4 Things to Consider When Choosing from Shopify Themes
Zeynep Avan
Millions of e-commerce businesses (more than 2 million users, according to the latest statistics) chose Shopify to build their online stores. It takes a huge market share. Why?
Shopify is an easy, secure, affordable, and all-in-one solution—perfect for businesses.
Well, what makes it perfect for visitors? How it looks. The themes.
Shopify themes are website templates that can help you create a perfect user experience that can convert.
That’s why, today, we want you to consider four important points when choosing the best theme for your e-commerce website.
Checklist for Choosing Your Shopify Theme
- Design and Aesthetics
- Functional Customization
- Technical Support
- Performance and Speed
Let’s go further in details 👇
Understanding the Importance of Choosing the Right Shopify Theme
Nowadays, there are millions of Shopify users, and choosing the right Shopify theme is crucial to making your online store a success.
The right theme should reflect your business’ identity, effectively display your products or services, and provide customers with a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience.
Shopify themes can make a big difference in your e-commerce store. This difference has the potential to leave a lasting first impression on visitors.
It is very important that your store is visually attractive and can be easily navigated within the website.
We can say that these events positively affect visitor conversion rates in your Shopify store, which is why we are here to explain four main things to consider before choosing from Shopify themes!
Key Role of Shopify Theme in E-Commerce Success
The Shopify theme is the first impression of your online store. Therefore, it’s important to choose a theme that reflects your business’s brand identity, effectively showcases your products or services, and offers your customers a good shopping experience.
The right theme can help increase conversion rates and sales by providing customers with an attractive and convenient shopping experience.
Shopify themes can influence a variety of factors, including the following:
User experience: A well-designed Shopify theme can improve the user experience by allowing customers to navigate and find the products they want easily. This can help more customers return to your store and make more purchases.
Brand image: Shopify themes can be used to reflect your brand and create a sense of professionalism. This can help increase brand awareness and credibility by instilling trust in customers.
Mobile compatibility: Shopify themes should be able to be viewed and used seamlessly on mobile devices. This can help you reach customers who shop from mobile devices.
SEO: Search engines easily index Shopify themes, which can help your store rank higher in SEO results.
Actually, you need to ask the right questions before choosing your Shopify theme.
- Who is your audience?
- What are your products?
- What do you want to show about your products?
- What do you need for your business?
- How do you want your customers to experience their shopping process?
These and similar questions will guide you in choosing the right theme for your business. Remember, there are billions of options for online shopping these days!
Focusing on Design and Aesthetics
Design is everything. Why? There are millions of websites and online stores everywhere. What makes your business stand out? Design.
Aesthetics and design can have considerable effects on user experience, brand image, first impression, conversion rates, and even on making a purchase or not.
When a customer visits an e-commerce site for the first time, they get a first impression of its design and aesthetics within the first seconds. This impression is very important since it can influence a customer’s overall perception of your business.
You can make use of the themes in such ways that help your conversion rates, sales, customer interactions, purchases to increase, and every other detail you need.
A well-designed e-commerce site can help improve the user experience, attract more customers, ensure royalty, and make many more things possible so that you can develop your business.
The key factor about focusing on design and aesthetics is knowing who your target is, and never stopping to ask questions!
What do they see online mostly? What do they expect to see? How do they expect to complete a purchase? Is the design straightforward enough for them? What are their needs, and what are their preferences? How your brand can reflect on the design?
As long as you ask the right questions and get the answers thoroughly, your Shopify store design will provide benefits for your business.
Ensuring Mobile Responsiveness
You can’t know where a customer will come from. Maybe they are scrolling down, and they see your business ad; maybe they are chatting with a friend, and the friend mentions your products or services. Maybe they hear about you and check instantly from their phones, etc.
The thing is, mobile phones are a part of us – for most of us, at least.
So, mobile responsiveness is an essential detail to consider while choosing your theme.
Make sure your theme has a layout that functions as you would like to see on your phone.
Shopify lets you review the mobile view of themes so you can ensure your online store looks and functions optimally on mobile devices.
Ok, you should stand out and be different, but let’s not forget the importance of feeling “familiarity”.
For example, if you are a women’s clothing brand, many major companies in the market adopt a template where a header overlays an image from their most recent collection.
This design approach not only highlights the latest trends but also creates a visual appeal that draws customers into exploring the new arrivals.
Familiar layouts might be helpful since most of the online shoppers already have an idea of what an e-commerce platform is like.
Easy navigation is one of the most important points for your e-commerce platforms, and it should be one of your priorities when choosing a Shopify theme.
As you can see in the above example, online shopping customers are familiar with the “cart” or “search” buttons on the top right. That’s why you can look for those navigational elements in your Shopify theme.
Emphasizing Visual Appeal
Everything is about visuality today. Customers are more likely to make purchases from a website that they find visually appealing.
This is because a visually appealing website gives the impression of being credible and trustworthy.
Plus, your brand can shape a first impression in accordance with the visual appeal of your Shopify theme.
Exploring Functional Customization Options
Anyone who wants to sell a product can easily use Shopify. What differentiates the businesses is customization. Shopify provides a theme editor to make it easier to customize themes. The theme editor allows you to customize theme content and settings.
Many Shopify store themes allow you to customize your store’s appearance, including the fonts, backgrounds, and colors. Some themes even have built-in style and color palettes to help you create a cohesive look.
Adjusting Color, Font, and Layout
Don’t worry; you don’t have to be a tech genius to customize your Shopify store. Most Shopify themes have a built-in theme editor that allows you to make basic customizations to your store’s appearance, such as changing the colors of your fonts and backgrounds.
To access the theme editor, go to Online Store > Themes and click Customize next to the theme you want to edit.
If you need to make more advanced customizations, you can also edit the theme code. Still, no need to be a tech genius, Shopify explains the steps in detail in their detailed how-to blog. In brief, you go to Online Store > Themes and click Actions > Edit code next to the theme you want to edit.
You can create a store that appeals to your business and your customers. Shopify makes customization easy, and though many businesses use the same platform, they can have unique online shops with this customization feature.
Incorporating Custom Widgets and Features
Different widgets and features are available on the Shopify store, both free and paid.
With Shopify add-ons, you can strengthen your store’s functionality in marketing, shipping management, product management, SEO, Shopify dropshipping, secure payment system, speed optimization, and more.
The Shopify app store and add-ons have a large ecosystem. This allows stores to find what they need instantly.
Previewing Themes Before Finalization
There won’t be a surprise about your theme with Shopify. You can preview the themes from the theme library, and when you are done customizing, you can preview the theme with the differences that you made.
This allows you to see how the theme will look to your customers when they visit your store.
To live preview a theme, go to the Shopify Theme Store and click the Preview button on the theme you want to preview.
Why is it essential to preview themes before finalizing them?
- You can see if the final version suits your expectations. Previewing your theme allows you to see how it will look and function. You can switch to a customer’s point of view with one click and make sure your customized theme meets your expectations. This will help you ensure that you did what you wanted to and that the theme is a good fit for your store.
- You can test the theme’s functionality. Previewing a theme also allows you to test its functionality and see what your customers’ experience will be like. This includes testing the navigation, checkout process, and other important features.
- Most importantly, you can identify any potential problems. Previewing a theme can help you identify any potential problems before you launch your store. This includes fixing any broken links or images and making sure that the theme is responsive on all devices.
Seeking Technical Support and Comprehensive Documentation
To what extent do you need technical support or documentation? This is another important question to ask when choosing a Shopify theme. Shopify themes are complex pieces of software and even experienced users may need help at some point.
Accessing Developer Support and Reviewing Comprehensive Documentation
Developers provide a certain level of support as a rule, so each theme comes with different support opportunities. You should again think about your expectations and goals about support and choose wisely.
Choose a theme with extensive documentation, video tutorials, and a responsive support team to help you troubleshoot any issues or get assistance with setup and customization.
Exploring Community and Reviews
When you are trying something new, what is more reliable than user reviews? Nothing!
Exploring community and reviews can be a valuable resource for how the theme is, possible problems, getting advice and features.
Positive reviews can be a good indication that the theme suits your needs and is well-designed, reliable, and easy to use.
Read the theme’s documentation and support forums. This is a great way to get a sense of the community and the level of support that you can get when you use this theme.
Check the theme’s reviews on the Shopify Communşty. Reviews can provide valuable insights into the theme’s quality, ease of use, and customer support.
Pay attention to both positive and negative reviews, and look for themes with a consistent overall rating.
Prioritizing Performance and Speed
What did technology add to our lives? Impatience!
Performance and speed are two essential details to consider while choosing your Shopify theme. When people see a product and decide to buy it, they are likely to abandon their carts for minor inconvenience.
Prioritizing performance and speed will help you not lose these customers and enhance the customer experience.
Evaluating Loading Speed
The more you keep the customer waiting, the higher the risk is! Loading speed is an important factor in choosing between the themes. According to data from Google’s Core Web Vitals initiative, which measures the speed, responsiveness, and visual stability of web pages, for optimal user experience, websites should load in two seconds or less. If a page load time increases from one to three seconds, the bounce rate increases by 32%.
So, when choosing between the themes, loading speed should be one of your priorities. Nobody wants to keep their customers waiting!
Ensuring SEO Optimization
SEO optimization lets you achieve higher rankings in search engines, so while choosing the Shopify theme, ensuring SEO optimization is an important step. Most themes come with the basic features for SEO optimization, such as
- Meta tags: Search engines get the content of your website with meta tags. Well-written meta tags give necessary info about your business to search engines and thus help you to attract internet users. Shopify themes let you easily edit important meta tags like meta descriptions, tags, URL structures, and more.
- Speed: Everybody knows that users prefer fast-loading websites. Customer experience gets better as the process becomes quicker and, accordingly, smoother but speed is also beneficial for SEO optimization. Shopify themes are able to create fast-loading websites. This can help your website be better evaluated by search engines and achieve higher rankings.
- Mobile compatibility: A mobile-friendly Shopify store will let phone or tablet users view and wander around the shop easily. Shopify themes are designed to be mobile-friendly. This makes your website accessible to more users and better evaluated by search engines.
Here is our video on a specific tip for speed and mobile compatibility:
Assessing Responsiveness
Just as we mentioned mobile compatibility, and responsiveness come to the scene. A Shopify store should be able to arrange image resizing, navigation, font sizes, etc.
In brief, your store should arrange the overall layout regardless of the device used. People should navigate and see everything whether they are using a mobile phone, a tablet, or any other device.
Enhancing Your Shopify Store with Juphy AI
Juphy AI can help your Shopify store in many ways! With Juphy AI’s features, you can improve sales customer support significantly, benefit from the insights as much as possible, and achieve many more. The best part? Juphy AI is designed specifically for Shopify and carries the ‘Built for Shopify’ badge, meaning you can access and manage it directly from your Shopify dashboard without any extra steps.
Benefits of Juphy’s Chatbot
- Most people don’t have so much info or patience when it comes to online shopping. Juphy’s AI chatbot can act as a virtual sales associate, providing guidance and support to customers as they shop. This enhances the overall shopping experience, simplifies purchase decisions for customers, and ultimately drives higher sales.
- You are in your late-night browsing session, and you come across this Shopify shop that you like, but there is a problem, and you need immediate help. What do you do? How many people wait for the morning to solve their problem, or how many people try to do it on their own these days? Juphy’s AI chatbot can answer customer questions quickly and efficiently, 24/7, covering everything from shipping details to common inquiries and FAQs. This can improve customer satisfaction and reduce the number of abandoned carts.
- Juphy’s chatbot can help you increase your average order value by using upselling and cross-selling techniques. The chatbot can reply in a natural and engaging way during conversations with customers, guiding them toward products they may like or suggesting complementary items to enhance their purchase.
Leveraging Other Juphy Features for a Superior Online Store
Juphy AI integrates with your Instagram account, creating a consistent customer journey for Instagram visitors. With 24/7 assistance, Juphy’s chatbot handles DMs by offering guidance on everything from product details to customer support inquiries, while smoothly directing users to your Shopify store for easy purchasing. This enhances and extends the overall customer experience, ensuring no sale slips through the cracks.
With Juphy, you can manage all your relevant business interactions from a single platform – the Shopify dashboard. This makes it easier to keep track of online sales, improve your online store strategy, and delicately develop your business to increase sales.
Conclusion
Thankfully, there are countless options when you are looking for a Shopify theme for your online store.
First impression is everything, and you can ensure the first impression you want to make by customizing your Shopify store design however you like.
To summarize briefly, consider your brand identity, functionality needs, responsiveness, and ease of use before selecting and customizing your Shopify store…
With thousands of themes to choose from in the theme store, you’re sure to find one that’s perfect for your business.
Juphy supports your e-commerce journey with all of its unique features that simplify managing your business and achieving your goals. Start your 14-day free trial today.
