Should I switch to a new theme for my online store?

[KanderandKing]

Hello!

I'm in a bit of a conundrum and I'm a one women show so I'd love, love, love your feedback. My current store, kanderandking.com, is running on the Flourastore theme that is no longer being updated and is not a 2.0 theme. My current theme is kind of old but it works decent. I'm so tempted to switch themes to the Be Yours theme. I'd really love to upgrade but I want to add a lot more copy to my site and blocks and redo the style so it's going to take so much work and money and I just wonder if it's worth it at the moment. My brand is picking up but not steady customers. I have a ton of SEO work that needs to be done still and products that I'm trying to launch and create. My thinking was that I would work on SEO, products, advertising, and updating my current website to give a better customer experience. See how that goes...and if things do start picking up, I'd know that it would be worth investing in a new website....It's hard though to know what's best. It's been a very back and forth decision!! Any advice would be amazing.

Thank you for taking your time to help!

Kayley

[Sophia]

Hello, Kayley!

There are certainly advantages to updating your theme to one that's currently supported and that includes the newer Online Store 2.0 features.

From a customer standpoint, a theme update isn't necessarily a top priority. The store looks great as it is right now, so I don't think the current theme would be holding customers back from making a purchase. Are there any particular features you love about the Be Yours theme, or anything you feel is missing from your current theme?

Keep in mind that you can click "Try theme" to test it out with your content before committing to a purchase. Working on this theme in the background will not affect your current theme, so you can really take your time customizing it and making sure it's a good fit. Alternatively, you can play around with the free Online Store 2.0 themes if you want to take advantage of some of those features without investing in a new theme right away.

I think prioritizing SEO, along with products and advertising is a great idea. As you grow your audience, you might even be able to work a new store design into your marketing plan by letting customers know about it on your social channels (both leading up to the new design and announcing when it launches).

[KanderandKing]

Hello,

Thank you for your reply. It's much appreciated. There are definitely a lot of things that the new Be Yours theme has that I'd love like a rolling banner, sticky header, pre-order, overall ease of use. I find on my theme I need a lot of code changes, which I can't do myself. BUT it works for what I need. I think working on my SEO, ads, etc is where I need to focus my time in order to grow. 

Thanks again!

Kayley

[Sophia]

You're welcome, Kayley! 

Have you thought about using apps to include those features in your current theme? It's nice to have them all in one package, but you might be able to find a free banner app and/or pre-order app for the time being in the Shopify App Store.

I also wanted to share a few resources to help you out with what your'e working on in the meantime:

• Improving search engine optimization (SEO)
• guides on the Shopify Blog for ads (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
• Product Page Tune-Up: 9 Ways to Create High-Converting Product Pages