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You likely already know that a website is the most powerful marketing tool you can build as a business owner. After all, it can help others understand your brand’s story, it can help you connect with new customers, and it can increase your sales numbers.

Now more than ever before, people are turning to Shopify to build a great website, but if you don’t know how to design a Shopify website, you may feel like you’re in the dark. 

We’re here to help. This quick guide on how to build a Shopify website will help you understand the platform and whether it’s right for your company. 

How to Design a Shopify Website

Designing your Shopify website doesn’t start with the platform itself. Instead, it starts with a deeper look at your goals. Your website is a marketing tool. What do you want it to do? You wouldn’t design and release any other marketing tool without understanding what you want from it, so why would you treat a website differently? Once you understand your goals, you can begin designing the site itself. 

The next step is to sign up for a Shopify Account, and work through their unique “Getting Started” wizard. This will help build your brand a bit more and help the site identify what you’re hoping to do. 

From there, you’ll begin adding products and services. You may want to start with a few at this point so you don’t overwhelm yourself with the process. There’s so much information you can add about every product and service, and not all of it will apply to your business. 

Choose what you think works best, upload the imagery or media you want to be associated with that product or service, then create a small organizational pattern. Don’t worry - you can always go back and add more at a later date. 

The next step in the process is to select a theme. Right now, there are just over 75 different themes to consider. Some of them are premium themes that require additional payment. After you select a theme, you can begin to customize it to meet the needs of your store better. 

At this point, you’re essentially done with the design phase. 

How to Build a Shopify Website

Now that you have your design down, it’s time to start building the nuts and bolts of the site. You’ll need to think back to the original purpose you specified for the site to help you accomplish this goal. Then you can begin deciding what pages to include to help you meet that goal. Start by editing the various sections of your home page. 

Shopify automatically splits pages into horizontal sections so you can move them up or down as you edit them. You can also adjust the header or footer to suit your needs better. Click on any of the sections of the pages, and you can change the details inside. As you edit, you’ll see those changes reflected in real time. 

Then begin thinking about the other pages you want on your site. If you want more pages, go back to the Online Store pane, and select the “Pages” button. There you add and edit to meet your needs. 

Once you have the page layout as you’d like it to be, you can add your own domain name to help personalize your business a bit. You can either buy a domain name through Shopify, or you can transfer another domain name from a registrar. Then you’re ready to launch your site. You’ll need to buy a Shopify plan to make it happen, but you can choose “Select a Plan” from your menu. Remember that you must pay a monthly fee to keep your site live. 

THAT Agency Can Help

If you still feel a bit lost when it comes to how to build a Shopify website, don’t worry. We’re here to help. We’ve worked with hundreds of customers like you, and our team has a deeper knowledge of how to design a Shopify website that truly converts. To learn more about what we can do for your site, contact us today.