Before you spend $$$$ on ads, make sure your store looks professional and trustworthy!

[Aria]

Hey, friends!

Aria here, I'm on the Social Care team at Shopify.

Providing feedback on stores is a big part of what we do in the Forums community. We want to give you as much help as we can to set you up for success. We know a trustworthy, professional-looking store will have a much bigger chance of converting your traffic into sales.

Take a look below at common feedback we provide to store owners. When you’ve had a chance to apply these tips to your store, you can, of course, start your own thread to request feedback personalized to your business. Shopify staff are always happy to help you out, as well as Shopify Partners and experienced entrepreneurs who have been there and know what it's like to be starting out.

Spelling and Grammar

It might seem like common sense but the spelling and grammar on your store should be pretty much perfect if you’d like to look like a professional business. If this is not your strong point, make sure you ask friends or family members to proof-read everything for you.

This blog post goes over more copywriting mistakes we often see on stores.

A Well-Designed Logo

We see a lot of stores where there is standard text in the logo space in the header. Having a great logo will help to define your brand. If your budget allows, you can hire a graphic designer. There are a lot of them available on our Shopify Experts Marketplace. To give yourself options, you could also run a design contest on 99Designs. A more budget-friendly option is to hire someone from Fiverr. Just like our Experts Marketplace, you will be able to see examples of their work so you will have an idea if they can design something to fit in with your brand image. If you're truly trying to bootstrap your store right now, you can also just design your own logo for free using Hatchful (Shopify's own logo designer tool) or Canva.

Menus and Links

If you are selling a lot of products, make sure they are sorted into Collections for easy organization. You will then be able to use them to link to your menus in your Navigation as well as display them on your homepage as a Featured Collection or as part of a Collection List. Most Themes have the ability to do this included in the theme editor. Dropdown menus can help keep your Navigation tidy.

Product and Collection Images

In most cases, it looks best if your product and collection images are all the same size. Square images are usually best, although that does depend on what you are selling.

Your product and collection images can be any size up to 4472 x 4472 px, or 20 megapixels. They need to have a file size smaller than 20 MB to be added to Shopify.

High-resolution photos look more polished and professional to your customers. For square product images, 2048 x 2048 px usually looks best.

Shopify has an in-built Image Editor or you can check out this guide for instructions on how to edit images on a Mac or this one for editing using a PC.

If you are selling your own products and would like to arrange professional product images, I recommend POW (Product On White) Photography. I’ve used them myself, it was a straight forward process and it’s cost-effective. They even have a free trial.

Slider Images

Slider images are optional. A lot of stores do use them to display lifestyle images of their products, to advertise promotions or to add additional information. One of our Third-Party theme developers, Out of the Sandbox wrote a great blog post, 12 Ways to use the Slideshow Section in your Shopify Theme.

As with product images, it's important your slider images are all the same size so that they flow well.

Alternatively, you can just use one static image. Landscape orientation is best. Use high-resolution images. The ideal size varies, depending on the theme you are using. For Brooklyn, it's recommended to use images that are 3840 x 2160 px or larger, without exceeding Shopify's upload limits. If you're using a different theme, head over to the Shopify Theme Store to find the documentation for your theme:

If you're looking for images for your store and don't want to pay a photographer to create them when you're just starting out, you can always consider using royalty-free images. Check out Burst, Shopify’s own stock photos website. You can find lots of other options as well as some great inspiration in our blog post, 22 Amazing Websites with Stunning Free Stock Images.

Contact Us Page

In order to build trust with your customers, it’s vital they can get a fast answer to their questions. This will give them the confidence you will also respond quickly if they have an issue with their order. The more contact options you can provide, the more trustworthy you will appear as a business. Here are a few options to consider:

• A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. This is a great tool for answering questions upfront which will reduce the need for your customers to contact you. They are likely to want to know your returns policy, shipping information (where do your products ship from, how long is it likely to take, where do you ship to, how much does it cost?), sizing information (if appropriate) and more. Your FAQ is something you can build on as your business progresses and you get used to the questions your customers ask.
  
  
• A phone number. A lot of small businesses don’t like including this but since many customers still like reaching out the old fashioned way, it’s worth considering. You may be able to get a cheap plan on a cell phone for business only or you can sign up for an online phone number that redirects. A phone number becomes more important when you are selling high-value products.
  
  
• A mailing address/physical address. This one, in my opinion, is non-negotiable. Customers want to know where your business is located. The absence of an address makes your store look anonymous. Customers will also be more likely to be confident they can return merchandise when things go wrong if it’s clear where they can return it to. If you’re not comfortable using your home address, you can rent a suite address from UPS, rent a PO Box or sign up for an online service such as Anytime Mailbox.
  
  
• Social Media. You don’t have to be on every Social Media platform but make sure you have a presence where your customers are. When you’re starting out, 2 platforms are a good start. Most businesses should have a Facebook presence since 79% of internet users are on Facebook. Twitter is great for building a community around your brand. Instagram is essential for visual products and YouTube is fantastic for demonstration video’s and unboxing video’s, although it’s the most labour intensive to set up. A lot of customers will now head straight to Social Media to get in touch with a business instead of utilizing more traditional methods of communication. Make sure you respond to all comments and engage with your following to help build your brand. Check out the free courses on Shopify Academy which include Instagram Marketing and Facebook ads. Put your Social Media links in your footer to encourage people to follow you. To do this, go to Online Store > Themes > Customize > Theme Settings > Social Media.
  
  
• Email. Never include your actual email address on your store since bots will often scan websites for email addresses to spam businesses. Instead, you can use an email form. This will look more professional and will simplify the process for your customers since they won’t have to open their email account to contact you.
  
  
• Shopify Chat. This is a quick, easy and free way for your customers to get in touch with you. You can also utilize it to upsell other products and add a truly personal touch to the shopping experience.

Social Proof 

Visitors are more likely to turn into customers if they can see others love your brand and products. 

Types of Social Proof:

• Popularity: Social Media pages with a high following will automatically grab more attention. Social Count by Pix is an app that can add a live count of your followers to your Social Media icons on your footer.
  
  
• Public Praise: Ask your customers for feedback and display that feedback on your store, as well as on your Facebook Page. You can use the free Product Reviews app. Encourage your customers to take photo’s of your product in use and tag you on Social Media. You can use the generated content on your own Instagram feed. Make sure your brand hashtag is displayed in your Instagram bio.
  
  
• Endorsements: As a new brand, Social Media influencers can seem out of reach on a small marketing budget. That’s where Micro-Influencers come in. It’s worth starting your own Affiliate program to encourage them to post regularly. 
  
  
• Proof of Demand: Include information about your sales in your copywriting to encourage more demand for your product:

 

For more ideas, check out While Supplies Last: How to Use Scarcity and Urgency to Increase Sales. Just don’t overdo it. If you’re using a countdown timer in addition to fake sales flashing up in the corner, it is more likely to turn people off. A subtle approach will be more effective.

Popups

Use only one popup on your store. Any more than that and you will frustrate your customers. Your popup should be a valuable addition to your site. Use it to encourage visitors to join your mailing list and/or follow you on Social Media. It’s worth offering an incentive, such as a discount code or a promise that email subscribers will be the first to hear of special offers, product launches, etc. You could also offer to enter them into a draw to win a product or gift card.

Some people like to have a popup which appears soon after visitors arrive on their website. As a shopper, I personally don’t like this method. If a popup interrupts my browsing experience, I’m more likely to get frustrated and will sometimes even leave the site. I’m fine with an exit popup that appears as I’m leaving anyway. If I enjoyed browsing the site, I’m more likely to respond to the call to action to be kept informed and reminded about the brand. Coupon Pop and Poptin are good options for creating useful popups.

About Us Page

Your About Us page is a valuable opportunity to sell your customer on your story, your vision, your mission, and what makes you who you are. Use it to highlight the biggest selling points of your brand. Check out The Untapped Potential of About Us Pages (and How to Write Your Own).

Your Blog

Your store's blog is a great opportunity to add value beyond your product. Use it to drive traffic to your website and boost your SEO. For inspiration, take a look at 8 Brilliant Blogs Run by Ecommerce Stores (And What You Can Learn From Them.

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If you’d like some feedback for your own store, please start a new thread here.