Shopify is an immensely popular platform for e-commerce businesses.
It’s intuitive, requires little to no coding knowledge, and is easy to get set up with. It’s simplistic approach also makes expansion more painless than other platforms. Website customization and design, inventory management, and more are just some of the features that Shopify offers that make it an excellent choice for starting and establishing your e-commerce business.
But exactly how do you get set up with Shopify?
This post will cover exactly that.
Signing up for Shopify
Signing up for Shopify is the first step.
The information they collect during this step will help them determine taxes, currencies, and exactly what the best way to establish and start your online e-commerce business will be.
Add Products
Once that’s done, then adding products will be the next option you can take. This is where things can get a little tedious. You can upload products en masse by using a CSV (comma-separated values spreadsheet), or you can do them manually, one-at-a-time. Either way is going to take some time and patience, but Shopify once again makes the process as simple as it can and walks you through it nicely.
They even offer a sample template if you want to use a spreadsheet to bulk import.
Theme Customization
One of the next things you can do is customize your theme.
As stated earlier, Shopify makes it very easy to build and customize your store website. They offer tons of themes you can use just for that purpose, both paid and free. A majority of them are also mobile responsive, which is a big bonus for your website.
Once your theme is selected, you can go in and further customize elements like font, color, layout, and more to make it unique and perfect for you.
Domain Name
Your domain name is the next important step.
You’ll have the option here of either transferring a domain name or using a new one, which you will have to pay for then.
Setting Up Payments
Setting up payment is the next step to take.
Shopify Payment is a great little tool: not only does it accept over 70 methods of payment, but it also nicely integrates with Amazon, Paypal, Google Wallet, and more!
Check & Double Check
Once all the above steps have been taken, double check your work.
Make sure that Google Analytics is set up properly so you can keep proper tabs on your store, and that everything is properly optimized for best SEO. If you’re unsure how to do that or exactly what that means, check out our post on effective Shopify SEO
Test Your Site
It is highly important to test your site out before you launch it to make sure everything is functioning properly and customers will be satisfied and able to easily navigate your site. Once everything is set up as effectively as possible and your site has been tested, then you’re ready to launch your brand new e-commerce website!
If this is all overwhelming for you, then don’t worry; you’re not alone!
The world of e-commerce can be incredibly tricky to navigate, and it can really help to have someone experienced to guide and help you.
Gapstow Design can do just that. We’ve been there, and can help navigate you through the world of e-commerce and help get your business wherever it needs to be.
Whether you want to sell through your own site, a hosted or self-hosted platform, or an online marketplace, Gapstow Design can help.
We offer a variety of services and packages to best suit the needs of your business.
