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How To Set Up A Shopify Account: The 11 Step Guide

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INTRODUCTION

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own Shopify ecommerce store? Maybe you already have an idea or product in mind but are still trying to navigate your way to building an online store to enhance your credibility. For beginners, creating an e-commerce store may seem like a daunting task especially since you have no basic programming skill required to build a website.

In this article we would be giving you a detailed 11 step guide to help you create your own store from start to finish. 

11 Steps On How To Set Up Your Shopify Store

Shopify has over 2 million active users and is very popular in the ecommerce sector. That means, it is a great platform to sell your product because of its very simple and straightforward structure.

 1 . Come up with Business Theme

2. Create Your Shopify Account

3. Pick and customize your theme

4. Add in your Products

5. Fill in other options related to your Products

6. Open your Products availability

7. Create a Product collection

8. Create Your store Homepage

9. Brand your Store

10. Select a Payment option

11. Create Your Custom Domain and Launch

1 . Come Up With A Business Theme:

Create A Business Plan

In this case your Business Theme comprises your business idea, name, logo and a list of products in case you haven’t done so. Right here is where you really need to think because this is what you are going to create your brand around. You definitely do not want to get it wrong here. 

2. Create Your Shopify Account :

This is simple and very easy to perform.  Shopify allows you to create an account with two set ups. No need to go through the stress of putting in your credit card details. You get to start with a free trail as this would help you keep your account up and running. To create your account;

  • Go to Shopify.com
  • Enter your Email address and start your 14 days trial
  • After your first trial you can get to choose a plan that suits you

3. Pick And Customize Your Theme:

Now that you have created your account and set up your store  you have to customize it in a more appealing way. You need to pick a Theme, although this part may be a little hard, it gets to do a whole lot of good to the look and feel of your website especially when you start putting in your product. When choosing a theme you need to have your product in mind.

4. Add In Your Products:

While adding in your products, you need to include a brief description or sample contents which includes:

  • A product title; this is very important part of your products and it has to be short, engaging and easy to remember.
  • Products Image; Here, you include a clear and attractive image with a background in which you can distinctly identify the products.
  • A brief description about your products that would attract them to the features and benefits they would get by buying it.
  • Pricing would help them know how much your product cost.

This would help your customers see all about your product with just a single look. To add in your Products;

  • Go to the ‘Product’ icon
  • Add in your Products

5. Fill in The Other Options Related To your Products:

Other options related to your products include inventory and shipping. They are very essential to keep the flow in your business going. Inventory helps to monitor your products so that when you run out of products Shopify knows how to handle it. You need to center your product information, location of your products and product type (whether it is physical or digital). You can also set up a location if you have the head office or branches of your store. If you can ship your products to different countries you may want to include a shipping fee. You can also include a meta description and URL so that your products are easily accessible through search engines.

6. Open Your Product Availability:

When you are done setting up your product you may also want to set up product availability or activation. This makes your products open to everyone. To do this;

  • Click on the ‘Product Status’ icon at the top right corner of the page

You can do this when using your Shopify Store to advertise on other platforms.

7. Create A Product Collection:

When you have added a few products to your store, now it is time to organize your products into a similar store collection. Doing this will help you compile your collections on the store’s homepage and help customize a URL that would aid navigations through your catalog in order to access your products. To organize your products:

  • Go to ‘Products’
  • Click on ‘Collection’ and then ‘Create’
  • On the ‘Collection Bar,  enter Title description 

You can create a collection manually or automatically 

8. Create Your Store Homepage:

Your Home page is what your customers would see first when they get to your page. You have to create a page that complements your products. For this page what you need to create is the: 

  • ‘About me’ page
  • FAQ 
  • Privacy Policy 
  • Contact me
  • Blog post (optional)

To create your Homepage all you need to do is:

  • Go to ‘Online store’
  • Click on ‘Page’
  • Click ‘Add page’

To create a new blog post for your store all you need to do is:

  • Go to ‘Online store’
  • Click on ‘Blog post’
  • Click  ‘Create Blog Post’. You can create a short introductory blog post to welcome people to your store

Privacy policy takes into consideration the terms or use of your products, services and brand. You may also include shipping policy, return or cookie policy.

9. Brand Your Store:

This is where you create a brand with every resource or business Theme you have got. You can add in your logo, fonts and theme. To add in your logo:

  • Go to ‘Online store’
  • Click ‘Theme’
  • Customize and check header, a new page will open and you can add in your logo.

For your logo you have to make them creative by using images, symbols and letters with colors that fit with your brand.

10. Select A Payment Option:

This option would help you accept payments for your products. There are so many payment options to choose from including a Shopify payment plan. The Shopify payment plan has quite an advantage to Newbie who just opened an account because it is easy to set up and has zero transaction fee attached. The only downside is that it is only accepted in a few countries. In a case where it is not accepted in your region, you have to go with a third party option.

11. Create Custom Domain and Launch:

Now that you have followed all due processes and set up your Shopify Store the right way. What is left is to create a custom domain that is specific to your store. Shopify grants users a general domain name. You can set up a custom URL with ‘Your business name’.com. You may also use Shopify to buy a domain name and connect it to your store or you may decide to separate both. Now you can test run all aspects of your store to ensure that all is working well. Ensure to check for typos in your titles and descriptions. Also check for broken links and legal notice. When you are done with all that, you may begin to work towards your launch.

SUMMARY

Your Shopify Store may be your ticket to being a successful digital entrepreneur by connecting you to thousands of customers and giving you access to tools that would help you manage and track your products.