eCommerce sites have opened doors for everyone to sell their products and expand online. They come with different features and styles, allowing small businesses to connect with audiences all over the world.
But…
The wide variety of ecommerce platforms available today may not be a blessing for you as a business owner. You’ll find yourself stuck choosing from dozens of options. So that keeps you from deciding which one is best for your business.
Spoiler alert:
It’s Shopify.
Why Shopify?
In this guide, we’ll explain to you why Shopify is the best platform for your business. Then we’ll teach how to use it to start selling your products today.
Let’s dive right in.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is one of the best and easiest eCommerce site builders on the internet today. It allows you to launch an online store — then use it to promote and sell goods to worldwide audiences.
The platform comes with a user-friendly interface and awesome design styles. So that makes it an excellent choice for beginners who want to manage their own stores. It’s also a great option for business owners who want to maintain a professional visual identity for their brands.
Why Is Shopify the Best eCommerce Platform?
1- Shopify Ease of Use
Shopify has always been about ease-of-use. So, unlike many other platforms, it isn’t only built for expert developers but also for beginners.
The online selling giant allows anyone with basic knowledge on how to use a computer to run their site. And it helps average users sell their products through a user-friendly interface.
You can design your pages, add products, and process orders with a few clicks. Its drag-and-drop tools will help you save time and avoid hiring an expert any time you want to make a small edit on a web page.
More importantly:
You’re not required to do a lot of work to launch your site. And you don’t have to perform regular maintenance to keep it up.
In fact, most businesses never hire a developer to solve their technical problems. They can just solve their problems by contacting support.
2- Affordability of Shopify
Shopify offers all new users 2 weeks of free trial to try out all the features and get used to the interface. But that’s not the only reason why this platform is your best option in terms of affordability.
Here’s the deal:
Shopify’s basic plan only costs $29 per month, and it comes with a 10% discount on the annual plan. That allows you to create a fully functional online store with unlimited hosting, bandwidth, and products.
Thus, these fees are suitable for any small business that’s looking to grow with e-commerce.
You can check the whole pricing structure and the other plans on the official Shopify Pricing page.
3- Shopify Security
The days of armed-robbery have been replaced by hackers behind computers looking for data they can steal. Therefore, cybercrime has become a huge threat to businesses of all sizes.
Your eCommerce site holds sensitive customer information, including payment and contact details. So, the last thing you want happening to your store after the launch is getting hacked.
Your website needs to be hosted on a secure platform running on a safe system. And your software must stay updated with the latest security trends. You also need to save daily backups for your site to avoid losing your store data.
Guess which eCommerce platform does all that for you automatically?
Shopify!
It’s one of the safest eCommerce platforms today. Yet, the security team still launches new server upgrades and safety updates regularly.
4- Unlimited Themes
Shopify comes with outstanding design options developed to reflect a professional look for your business.
You can gain access to hundreds of free and premium themes created by design experts. All templates load fast and work on different screen sizes. So that makes an excellent choice for keeping visitors longer on your site.
This wide variety of themes will leave a long-lasting impression on your visitors and make your brand shine.
5- Scalability
For a business looking to grow in the short term, scalability is always a priority. Shopify offers you cheaper scaling solutions and better customer management options. And there doesn’t need to be any additional work involved.
You’ll be able to add as many products as you want with a few clicks on your admin panel. And can process all orders without much of a hassle.
More importantly:
Shopify’s strong servers and hosting packages can handle 4,000 checkouts per minute before throttling kicks in — and this figure’s more than 99.999% of all stores will ever see! That makes them suitable for global performance and ready to handle visitors from all over the world.
What about upgrades?
That is often unnecessary, considering that the basic plan is enough for most small businesses. But you can switch or upgrade your Shopify plan immediately at any time.
6- Technical Support
As a paying customer, you’ll gain access to 24/7 customer support via email, phone, or live chat. A qualified team of experts will be at your service to help you solve your problems and answer your questions.
Shopify also has a knowledge base with hundreds of short guides and tutorials, which you can use to solve smaller issues on your own.
But that’s not all…
There’s a large online community of store owners and web developers ready to help you fix your store problems. And you can find thousands of threads on Reddit and Quora — as well as YouTube tutorials with detailed solutions for any Shopify problem.
7- SEO-Friendliness
Google has been focusing for decades on providing the best user experience for their users. That explains why high-quality content, on-page SEO, site speed, and mobile-friendliness are key ranking factors for SEO.
Shopify follows Google’s vision by the book and hits all the SEO basics. So, the platform will cover most ranking factors for you. On top of that, it allows you to develop a content marketing strategy with its blogging feature.
There are also many Shopify apps you can use to further optimize your web pages.
8- Built In Marketing Tools
The end goal for your store is to sell more products and increase profits. Thus, any of the previous features wouldn’t matter if your store has zero sales.
Shopify understands that very well. Which is why they’ve included built-in marketing tools to help you grow your store.
For example:
All themes include social media icons allowing you to grow your social following and drive your marketing costs down.
Also:
You can integrate your products easily on many supported channels — including Facebook, Amazon, and Instagram. And you’ll be able to create discounts on your products and gift vouchers to generate more interest in your brand.
These are all key features to convert more sales and maximize your profits.
How Does Shopify Work?
As the leading eCommerce platform for small businesses, Shopify allows you to start selling your products with a few simple steps.
Here’s how it goes:
1- Create and Launch Your Store
You need to create a Shopify account to start your 14-day free trial. Be sure to fill the forms with your details and store information to finish launching your store.
Once your account is set up, Shopify will take you to the admin dashboard, where you can control your website.
From the top panel on the left of your screen, you can access different sections to manage your store. For example, you’ll find details about your orders, products, customers, analytics, and more.
Under Sales Channels, you can add new domains, create new pages, or publish blog posts for your visitors to read.
2- Design Your Website
You’ll be able to design your website using professional themes to reflect your brand image. All you need to do is find a free template to use on your store as a start.
Or…
You can purchase a premium theme from hundreds of templates in the store. Then, customize it using your own copy, logo, and images to fit your brand’s identity.
3- Add New Products
You must select the products you want to showcase in your store and add them to your database. Each page must contain specific details about your products — including product names, descriptions, images, pricing, etc.
4- Choose Your Payment Methods
You need to set up a payment system for your store while taking into consideration the audiences you’re selling to.
With Shopify, worldwide transactions aren’t something you have to worry about. The eCommerce giant supports more than 100 payment processors allowing you to accept payments from all over the world.
That includes PayPal, credit cards, bank deposits, and even cash on delivery.
5- Check Your Website Performance
This step is key to the success of your online store. Yet, it’s overlooked by business owners, which costs them thousands of dollars along the way.
Once your site is ready to go live, you have to test it on different devices and browsers. That helps you keep your store fast and mobile-friendly. Which is how you’ll ensure the best user experience for your prospective customers.
Make sure your site is fast enough to load within seconds after new visitors land on it. That’s key to increasing conversion rates and connecting prospects to your brand.
If you’re using free themes by Shopify or most of the top-rated premium themes, you don’t have to worry much about mobile-friendliness. However, it’s always good to test your site to be sure.
6- Drive Traffic
Then it’s all about traffic…
You need to market your store through different platforms and digital marketing strategies.
For example, you can use paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. Or maybe you’d prefer trying influencer marketing by paying a social media celebrity to promote your products.
Whatever strategy you choose, the main objective is to keep traffic coming to your site. That’s the only way to convert more customers and increase profits.
Bottom Line
Shopify is one of the best eCommerce platforms on the market today. It’s a great solution for all business owners looking to transform their brands and target wider audiences.
Although it’s not free, it remains one of the most reliable shopping platforms today. That makes it the ideal choice for your small business, considering the ease of use and all the excellent features it provides.
Need help launching your online business with Shopify or assistance with eCommerce SEO to grow your store online for more orders?
We’re here for your help! Don’t hesitate to contact us or give us a call at 773-789-8636.
