What’s the use in running an online store, if your products aren’t selling?
It all starts with the theme you choose (or choose to have built). A good theme can do wonders for your online business and will make the difference between products sailing off the shelf and a stagnant product line.
How do you nail down the perfect theme? Start with following these five tips for choosing a Shopify theme.
Learn where to find Shopify Themes
There are hundreds of Shopify themes, the marketplace can be overwhelming. On top of having their own marketplace there are places like ThemeForest and Envato Market that stock themes for download and purchase. We suggest you start with a search dependent on your industry. For instance the top Shopify themes for clothing or the top shopify themes for toys, this will bring up results for curated theme lists. If you see a theme that catches your eye, click off and explore.
Feel out the Shopify theme
We’ve seen too many businesses pick a theme without thoroughly testing out the functionality. This often leads to extra coding work, which delays launch because it requires reverse engineering.
When you land on the theme page, always click out to the live preview. Test all versions of the theme but stick to the one that feels the most like your store. You want to look for a theme that delivers the most check marks without extra work.
Always evaluate displays of:
- Discounts
- Reviews
- Pricing
- Product Spacing
- Navigation
- CMS Pages (Interior pages)
- Quick view functionality
- Display header capability on products
- Product layout
- How quantities are determined
- Sharing social buttons
- Space for ads and CTAs
- Search
- Blog layout
Find a theme that meets your abilities
Many of the themes you come across will have multiple versions, these sections are built to be easily switched out add in your branding and products. Consider how you're product line and overall brand will fit into the design of the front page, this after all will be the first page many visitors see. Then you need to consider things like if you have a graphics person who can take on image manipulation to meet the demands of the theme, if you don't them you need a simple image based theme.
Don't forget about internal CMS pages
Some businesses use Shopify for their entire website, and some use it for their store. If you are using Shopify as your website base, you need to look at the CMS pages that are provided with the theme. Many themes do not put a lot of thought into these pages so your options in customizing your Shopify theme without a Shopify developer are limited. You can engage a Shopify developer to build, your own CMS page templates for your store.
Look for good flow
Most themes will claim they are sales ready and if an ecommerce expert has designed the strategy behind the theme, they likely are. A conversion-oriented theme will provide an easy product search, find to check out the process. It will also provide an opportunity for your brand to curate collections.
Need help to choose your Shopify theme? We suggest looking for a web company or at Shopify developers to seek advice and help you evaluate your options. They can also be used to assist you in any coding or branding needs you may require during the development of your online store. Not sure that Shopify is good for your business? Follow the link below for our ecommerce assessment infographic.
