5 Things You Need To Know Before Setting Up Your Shopify Store

Shopify is filled with a dozen setups, activations, installations, tests, etc. before you can make your store live. However, a few things need prior attention before setting up your Shopify store.

These aspects are severely avoided by folks considering launching their online store but carry a huge difference if implemented. Mobile-friendly websites, taxes and payment methods integration, SEO fundamentals, quality photography and paid domains are some of the most ignored aspects

This article will critically discuss five essential elements you need to know before setting up your Shopify store.

  1. Focus More on Mobile Version of Your Shopify Store:
    Do you know 79% of online sales are made from smartphones alone? And 92% of the users quote they encountered sites that were not mobile-optimized according to the Google website design 2022 report. Different devices and platforms view the same website in different ways. If your website is not optimized for smartphones or you have not enabled Accelerated mobile Pages (AMP) then your website may seem broken and unaligned with smartphones. Most of the eCommerce store owners aren’t centered on emphasizing mobile versions which significantly decreases the conversion rates. If you are developing a website yourself, give utmost importance to mobile web optimization or you can always consult expert web designers who are proficient in building mobile-optimized websites.
  2. Understand the Basics of SEO:
    Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the basics of attracting traffic, ranking, and eventually conversion into the store. According to Google, 44% of the users start their eCommerce journey by entering a Google search query. This lays an important emphasis on SEO as 23.6% of the eCommerce orders are linked to organic traffic. Thus, emphasize making your website user-friendly, easy navigation, and including relevant keywords in the meta description, title, alt text, etc.SEO remains an ever-green skill regardless of your profession. However, you can derive unlimited benefits when intake Shopify SEO tactics in your Shopify store. Thus, understand the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization and how your store can benefit from it. You can try these Shopify SEO strategies to rank and attract organic traffic and conversions:
    Use data-driven keyword research
    Inclusion of blogs
    Site speed optimization
    Enhance User Experience
    Create site map
    Add alt text to the image
  3. Setting Up Taxes and Multiple Payment Methods:
    As per national and international laws, taxes are an essential part of running a business. You must set up your tax details to make a sale in a particular region through particular means. However, failing to set up tax details, your store can face the consequences where you have to even limit the selling of your products. The types of taxes differ based on location, product type, and product price. Thus, research, where your product lies on the government, and taxes listicle and fill the information in the Shopify admin dashboard. Whereas, payment methods are a gateway to process your payments. Critically understand different payment methods and undertake the ones you think you’ll profit from the most. P.S - You should consider almost all popular payment methods so that the customer can execute the checkout process swiftly through any channel. Although understand different payment methods are popular in different locations most Asian countries prefer Cash on Delivery (COD) while North and South America prefers credit cards and other online payments.
  4. Set Up Quality Photography Assets:
    Clear, high-resolution images and videos are key to attracting customers. 87% of customers stated that they are more likely to initiate a purchase after they are convinced by the product images and videos. Thus, to ensure you have high-resolution, pixel-perfect images, it is a must to ensure you have quality photography assets. Assets like a camera, white backdrop, LED diffusers, canvas, etc. and a good product photography skill will help you clear one step of your Shopify store setup. Nonetheless, you can also consider hiring an expert product photographer who can be responsible for delivering pixel-perfect and polished images. This will help you get enough time to process your other business requirements. However, if you wish to set up your photography assets, consider:
    Camera
    Canvas
    Tripod
    Table
    Speed light
    Softbox
    Reflectors, etc.P.S - Do not go crazy on the camera and equipment listed here; only choose the ones you need the most. 
  5. Prioritize Paid Domain Over Free Domain:
    Shopify domain comes in two types- free domain and paid domain. The free domain looks like this: https://fashionbrand.myshopify.com while a paid domain looks like this: https://www.fashionbrand.com Paid Shopify domain tends to build trust, credibility, and authority into the brand as the user tends to remember the unique domain. However, if you are a newbie to eCommerce and want to build your sales before you spent extra pennies on the domain then do it now!
    Neither does it help you build credibility, authority, and trust but also helps in building SEO while in the free domain, your SEO efforts will towards Shopify’s main domain. You can start your journey with paid domains starting with as little as $20 a year.

    Conclusion:
    Before moving towards the Shopify store setup process, ensure you primarily focus on the abovementioned aspects. Centered upon the eCommerce space, these aspects are little to grab someone’s attention but if caught, can result in skyrocketing your store. However, spend your time researching what products you should sell that will drive immense conversions and sales. Also, focus on designing a simple, representative, and familiar website which is minimalistic and collectively elegant.
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