There are numerous eCommerce platforms available to entrepreneurs whether they are new startups or established international brands. Shopify is one of the most popular of these: flexible easy to get started and able to grow with your business thousands of merchants worldwide have chosen it to host and run their online stores.

Shopify has everything an entrepreneur could want for their online store including secure hosting streamlined transactions and comprehensive analytics. The ability to modify the look and feel of a store is a huge benefit for merchants. Brands can really stand out with one of Shopify's many customizable themes. Customers can use their own email lists to increase sales brand awareness and return visits. Assist them in expanding their brand to new demographics and reaching out to potential clients in areas outside of their existing selling sphere.

Considerations for an SEO Checklist When Migrating Between Platforms

Replatforming for search engine optimization (SEO) is not a "one size fits all" solution. Your online store's structure existing stats and future plans should all be examined frequently. Nonetheless there are fundamental ideas that can be applied in any situation.

In order to get the most out of your SEO "pre-re-platforming" you need at least to take these measures.

1. Map Redirects One-for-One
2. Minimize On-Page Changes
3. Monitor Duplicate Content
4. Track 404 Errors Rigorously
5. Make It Mobile Make It Fast
6. Optimize After Replatforming

Shopify Features

You don't need to be a tech whiz to use Shopify. It has a user-friendly and customizable interface. It's more than just a nice simple interface. Let's take a look at some of the key features that set Shopify apart from the competition.

1. Simple to install and maintain: It can be difficult to set up an eCommerce store. If you don't have the technical know-how to do it yourself every step from payment processors to product pages to checkout can require hours of coding or costly outsourcing.

Shopify has been causing these concerns for the last decade. With an already developed fully integrated eCommerce platform all you have to do is focus on designing the site and adding your products. In reality you could set up a Shopify store in less than an hour and make your first sale the same day.

2. An Appealing Customizable Design: When you sign up for Shopify you will receive up to ten free templates to help you design an appealing website. If you want to customize your site you can also create your own template or purchase other templates.

This is not to say that the free templates are dull or uninteresting; they are all sleek professional and mobile-friendly. Premium themes simply have a broader range of customization options. Many people start with a free theme and then upgrade to something fancier once they start making real sales.

3. Unrivaled 24-hour customer service: If you have any questions about the platform you can contact Shopify's dedicated customer support team via phone live chat or email. They have eight international toll-free numbers and a callback service.

They are available 24 hours a day seven days a week and have a quick turnaround time. All of this is in addition to community forums and comprehensive beginner guides with readily available information. All users regardless of the payment plan have access to support.

4. Integration of Social Media and Blogs: Every company recognizes the value of social media in increasing sales. Shopify allows you to sell your products via social media channels. There is also a feature that allows you to promote your social media accounts in your store allowing you to connect with your customers outside of the store. The majority of Shopify themes include social media buttons. You can also include apps that allow for social media integration.

Shopify also includes a blog tool for content creation. Blogs are essential for driving traffic to a website and for search engine optimization. You won't have to worry about hosting a blog on another platform like WordPress because it's integrated directly into your store.

5. Reminders for Unused Carts: Shopify allows sellers to follow up with cart-less customers. It will send them an email with a reminder to complete the purchase. The email reminder can also be customized to include discount codes or freebies.

This tool reduces uncompleted transactions and is the perfect marketing strategy to turn a loss into a win.

6. Excellent Search Engine Optimization and Marketing Functions: Shopify makes SEO simple. You'll have everything you need to give the search engines exactly what they need with a simple dashboard for adding keywords meta titles and meta descriptions. Shopify's advanced analytics also assist you in customizing your store to meet the needs of your target audience. These are the types of marketing decisions that will help you increase conversions and sales.

7. Analytics and Advanced Reports: Any business must have clearly defined outcomes. They assist you in determining where you are succeeding and where you need to improve. Shopify offers a variety of reports on finance sales marketing and other aspects of the business that provide valuable insight into where your eCommerce store stands.

Other platforms or DIY options frequently require you to handle this separately. As a result it is put on the backburner month after month. But you won't be able to strategize how to get where you want to go unless you have a clear picture of where you are. Shopify integrates this into your daily operations.

What Sets Shopify Apart and Why Entrepreneurs Should Use It?

The Shopify platform makes it possible for businesses to sell no matter where their clients may be located. Distributors can reach their clients from any location thanks to a plethora of different ways to buy their products online. Social media online stores Buy Button and retail is Shopify sales channels. Shopify offers more sales channels payment providers and shipping services than other eCommerce systems.

As a business owner you need to juggle many tasks at once. Shopify simplifies operations by giving retailers a centralized hub for their company's data and tasks. To make sure everything is functioning properly shop owners can check in on the Shopify Admin to see how everything is doing.

Shopify's user-friendliness and the automation it brings to a number of commerce procedures make it a great platform for handmade enterprises to grow and thrive freeing up time for creators to do what they do best. Customers can use their own email lists to increase sales brand awareness and return visits. Assist them in expanding their brand to new demographics and reaching out to potential clients in areas outside of their existing selling sphere.

Shopify provides merchants with more options for expanding their businesses by allowing them to easily modify themes gain access to over 3000 applications integrate a point-of-sale system and sell internationally.

Comparing Shopify to other platforms

Shopify vs. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a WordPress eCommerce plugin that is open-source. For WooCommerce users Shopify is an easier-to-use and highly customizable option.

1. Cost: Shopify makes it extremely simple to launch an online store. Their basic plan is $29 per month with the option to upgrade to the Shopify plan for $79 or the Advanced Shopify plan for $299 per month. If you want to use your own.com domain name you must buy it separately. A standard .com domain name typically costs you $14 per year. The basic Shopify plan includes enough features to launch a new online store. You can add an unlimited number of products two user accounts unlimited file storage and other features.
2. Ease of Use: Because Shopify is a fully hosted platform you do not need to install manage or update any software. You also don't have to be concerned about security compatibility performance or backups. As soon as you sign up you can choose from a variety of free Shopify themes. Following that they will walk you through customization and then assist you in adding products.
3. Payment methods: Customers can use a variety of payment methods when they check out on Shopify. It offers its own payment solution Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe) as well as all major third-party payment gateways.

WooCommerce by default accepts PayPal and Stripe payments. They offer a Stripe-powered WooCommerce Payments solution.

Shopify vs. Squarespace

Squarespace was designed for content-based websites while Shopify was made for online stores. However with the addition of eCommerce to Squarespace's feature set and an increase in the number of content-creation tools available for Shopify. The two platforms have become similar — and you can now use either to create a content-driven website or sell products online.

Shopify is a more flexible and user-friendly alternative to Squarespace. With Shopify you receive a solid platform and all the tools and apps you need to create a distinctive store experience. Squarespace's payment methods multi-currency selling SEO alt text and URL redirects limit its service/subscription sales.

Ease of Use: The interfaces of Shopify and Squarespace aren't that dissimilar in terms of layout — both have a menu on the left side of the screen that you can use to access different parts of the content management system (settings site design analytics etc.).

Shopify vs. Wix

Shopify is a more customizable and user-friendly alternative to Wix. Shopify provides a dependable platform as well as all of the tools and apps required to manage market and grow your store. Wix and Shopify promise to help you build a website or online store without coding. BuiltWith.com estimates there are just under 8 million live Wix websites and 3.7 million Shopify websites. However both of these platforms began with different goals in mind.

Wix was created as a solution for building content-based websites for users who wanted to convey information or showcase content. Wix now has a lot more selling features and Shopify's content management tools have improved.

1. Integrations: The Wix App Market includes over 300 third-party integrations for adding advanced features to your Wix website. Many of these apps are free while others have high prices. Integrations can help you perform a variety of business functions such as lead generation traffic analysis improving visitor engagement selling more online and improving the design of your website.
2. Shopify has a much higher number of third-party integrations than Wix; all 6000+ Shopify integrations are related to marketing and running an online store.
3. Payments: Unlike Shopify's POS solution Wix POS is currently only available in the United States and to select users.' If you live outside of the United States you can still use the Square or SumUp options (depending on your location).

It's worth noting however that Shopify's 'POS Pro' add-on may be required to get the most out of the point of sale. You won't have to pay any extra fees to gain access to the majority of this functionality with Wix's POS system. There will still be hardware costs but there will be no additional software costs.

Final Verdict!

With modern eCommerce features and benefits Shopify is a top choice for e-commerce store development. Sellers can create new online stores on this platform or have existing ones migrated to it. If you want to start your e-commerce adventure with a robust online store now is the time to invest in Shopify development services.