Covid-19 saw retail ecommerce sky rocket by 27.6% and with over 2 million active websites using Shopify in 2021, we asked Ian Coupland, Head of Design at Tramshed Tech’s Design Centre to teach us best practices.
Covid-19 saw retail ecommerce sky rocket by 27.6% and with over 2 million active websites using Shopify in 2021, we asked Ian Coupland, Head of Design at Tramshed Tech’s Design Centre to teach us best practices on how to start a Shopify Shop. This includes important messages such as focussing on your theme and utilising free channels.
1. Focus on your theme
Choose a Shopify theme that is compatible with the integration of apps. There are so many cool apps and plugins available on Shopify, but some may not translate correctly to your theme. Spend time shopping around until you find the perfect theme for your website. View and review your theme to make sure these revisions look and work great on your website. There is nothing worse than broken links and apps on your website, this will greatly affect usability.
2. Create a platform suitable for multi-use
Make sure your website is responsive on all platforms and ideally design your website with mobile in mind. Mobile devices account for approximately half of web traffic worldwide and the first quarter of 2021 saw mobile devices generate 54.8% of global website traffic. This will also create a perfect base for you to work from when creating the desktop version.
3. Utilise free channels
If you have a limited budget, utilise free channels to promote your website. Instagram, Pinterest and Tik Tok have become powerful tools for self-promotion for digital marketing and used correctly can reach a large audience. Free channels can help you reach a large volume of people and will help you to boost sales by displaying your business as personable.
4. Learn the basics of SEO
It can take a long time to get to grips with content marketing, but it is worth spending a couple of hours learning the basics. Shopify has what you need to get started. You can create and submit a sitemap to optimising images for website speed, add relevant keywords to corresponding pages, add unique titles and meta tags to every page, the list goes on. You can then dive deeper into SEO as time goes on.
SEO will be an incredible tool to get your products or services seen. Optimising products to target specific keywords that people already search for will increase your organic traffic. This can all be boosted by incorporating practices, such as editing meta descriptions, and will lead to a higher click-through rate.
There are many ways you can learn the basics of SEO, including participating in online courses, or by receiving coaching sessions from an agency who will may give you advice to improve SEO.
5. Start small with your ambitions
Use what you can for free and learn all there is to know about e-commerce and the promotion of your website. By all means, aim big and use the knowledge you gain on your journey to reach the goals set for your business.
Try not to buy an abundance of stock that will get dusty as you struggle to sell it, start small and set realistic expectations along the way, your business will take time to grow. One day you will be able to look back at all of your achievements and how far you have come, but when you are first starting out, keep it realistic before scaling up and hiring more employees.
