Thinking of setting up your online business? Well! Shopify got you covered with diversified services on one platform. Selling online is now a cakewalk for even small business owners with the employment of the Shopify platform. You can readily give way to your game-changing idea that recently struck your mind. All you need to do is to grasp the potential of Shopify and understand its effective functioning method.
This article will fill you in with essential information about the Shopify platform. Moreover, we will provide a comprehensive step-by-step guide to build an effective eCommerce website.
What is Shopify?
It is a constructive software working as per SaaS (Software as a Service) model, that comes with a reasonable cost. It helps merchants &business owners to amplify or initiate their sales process via product/service specific websites.
How much does it cost?
It offers its subscription to the customers via five plans catering to the specific requirements of every merchant. The prices mentioned below are as of February 2022.
- Shopify Lite – The plan costs you around 9 USD per month.
- Shopify Basic – It will cost you 29USD on monthly basis.
- Shopify Plan – This plan is most popular among customers, available at 79USD per month.
- Shopify Advanced – It will cost you 299USD per month, ideal for established businesses with voluminous sales.
- Shopify Plus – It’s a flexible plan for the enterprise-grade processes that start with 2000USD per month. It might vary with the volume of sales included in your business.
With this wide-ranged pricing to serve every Lite to Plus need, the plans are worth the money. Their reasonable prices will find you more value on a long-term basis. You get the simplistic User Interface to set up the account and add products for selling. The time you save while building your online store can be utilized for other productive tasks.
How to sign up for Shopify?
Let us walk through the process of signing up for the Shopify platform.
Step-1: Go to the official Website of Shopify.
Step-2: Tap on the “Start” and click the “Start your Business” button. It will ask you for some related information.
Step-3: Fill in the Email and tap “Start Free Trial”. The next Shopify screen will ask you to create a password. (You can always upgrade the plan when the sign-up is complete.)
Step-4: Feed the details about your business, like sales planning, revenue, etc.
Step-5: On completing, you can click on the next, and it will ask you about the business whereabouts. Fill in the owner’s name, business address, Phone No., etc.
All the information is used to manage the currency and taxes while keeping you informed about any future complications.
Managing the Online Store
Add or update the Shopify Products
After the proper sign-up process, you will land on your admin page for the website. You can add the products here by clicking on the “Add a Product” button. This page will allow you to fill in the details, picture, description, title, vendor, etc. Then save the product details. Keep the title and descriptions of the products crisp and catchy, which should conform with the displayed pictures.
Make sure to upload high-quality images with “alt text” wherever possible. The product appearance is what compels the viewers to become your customers.
You can arrange the groups of products or categorize them as per the needs. For example, clothing stores categorize as the Men, Women, and Children sections. The more you keep product inventory organized, the more customers you earn.
Visual Appearance of Website
The significant thing to have in your mind is “That looks better, Sells better”. Apply the same to your online store where the appearance of your website matters. It provides the options to modify the subtle changes, including colors of Line, Navigation link, text, Heading text, background, etc.
Click on the “Customize Theme” button to make visual changes that would prove to be the catalyst in lead conversions. Make the site comfortable by making modifications in the look with the following options.
- Logos
- Color Schemes
- Fonts
- Carousel Slides
- The “Related Items” tab
You get the pre-planned free themes which is an extra perk for those who don’t want to spend time on the customization process. Furthermore, the available premium themes are more appealing and tactically designed for specific requirements. It would be wise to have an X-factor for your website and pay a little extra for getting those detailed themes.
Moreover, the Shopify Experts community provides the help of professionals who specifically manage the themes, email marketing, descriptions, etc.
Set Up the Domain with Shopify
The setting up of the domain system makes your website live and official for online searches. Click on the “Add a Domain” button. You have to choose between the domain transfer or register a new one. Then, pick the necessary options and purchase the desired domain. Otherwise, Shopify allows adding the already purchased domain to Shopify by updating the DNS records.
Payments Activation
For the activation, simply click on the Payments tab listed to the left of Dashboard. Select the preferred payment processors from the list and walk through the steps to complete the registration. Make an informed decision while choosing the gateway, considering transaction fees and supported card types.
Click on the “Launch Website” button, after completing all the above necessary steps. It will successfully make your online store live and commence your online venture. You need to be more wary and thorough after the launch. Effective online marketing and promotion of your site will be the next objective.
Here are some points of how you can reinforce your marketing strategies.
- Create web pages on your site for Content & Blogs. Here create relevant blogs and lure the audience for better lead conversions. Shopify offers the provision of built-in Blog software, which can considerably benefit the sales.
- Email Marketing
- Create Social Media Accounts with apt business Information and Products descriptions.
- Advertise on the various sites, utilize Google Ads.
Looking for an easier option than Shopify?
While Shopify is a popular option to create your e-commerce website, there are other cheaper and reliable choices as well. A digital marketing agency can help you do the same at a much lesser cost along with advanced domain knowledge. When you create a website on your own, you may miss out on several aspects that a domain expert can help you with.
Spanrig is a leading digital marketing agency that can help you create an e-commerce website with advanced stability and performance. Contact us today to know more details about our services.
