Setting up a storefront should be your top priority if you want to sell your products online. Thankfully, Shopify is one of the best platforms to get started as an online seller. Not only is their setup intuitive to use, but it makes selling and setting up products a breeze. Here, we cover the top things you must remember to set up your e-commerce shop, from search engine optimization (SEO) steps to images, product listings, and more.

What Website Platform to Use for E-commerce

As mentioned earlier, Shopify is our top recommendation for anyone looking to start an e-commerce site. They have an incredibly customizable platform perfect for building your storefront, and their system is easy to use and learn. 

Thanks to their theme templates, you don’t have to worry about hiring a designer to craft a layout for your page. Pick from one of the top Shopify themes and edit it to match your needs. Gone are the days of learning coding to set up a website. With Shopify, everything is streamlined for the layperson seller, making it much easier to start your website. 

Along with a quick setup, Shopify easily integrates into many other tools you’ll be using like email platforms, social media, and so much more.

Importance of SEO 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for any digital business. SEO brings customers to your website and ensures Google shows your products on search pages, making it much easier for you to turn clicks into paying customers. 

When setting up a product for the first time, there are some key SEO steps to pay attention to:

• Product name
• Product description
• Product URL

Your product name should be straightforward but consistent across your pages, posts, and descriptions. If your product is listed in one place as “Red Purse,” for example, but only searches as “Red Tote,” you’ll miss out on sales and confuse your customers. Keeping your product name consistent and ensuring that the name is in the product URL can legitimize your storefront and make your products more appealing from an SEO standpoint.

Speaking of SEO, you should write product descriptions with keywords and optimization in mind. Don’t jam the description full of keywords, but take the time to look up some common phrases paired with similar products. 

For example, if you’re marketing that red purse, consider including keywords like machine washable, zippered, natural materials, and other key phrases that tell customers what they’re purchasing and act as signals to search engines to pull up your product for those keywords.

SEO is complicated, so it can help to have SEO professionals like our team at Planted Marketing set up your website and e-commerce store. That way, you can rest easy knowing your products are in good hands and your descriptions are optimized exactly as they should be. 

Images Are Everything

In sales, visual is everything. When selling e-commerce products, customers can’t feel or try out your objects in advance. In this sense, images replace the usual tactile sensation of shopping in a physical store. That’s why using high-resolution photos for your e-commerce site is crucial to sales conversions. You will likely lose sales if your customers aren’t sure what they’re buying.

The first thing to consider when prepping product images is to have a white background. This makes your products appear professional, first off, and also makes it easy to see your product. Think of this as setting your product on a shelf in a store. You’d want to ensure the shelf is clear and customers can see your product. Using a professional, high-quality image with a white background is the best way to show off your product, and it should be the first image on your product page.

Now, don’t think you get away with just one image. Your customers will want to see that product from every angle they can, meaning you should have several white background shots to show off different features. If you’re selling that red purse, you will want to show off key features like inside the pockets, the lining, the zippers, and the extra coin purse that comes with it.

Once you have the basic product images, it’s time for lifestyle shots. Showing your product in action is one of the best ways to get your customers interested. While white background shots show off the product, lifestyle shots allow your customers to imagine themselves owning the item and think about how it fits into their lives. Show the product in use, at rest in a natural environment like a home or desk, and any other activity that fits the item.

Finally, it’s important to include a video of your product. This assures customers that, yes, these items are real. While that sounds obvious, shopping online has risks, and customers want to know that the products they buy aren’t photoshopped. 

Showing a video of your product grabs their attention while confirming that these products are the real deal. You can show the product in use, show off features, or even show how it’s made if you’re marketing quality or handmade construction. This gives your product page that extra jolt of realism and life that’s sure to pay off. 

Tailoring Perfect Product Listings

Now you have your product names, descriptions, and some great images. What else could you need? Another key component of finishing your product listings includes adding reviews, safety information, ingredients, warnings, returns, and guarantees. 

When it comes to adding safety information, ingredients, and warnings, this is all about protecting yourself and the customer. If your customer has an allergy and you don’t list ingredients, you’ll likely lose a sale or garner a bad review from a sick customer! 

Adding a review section to your page can accomplish several things at once. First, seeing product reviews assures your customers that these are real products others have purchased. It gives them confidence that other people received their products, which means they’re likely not going to get scammed. It also gives them another point of research into your products. Encouraging your customers to leave product reviews acts as free advertising for you and increases your brand’s authority and trustworthiness. 

Finally, listing your return policy or guarantees on each product page can help stave off angry customers, as they can clearly see when you will or won’t take back a purchased item. This helps reduce the number of negative reviews and acts as good customer outreach at the same time. 

Setting up an e-commerce store can be complicated, so the Planted Marketing team is here to help. If you’re looking for marketing experts well-versed in SEO to help elevate your online storefront, we’re here to help. To find out more or discuss our services, contact us today.