Do you want to create an online store? Creating an online store is pretty easy these days, thanks to platforms like Shopify. Shopify offers an easy-to-use web-based website builder, marketing and SEO features, eCommerce analytics, and more—just about everything you need to start an online store.
But, if you want your online store to be successful, it takes more than just putting up a website.
Check out these 4 tips for creating your first Shopify store.
Choose a Niche and Define Your Target Audience
Before you start creating your Shopify store, you first need to decide what you’re going to sell and who your target audience is. Choosing a niche for your online store will give it more focus and it will be easier to market your store to your target audience.
For instance, if you sell pet products, makeup, and men’s watches, your online store will be all over the place and you’ll have multiple different target audiences. But, if you stick with one niche like pet products, your online store will be easier to manage and market to potential customers.
So, decide your niche and then figure out who your exact target audience is. For example, if you sell luxury pet products, the monthly income of your target audience will be higher. You need to work out these details so that you know as much about your target audience as possible.
To help you define your target audience in detail, fill out a buyer persona (also known as a customer avatar) template like the one from Digital Marketer below.
When you know exactly who you’re selling to, it’ll be much easier to encourage them to buy from you.
Build Your Shopify Store
Now, it’s time to actually create a website for your online store. The first step is to set up an account with Shopify. After creating your account, Shopify makes it easy to set up your store. Follow the steps they provide to name your store, add your products, set up payments, and more.
One of the most important steps is designing the look of your online store. The appearance of your online store is important. In fact, according to HubSpot, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive.
So, if you want visitors to your online store to stick around and shop, your website needs to be visually-appealing. Luckily, Shopify makes this easy by providing a number of stunning free and paid themes you can use.
Choose a Shopify theme that works for your brand. For instance, the themes below are great for a minimalist look.
After building your store, it’s time to add some extra features with Shopify apps.
Add More Power with Shopify Apps
Shopify apps are similar to WordPress plugins, some are free and some are paid. You can add Shopify apps to your store to help you drive more traffic to your site, provide a better customer experience, generate more sales, and much more.
There are a number of Shopify apps you should get for your online store, here are a few of the best ones:
- Plug in SEO – This Shopify app helps you find SEO issues on your website so that you can increase traffic to your online store.
- WPForms – Your customers need a way to contact you. With WPForms you can create contact forms and other online forms for your online store.
- TrustPulse – Social proof is a way to build trust with online shoppers. TrustPulse is a social proof notifications app that displays real-time stats of activity on your website such as email signups and purchases.
- Facebook Live Chat – If you want your store to be successful, you need to provide great customer service. Facebook Live Chat lets you offer live chat to your customers via Facebook.
There are tons of other Shopify apps you can use to add more power to your store and each online store will require different features. Decide the features your Shopify store needs and choose your Shopify apps accordingly.
Promote Your Online Store
Once your online store is completed, it’s time to sit back and watch the traffic and the sales start rolling in, right? Not so fast! If you want a lot of people to check out your online store, they need to know it exists. So, you need to promote your online store.
If you’re just starting out though, you probably don’t want to spend a bunch of money on advertising. Don’t worry, there are a number of ways to promote your online store without breaking the bank.
For example, you can promote your online store on social media. Take a look at this Instagram post from Rhone, a Shopify store that sells activewear for men.
The post includes a stunning shot of their activewear in action as well as relevant, branded hashtags.
There are a number of other ways to promote your online store. Consider creating an online contest. If you sell products on your online store, you probably have some good prizes to give away. You can also use blogging and guest posting to reach new audiences as well.
Over to You
That’s it! With these tips for creating your first Shopify store, you’re well on your way to running a successful business. So, if you’ve got a great idea for an online store, start building it today.
