Shopify themes or templates can change the look and feel of your entire online store. This can ultimately help you gain more traction and will positively impact conversion rates. Shopify Theme Store offers more than “100 free and premium professionally designed e-commerce website templates” that merchants can use to build their online presence from scratch. No rocket science is required.
A Shopify theme is of foremost importance as it controls all the important aspects of your website like the appearance of your page, site menu, images, text, interactive elements, customers’ ease of navigation and checkout experiences.
(Also Read: Shopify Theme: A Guide For Beginners)
Paid And Unpaid
Shopify has both paid and free themes. However, only eight free themes are available. But before we get into all this, it is important to know factors to keep in mind while zeroing in on a particular theme for your online business.
When you pick a theme, it should align with your business aesthetics. If your store is about spa products, your page should ooze out relaxed vibes. Similarly, if you are an electrical equipment store owner, your website should look energetic. Below, we have listed ten important points that you can look for before finalising a Shopify e-commerce theme:
01/10 Customization
You should always choose a theme that can be customised as per your requirements. Though product pictures, price tags and a Call-to-Action button are some of the characteristics of a good Shopify theme, one can’t ignore the ease, with which modifications can be done. It is important to consider how easily you can make changes to your online store to suit the changing market scenario and tastes.
You can customize your theme settings from your Shopify admin by using the theme editor. If your theme doesn’t have a setting for a change that you want to make, then you can edit your theme code. When you make changes to your theme or switch to a new theme, it doesn’t affect the other parts of your account. You can try different theme styles and settings without worrying about the rest of the content in your admin.
Shopify Help Center
02/10 Responsive
One should also opt for a highly responsive theme. Responsive themes adapt themselves to any screen size, no matter whether it is desktop, smartphone or tablet. A responsive Shopify theme makes navigation easier besides being user-friendly and engaging.
03/10 Mobile-Friendly
As the maximum number of shoppers make purchases via mobile devices, your e-commerce store must be mobile-friendly. This is how you can check whether your store is mobile-friendly or not.
04/10 SEO Compatibility
Themes also help in search engine optimisation. For your site to reach customers it will need to achieve good rankings in the search results. Shopify themes can help you personalize SEO product tags. This means you will be able to add specific information about your goods in meta titles and meta descriptions.
05/10 Social Media Presence
Nowadays social media is omnipotent. Social media presence can give your business the required lift. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest among others are great mediums to stay connected with your customers and build new ones. So always choose the theme that offers easy sharing options on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
06/10 Customer Testimonials
Nothing works as much as positive reviews in a competitive e-commerce business. So it is always better to choose a theme with customer testimonials option. With such themes, you add credibility factor to your website. However, while designing the page, ensure that your testimonials don’t look like paid promotions.
07/10 Product Page Features
A good Shopify theme should include features that help customers with their queries regarding a product, attractive visuals and descriptions of products, promos, colour palettes and swatches, shipping details, payment options and many more.
08/10 Customer Support
Even after you build your online store, you may need technical support for issues that come up on a daily basis. A good Shopify theme should offer prompt customer support whenever required.
09/10 Advanced Product Filtering
The theme should let merchants segregate the products into different categories such as bestsellers, latest arrivals and clearance sale.
10/10 Homepage Layout
Choose a theme with a visually appealing, informative and easy to navigate home page. By using graphics, videos and texts creatively, one can engage visitors to showcase best-selling products and offer key value propositions of your store.
