Becoming an entrepreneur and selling goods online had never been easier. No need to rent a shop, repair it, hiring help, nothing. You just need to have an internet connection, a niche, a few minutes of your time, and a bunch of clicks to establish your online store.
The next step after launching your online store is to work on its appearance. You may be wondering why to make efforts on its appearance?
Well, to answer this question, let’s take an example.
A customer needs to get a coffee.
He has 2 options to select from.
One store is just too simple and looks boring. While the other one exhibits the aura of liveliness, fun, and looks cheerful.
Table of Contents
Where do you Think the Customer will go?
Of course the second one. As a human, we are bound to judge our surroundings. According to a study, people form an opinion about a website in just 50 milliseconds. Yes, you read it right. 50 milliseconds decide the fate of your store, that either the customer will stay on your website or will move towards your rivals.
Therefore, working on the appearance and layout of your website is more than important. A shady or dull looking website is a big turnoff for many users. You sure don’t want that, do you?
Thanks to the genie of the eCommerce store, you no longer have to write never-ending strings of code to design the layout of your web. Shopify stores offer a great variety of themes to select from. It has the highest converting Shopify themes to take your business to the next level.
Not all the themes are meant for your business. What goes well for one eCommerce store, might not work out for you. Therefore, a theme must be selected carefully and after thorough brainstorming.
Below we have compiled a list of tips that will help you to select the best theme for your Shopify store
10 Effective Tips On Choosing the Best Theme For Your Shopify Store
1. Decide on Your Budget
Shopify has a wide variety of themes to choose from. The price range of the themes varies from $0 to $200. The greater the price the more advanced features you’ll get.
But, before finalizing the purchase of any theme, it is mandatory to consider your budget and the features that you are looking for in a theme for your eCommerce Store.
Before you log on to theme store to select the one for your online store, take out a few minutes to ask yourself the following questions:
What sort of experience do I want for the visitor?
Do I need some special features for my eCommerce store?
Which themes are my competitors using?
How do I plan to display my goods?
Number and types of goods that will be displayed in my store?
Can my business afford to purchase a premium theme?
How well free Shopify themes will work on my website?
After answering the above questions make a list of all the themes that you want for your business. Narrow down your options by filtering your list according to your requirements and budget.
If you have a fat budget, then you can easily purchase a paid theme from a trusted developer. However, if your business is just a startup and you don’t want to spend fortunes on a theme, then free Shopify themes will work perfectly for you.
2. Featured Images
An online store without good quality pictures is like a knife to the ketchup i.e. useless and futile.
For an online store, high-quality images are a must. Good quality pictures with a high resolution attract the customers and elevate the look of your website.
To appear more professional and look attractive, it is a common practice by the famous online retailers to have a featured image, carousel, or slideshow of the images displayed on their homepage.
Think about what kind of image you want to set on your homepage. Is it going to be a static image? Multiple pictures, or a video? After finalizing what you are going to put up on your homepage, your next step is to scan the themes that will best cater to the needs of your featured images.
Also, check what other features the theme provides for the images and other resources.
3. Consider Your Catalogue Size
Another tip to select the best Shopify theme for your eCommerce store is to take into consideration the number of products that you wish to sell.
Shopify offers different themes that are geared towards varying catalog sizes. If an online store has less than 10-12 products then a theme that offers simple navigation and limited no. of pages are best for such a store.
However, if an eCommerce store deals with hundreds or thousands of products, then it may need a theme that offers multiple pages, categorizing options, separate pages for different groups of products, etc.
If you are selling a few specialized single products, such as earphones and headphones, then it is a good idea to display those goods on your homepage. It will make it easy for your visitors to view your goods without having to jump on another page.
4. Understand Your Niche
After taking into consideration the number of goods that you’ll display in your store, it’s time to consider the industry in which you are operating.
Shopify has a lot of options to choose from and it has something for every industry. You have to find a theme that goes with the overall idea of your niche and customers can connect your brand with the industry mold you are dealing with.
If you are dealing with clothes or beauty products then you’ll need a theme that allows you to display multiple photos, has a search option, and appealing designs.
On the other hand, if you are dealing with tech-goods, or downloadable material such as e-books, courses, audiobooks, etc. then a simple theme with a minimal design would be a perfect choice for your Shopify store.
5. Goes With Your Brand
Not every theme on the Shopify store, either paid or free, will go along with the overall idea of your brand.
As mentioned earlier, looks are very important for your website. People form a judgment based on the overall appearance of your site. Make sure that when a user lands on your page, he gets an idea about what your brand is and which products do you deal in.
For instance, if your brand deals in the clothing line of elderly women, then the theme of your store must be calming and should involve colors that are not too flashy or neon.
Similarly, if your brand deals with the kids’ items you don’t want a theme with dull background and boring fonts.
Remember, for an online store the first impression is the last. If you fail to convince your visitor that you are the perfect brand for their needs, then you can bid them farewells as they go to your competitor. Be very vigilant when it comes to the layout and appearance of your website.
6. Responsive
Gone are those days when online shopping was done by a computer or a laptop. With the increased use of smartphones, people have now resorted to shopping online from their smartphones.
More than half of online shopping is done by smartphones. That means it is important to select the theme which works perfectly on different models of mobile phones.
If a theme that works perfectly fine on the computer, fails to do the same on mobile devices, then you can lose a good majority of visitors from becoming your customers.
Online shopping means saving time and energy. If a website is not responsive on mobile devices or fails to display the images properly, then people will not think twice before exiting the website.
People will not scroll their screen to and fro to view your website. They will exit it immediately and there are huge chances that they will never come back to you.
7. Easy Navigation
Many people overlook this aspect completely when selecting a Shopify theme for their store. People end up making their menus, navigation system, and page layout complicated to make their websites look more creative and unique.
This is a big turn-off for many customers as not every visitor is a tech pro who understands how to navigate a website and look for the products he is searching for.
Try to keep the menus, website navigations, and structure of the webpage that is easily understood by the people and they don’t have to waste their time in understanding how to move from one page to another.
8. Observe Your Competitors
Every business has rivals to give it a tough competition. Before finalizing or picking up a theme, you must observe and understand which themes your competitors are using for their store.
Observe which features they have included on their website to make the shopping experience amazing for its customers. Try to look for a theme that provides you with all the features to make shopping easier for your customers.
Not only observe the successful store and the features they have in their theme but also take a look at the stores that aren’t doing great and have very few customers. This will help you to understand which elements should be omitted from your website to make it a success.
Observing different competitors will help you to pick the best theme for your store.
9. The Reputation of The Developer
By this stage, you are ready to select the highest convertible theme for your store, but before you finalize the theme, make sure to learn about the developer of the theme.
Make sure that when you are selecting the theme, either it’s a free one or a paid one, that it is from a well-reputed developer and will work as it claims to. Also, check if the support provided by the developer is consistent and of excellent quality.
Assistance and support by a developer are of great help in the future in case a technical fault occurs in a theme.
10. Preview and Experiment
After finding a suitable theme for your Shopify store which is light-weight, responsive, has amazing tools, etc. take a preview or demo that the theme offers.
Shopify even allows the theme to be previewed on your store to understand how it will go along with your images, logo, and the overall idea of your brand. Furthermore, if you plan on buying a paid theme then don’t forget to take the free trial of it.
Take your time and experiment with different themes. Check its features, preview it on your store and then select the one that is perfect for your store.
Final Words…
The needs and requirements of every online store are different. Select a theme that caters to the need of your business and elevates the look of your Shopify store.
Don’t rush to select the theme. Take your time. Research and experiment, and then choose your theme.
Remember, the selection of your theme will decide the fate of your store. Take the decision wisely.
