Are you interested in using Shopify to create your new online store? That’s not surprising. When Shopify hosts 20% of all eCommerce stores, it’s a great choice to get started for new eCommerce business owners.
However, even though Shopify is easy to set up for the average person, it still takes some work to get your eCommerce store working correctly. Below are six tips that will help you build a Shopify store.
In this article
1. Choose a Great Domain Name
Your business name says a lot about your company. Customers today don’t like doing business with faceless brands that they can’t connect with. Now that people have so many options, they tend to buy from companies with values that align with their own.
Your brand name will help you do that. It’s the first thing someone will think of when they think of your company. The question is, what do you want people to think?
Try to think of Shopify store names that tell people the type of products you sell and how they will represent your brand. You’ll use your domain name to help tell your brand story, so make it count.
2. Find a Great Theme
How your eCommerce store looks plays an essential role in how people perceive your brand. If you do a lousy job at designing your site, you’re going to drive away potential customers.
Luckily, you don’t have to spend a fortune to create a beautiful website. Shopify is one of the biggest eCommerce platforms out there, so many people are building businesses around selling products to Shopify users.
Website themes are one of those products. Look through the Shopify theme marketplaces to find a theme that will fit your brand. It should look great out of the box and have customization options to let you make whatever changes you see fit.
Mobile responsiveness is also critical for a website these days. The chances are good that many of your visitors will be on mobile devices. A responsive theme will make sure your site looks great on device screens of any size.
3. Make SEO a Priority
The chances are good that you don’t have an infinite ad budget to grow your Shopify online store. If you want to continue getting new customers without spending money, you need to rely on free traffic methods.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of those methods. SEO is the process of optimizing your site to help Google understand your content. It’s what helps Google understand why your site deserves to rank on the front page of Google.
The first place to start the SEO process is your meta information. Things like your meta title, description, and keyword tell Google what each page is about and what you want to be displayed on the search results. Shopify has tools to set this information, so go through each page to set up your meta tags.
4. Take High-Quality Product Photos
While shopping for products online is much more convenient for customers, it does have a few disadvantages. One of the most significant disadvantages you’ll find is the inability to see something in person before you buy.
That’s why high-quality product images are essential for an eCommerce store. People want to have a good sense of what they’re buying. If you have blurry images that don’t fully show your product, people will be less inclined to buy.
Invest in high-quality photos from a professional photographer to help your products stand out online. Combining beautiful product photos with a great website theme will help your products and brand stand out from your competition.
5. Look for Shopify Plugins
Sometimes a simple Shopify website isn’t enough to win over customers. Websites can do a lot these days. If your competition has features that your website doesn’t, you’ll need to add those features to keep up.
The good news is that you can find almost everything you need with Shopify plugins. A plugin is programming code that adds extra features on top of base Shopify websites. They will help you add new features to your website with a few clicks of a button.
Some examples of features that you can include are email opt-ins, chat support, and data collection programs. If you can’t find what you need from plugin marketplaces, you can hire a Shopify expert to build exactly what you need.
6. Use Tracking Software
While you might be able to collect some data about your Shopify store by making sales, that won’t always be enough. You need all the information you can get to make great business decisions. That’s where tracking software helps.
The first piece of software to install is Google Analytics. This software will tell you where your visitors come from, where they go on your site, and if they convert into customers. You can use this information to track ad campaigns to determine if your efforts are profitable.
You can also go more in-depth and use heatmap software on your website. Heatmap software will look at what your visitors do on each individual page. You can use this data to determine if your visitors’ attention is on the right parts of your website.
If not, you can make changes to help point people to take the actions you want them to take.
Shopify theme detector
It should look great out of the box and have customization options to let you make whatever changes you see fit.
You can also use the Shopify theme detector to find yourself a suitable theme from the large, successful, and established Shopify stores.
Don’t Cut Corners When You Build a Shopify Store
You can’t just sign up for a Shopify store, throw up a few products, and expect it to be successful. You’ll need to do some work if you want people to find your online business. Use the tips above to build a top Shopify store and set your business up for success.
Once you get your Shopify website online, you can focus on driving visitors to your store. Check out the blog for marketing tips that will help.
