ll have a well-integrated Shopify blog that not only tells your brand story but also drives SEO benefits and sales. Happy blogging on Shopify!

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