5 Tips for Shopify success

The question is, how do you maximise your success?

Here are several tips that many other store owners find useful:

1. Develop a good UX

It all starts with having a good user experience (UX). Customers are spoiled by simple and compelling online experiences from big e-commerce stores. If you don’t have an intuitive and clean store that people can easily navigate and purchase from, you won’t have a store at all.

Developing a good UX may require you to work with a custom developer to flesh out some of the nuances like themes, apps, and integrations. Don’t be afraid to partner with other professionals!

As you figure out the right UX, pay especially close attention to mobile-friendliness. In 2016, just 52 per cent of all e-commerce revenue was mobile. Today, it’s closer to 73 per cent. If you want to reach buyers, you must have a good mobile UX. Work with your developer to get this right!

2. Use the right integrations

One of the greatest parts about Shopify is how customisable the platform is. There are thousands of different plugins and integrations you can use to improve your site’s functionality and engage your audience. The key is to select the right ones.

One integration you absolutely need is some sort of email marketing system. Whether it’s Constant Contact, AWeber, or one of the dozens of other systems out there, integrating your chosen platform into your store allows you to collect lead information and send out targeted campaigns (including automated cart abandonment sequences).

Other integrations include countdown timers, social networking integrations that let people leave reviews, POS software for tracking inventory, dropshipping marketplaces, etc.

3. Build multiple traffic streams

You can have the most beautiful Shopify store on the internet, but it’s worthless without traffic. And rather than hitch 100 percent of your hopes and dreams on a single traffic source, we recommend targeting as many different ones as you can. A diversified traffic strategy will ensure you never go without targeted shoppers. This may include:

• PPC ads Paid ads work well because they allow you to target a very specific type of buyer. And since you only pay when someone clicks, it’s a fairly cost-effective way to generate new customers.

• Email promotions The money is in the list. If you want to create loyal customers and lower your cost per acquisition, building an email list is the way to go.

• Referral traffic Find strategy referral partners and create enticing incentives for them to direct traffic to your website. This could come in the form of free advertising on your website, affiliate commissions, or some other perks.

• Direct traffic This is the holy grail of traffic. If you can get people to search for your website and/or show up prominently in the organic search process, you’ll be amazed by how much traffic you can actually generate on a weekly basis.

Traffic is obviously the difficult part. However, if you spend the time and energy required to win in this area, your store will succeed.

4. Get good at content creation

It doesn’t matter if it’s PPC ads, email promotions, referral partnerships, or direct traffic, content is the key to the ignition. You need to become proficient at producing high-quality content if you want to attract the right traffic.

Don’t have time to get good at content? There are plenty of freelancers and copywriting services out there. Make sure you hire someone who has good direct response copy skills. This is where you’ll get the most value.

5. Test, analyse, iterate

Ecommerce is always in flux. Today’s best practices are tomorrow’s failed strategies (and vice versa). The only way to keep your store competitive over the long run is to develop an obsession with testing, analysing, and iterating. Thankfully this is fairly easy to do. Shopify has some good built-in analytics that allow you to study what’s happening on your site. The hard work lies in interpreting the data and making the right changes.

Launch your own successful Shopify store

Building a successful Shopify store requires patience, strategy, vision, and persistence. It’s rare that someone builds a six- or seven-figure Shopify business overnight. In most cases, it takes months or years of hard work and commitment. But if you implement the tips highlighted in this article, you can flatten the learning curve and accelerate your results. Ready, set, go!