In recent years, Shopify has grown to be one the market leaders in providing e-commerce facilities for a diverse range of businesses. It was founded in 2006 by Tobias Lutke and Scott Lake after they discovered that there was a distinct lack of existing e-commerce facilities when they attempted to set up an online snowboarding equipment company.
Lutke, who was previously a professional coder, decided to create his own online platform to create the online store and then subsequently launched this to give other entrepreneurs the tools they needed to sell online. Today, in 2023, over two million online stores rely on the technology and applications that are provided on Shopify to trade effectively in the digital marketplace.
Whether you’re a young entrepreneur or an experienced businessperson who’s looking to broaden their business portfolio, building a Shopify-powered site could be the ideal way to generate additional streams of revenue. However, it should be recognized that the e-commerce marketplace becomes more competitive every year as more businesses enter the world of online selling.
If you’re planning to open your first Shopify site, or simply want information to allow your existing store to become more profitable, this article will be of significant value. In it, some of the key ways that you can make your Shopify site stand out in the crowded online marketplace will be explored in detail.
As a first point, it’s of paramount importance that you’ve got a deep understanding of the target market you intend to sell to and who your existing key competitors are. Put simply, if you don’t have access to this information, you may start selling products without realizing that there’s insufficient additional demand, as existing and well-established companies are already saturating the market with similar offerings. A lack of sufficient market research can also lead to the creation of products or services that are simply not wanted or needed by the intended target market. This can lead to a loss of time and money and can be extremely demoralizing for the business owner.
Ensure that your market research is completed before you take the first steps to set up your Shopify store. A good starting point is to go to Google Trends and undertake some preliminary market research on the platform. Google Trends can provide valuable insight into what billions of web users are searching for and can be effective in helping you to determine if there’s sufficient existing demand for your business idea.
In addition, consumer research sites such as Mintel marketing have a wealth of resources on consumer behavior and recent trends in business and commerce. Finally, it can be valuable to look at existing Shopify-powered sites from the perspective of a potential customer. Think about what works well on the site and what could be improved. Use this information when you come to design your site so that it’ll appeal to your target audience.
Your Shopify-powered site will need to follow the best practices of web design in terms of how it performs with established search engine optimization (SEO) guidelines. Search engines such as Google use a complex range of criteria to determine the authority and trustworthiness of websites and adherence to these standards has a direct impact on where a site will rank after organic searches are made by potential customers. In short, the better the site’s SEO, the higher it will rank.
However, modern SEO techniques that adhere to the best practice that’s required by search engines can be complex and time-consuming. If you’re struggling to write authoritative content for your site or need advice on how to gain more backlinks and become recognized as a high-ranking e-commerce site, it can be beneficial to speak with industry experts such as www.clickintelligence.com.
SEO and web experts can help you create outstanding pages for your online shop that’ll allow you to gain improved search page rankings over time. It should be recognized that over fifty percent of all click throughs from web searches are limited to the top three search results. This should indicate how important it is to rank on the first page of specific search results.
Before your Shopify site goes live online, it’s vitally important to do some preliminary promotional activities that are designed to raise interest and excitement in your new e-commerce company.
‘An excellent way to achieve this is to produce short “teaser” adverts that are placed on social media channels such as Instagram or TikTok. Over half of the world’s population use social media on a regular basis and the various sub-channels on social media sites can be the ideal way to target millions of potential customers who’ve already got an interest in the product or service that you intend to supply. Put out short, but memorable promotional videos in the weeks leading up to your site’s launch and remember to include your shop’s web address in these promotions. Click here for more information on how to promote effectively on social media channels.
One of the most important factors for new customers who visit your site with the intention of making a purchase is that they’re dealing with a trusted and reputable site. A key way to illustrate this is to include a range of customer reviews on a testimonials page of your online shop.
Satisfied customers who’ve had an enjoyable and trouble-free shopping experience can help to grow your business as their testimonials are a clear indication that the site is professionally run. Customer reviews can be incentivized by offering previous customers money-off coupons at the checkout after they’ve left a review on your site.
As a final point, offering free shipping on goods ordered from your Shopify store can be a perfect way to entice both new and existing customers to make purchases. It may not make sense to offer this feature for very cheap products as it wouldn’t be profitable, but for all items over a specific price point, free shipping should be considered.
In short, consumers love the concept of free shipping as it ensures that there are no unexpected additional costs when they get to the online checkout. Another option is to offer free shipping for premium customers or those who spend over a certain threshold in a specific period.
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