Why is my Shopify store not making any sales?

TLB1
Excursionist
15 0 2

I've launched my Shopify  store since July 23rd and until today I got zero sale. This is really discouraging and expensive and I don't know what to do. Quitting is not an option because I'm not quitting on my dreams but I just wonder if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm missing in the back end of my store. Please someone help me please! I've done so many advertisements on Facebook, Instagram and google (spent over $1000 on ads). 

Please help!

Replies 5 (5)

Moira
Shopify Staff
2040 223 323

Hey @TLB1,

Not making sales can be super disheartening, but there's always a way to help influence those sales. I'll work through a couple of things with you now, and if you need some more assistance, please don't hesitate to reply with any questions you have!

You mentioned that you've been posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. This is a really good idea, as these 3 platforms have access to millions of potential customers, just waiting to buy your products! When using these platforms for your marketing, there's more to it than just posting updates or trying to spend money. You need to dig deeper into who your customers may be, where they are from, and potentially their age. We have a great program called Shopify Learn, which has free courses on different ways to be successful with your business. Take a look at our Facebook marketing course for more ideas:

I’d also highly recommend looking into Facebook Blueprint where you can discover online learning courses, training programs, and certifications that can help you get the most out of Facebook marketing platforms:

What steps have you taken to improve your search engine ranking so far? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of getting pages to rank higher in search engines such as Google. Because search is one of the main ways in which people discover content online, ranking higher in search engines can lead to an increase in traffic to a website. Here are some steps that will definitely help you improve your store search engine ranking:

  • Rename the image - When uploading an image to your store, make sure to rename the image with a descriptive file name that will relate to the product in the image. By doing this, the search engine can understand what the image is related to.

  • Use keywords - Search engine filter searches using keywords and so make sure these keywords appear in your page titles, image ALT text (good for people who have visual impairment), meta descriptions, and page's content. Here is a guide on how to add keywords to your store.

  • Search | Wordtracker - Use this Keyword Tool to help you find the most popular keyword searches for your products 

  • Meta descriptions - Products, Collections, and Pages all have meta descriptions that you’re able to customize yourself, in the Edit website SEO section at the bottom of their admin pages.

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  • SEO description - There are a couple of things that you should keep in mind in order to have an SEO description that ranks well. You want to write the description as if you’re writing it to a potential customer, touching on descriptive words about the product and its use. A lot of the time merchants list keywords without any structure, thinking the more keywords the better - but this is not the case. We have a great blog post with further detail on this.

  • Submit your site map to Google - All Shopify stores generate a sitemap, a site map contains all links to your products, product images, pages, collections, and more. The search engine uses a sitemap to suggest your site so that your store's pages appear in search results. To enable the said feature here is a video on how to verify your site with Google and submit a sitemap.

I've thrown a lot of resources your way, and there are many more available at your fingertips! For me to provide more curated feedback, would you mind sharing your website URL in your reply? This way I can take a look at your store directly and cater suggestions.

I look forward to hearing from you and watching your store succeed!

Moira | Social Care @ Shopify
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TLB1
Excursionist
15 0 2

Hi @Moira 

Thank you so much for your reply, those were some valuable information. I've already started on implementing some of them. I started with the Google console but I ran into some problems. I got to the sitemap section but after doing it I'm message "couldn't fetch". I included a short video clip and a link to my Shopify store below.

https://thebennettsclub.com/ 

Thank you so much

 

Moira
Shopify Staff
2040 223 323

@TLB1,

Great work on implementing the Google channel and submitting your sitemap. Recently, Google updated its search console and modified some of its features. However, users have experienced errors in both new and old versions of Google search console, sometimes appearing as sitemap status 'couldn’t fetch'. The existence of bugs in programming is inevitable but below I will discuss the reasons behind this error and how to fix it:

Typo Error:

Firstly ensure there is no typo in your URL, which should read as shown below:

Find out if the sitemap can be fetched:

In the new search console, you can type in your website’s URL to see if it’s indexed or not. If the URL is indexed you will see the “URL is on Google” message. If it’s not indexed or you want your URL to be re-indexed, simply click on “Request Indexing” so Google’s crawler review your URL again.

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Although this feature will never show your sitemap as indexed. Because we use noindex tag in sitemaps to prevent this from happening. But with Inspect URL you can see if the sitemap is able to get fetched.

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To do so, first, type in your sitemap’s URL. Once you see that Google hasn’t indexed the URL, click on “Live Test”. A new page will appear where it tells you due to noindex tag, the map cannot be indexed. Scroll down until you see “Page fetch”. If it says “Successful” then it means your sitemap’s status is still pending and the 'couldn’t fetch' sitemap error is just a bug.

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What if sitemap status 'couldn’t fetch' wasn’t a bug?

Sometimes it may not be a Google bug and truly your sitemap could not be read. In this case, open your sitemap and make sure the content within it is indeed accessible. You can also use Google sitemap validator tools to make sure the sitemap fits Google criteria.

A great Google sitemap validator tool is XML Sitemap Validator. As a website to review your sitemap’s format, this tool will tell you if you have used the proper formatting for your sitemap. Also, some plugins can block Google’s access to your web pages. You have to review your plugins and make sure they are not blocking Google.

If you have any questions please feel free to thread those below!

Moira | Social Care @ Shopify
- Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know!
- Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
- To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

TLB1
Excursionist
15 0 2

Thank you so much, I'll definitely look into these and hopefully start driving some sales soon.

 

Moira
Shopify Staff
2040 223 323

Our pleasure @TLB1 , don't hesitate to reach back out if you require any further assistance as you continue to work on your store. 

All the best,

Moira | Social Care @ Shopify
- Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know!
- Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
- To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog