In the early days of dream selling online products, establishing a Shopify store is definitely a good option. Shopify is considered to be one of the most commonly used ecommerce platforms and it allows an individual to build an appealing and working online store easily with zero tech skills. In this novice guide and like any other novice, let us start with step one in designing a Shopify store. Let us start right away and help you to turn your vision of selling products over the internet into a reality.
Why Choose Shopify?
You may want to bear in mind those traits of the platform before you put your hands on the control panel of a Shopify Store Setup as it is understandable why this platform is rather common both for novice type of people in e-commerce and seasoned e-commerce business owners – All-in-one solutions that Shopify provides make the virtual store setup fast and effortless. The online payment software is highly configurable, there are integrated payment systems, the reliability of clients’ information safety is high, customer support is superb. Regardless of your current stage, be it a stage of the first product launch or building a big online store, everything you require to cross the finish line has been provided by Shopify.
Step 1: Sign Up for Shopify
To begin creating your Shopify account, the first thing you will do is go to the site of Shopify. Then, there is a button saying “Start Free Trial” which should be pressed. Next, you will have to fill in your email address, password and store name, so make sure to choose a name that is unique and will make your store distinctive among competition. The good news is that with Shopify a new user gets a 14 day trial period in order to test the site as much as they want before going for a subscription.
Step 2: Choose the Right Plan
Upon completion of the free trial, you’ll be ready to select a Shopify plan that works for you. Shopify offers three primary plans:
Basic Shopify: Best if you're a small store with limited features.
Shopify: Ideal for growing businesses.
Advanced Shopify: Best suited for those larger businesses needing advanced features.
Evaluate your features first and then tailor down to a plan which fits your budget and budget.
Step 3: Choose and Customize Your Theme
People are attracted to attractive stores and your store’s visual appeal has a great deal to do with converting visitors to customers. There are both free and premium themes offered on Shopify that fit different types of business. However, for you to choose a theme, go to Online Store > Themes. After you’ve selected it, click on “Customize” to customize the theme for your site’s brand identity.
Images that you add, fonts you change, sections that you want to rearrange, or colors that you want to adjust can easily fit with the uniqueness of store you have. A bit of a cliché though, try to keep your store design simple clean and easy to use.
Step 4: Add Your Products
Shoppers will find it hard to resist going into your Shopify store once the all-important set up has been properly completed, even more so when your store features a great selection of products. Up next, navigate to Products and hit Add Product. You will read a series of fields including the product name, description, price, EAN (International Article Number), SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) and add a picture or pictures of high quality.
Focusing on the advantages will benefit focusing on a single product description in which you describe the product and not the features. Consequently, there’s no need to explain the direct impact on our products if we include keywords in our descriptions, as this would simply increase the chances of getting a higher rating in the search engine results.
Step 5: Configure Payment Gateways
With Shopify, it’s easy to accept payment from customers anywhere around the world. Log on to Settings > Payments and choose the payment gateways you wish to integrate with your store. Large amount of Shopify supports payment providers such as credit card , PayPal, and so on. Having multiple payment methods ensures that checkout with your customers runs smooth and you increase your chances of conversion.
Step 6: Set Up Shipping Options
Shipping is an important component of any e-commerce store. To set up your shipping zones, rates, and delivery options, in Shopify, go to Settings > Shipping. You can choose flat rates, free shipping, or actual shipping rates in Shopify. Choose what suits your business and ensure that your customers can understand the process of shipping at their will.
Step 7: Set Up Your Domain Name
Your store’s online address is your domain name. With Shopify you can either purchase a domain or connect an existing domain name. Clicking Shop Now brings you to Shop Domains; to buy a brand new domain click on Online Store > Domains. Having a professional domain name helps better your brand and makes it easier for your customers to get to your store.
Step 8: Test Your Store
So test your store thoroughly before you launch. Make sure that all the links work, click through the checkout process and check product images load. Testing is done so that everything runs as expected and the customer is happy shopping. Ask friends and family members to place test orders to see if you’ve missed anything.
Step 9: Launch Your Store
Once you’ve configured everything you need and tested your store thoroughly, you are ready to launch your store! Just remove the password protection from your store and you're live. Congratulations! Your Shopify Store Setup is complete.
Tips for a Successful Shopify Store
Optimize for SEO: A well-optimized web page promotes logical use of keywords that are woven naturally into the fabric of the text. Most importantly, the keywords need to be relevant to the page itself.
High-Quality Product Images: And use clear, professional images to show off your wares.
Marketing Strategies: Use Shopify’s marketing tools to create discount codes, integrate social media and run promotional campaigns.
Mobile-Friendly Design: Make sure your Shopify store is mobile friendly. The fact is that a lot of people shop from mobile devices and having a seamless shopping experience for such customers is essential to get more conversions.
Conclusion
Starting a Shopify store can be fun and these simple steps can help you to quickly create an amazing and functional online store. Having Shopify Store Setup is an easy and hassle free process perfect for anyone who needs to sell products online without any technical skills. Customizing your store, adding your products and configuring all necessary features have set you up for e-commerce success. Ready to take the leap? Take your first step onto the Shopify path today and witness the growth of your online business.
If you need more assistance with setup your Shopify store, Shopify Consultants is the number one place you should go for professional assistance.