How to Set Up & Optimize
Your Shopify Store for Success

Congratulations on LAUNCHING your new Shopify Store! That, in itself, is an amazing accomplishment! We have a bunch of items we like to check off after successfully launching a new store (or in some cases a revitalized one).

We like to break it down to the following areas:

Pre-Launch

  • Connect your own domain to your store in the settings/domains area of the admin
  • Make sure you have test mode turned off
  • Check your logo and be certain your site doesn’t have any lorem ipsum (“greeked letters” as we used to say, even though it is clearly fake Latin, not fake Greek)]
  • Select a Shopify Plan if you have not already done so
  • Run a test order through your site to make sure it works correctly [Frankly, your pre-launch Q&A should validate the telephone numbers, email addresses, and all forms used in your store]
  • Verify shipping is setup correctly so your customers can fully checkout

Tick Tock: First 24 Hours

  • Send your store to friends and family! They don’t have to buy anything and don’t push them to, but another set of eyes is a great idea to help test your site
  • Watch your traffic and see what items are gaining traction
  • Note! If this is a new site with a new domain it may take a week-plus to even see traffic! Google doesn’t even know about you, yet.

Optimize for Traffic

Google Search Console is a simple way to monitor how your store is doing on Google Search results. And, it is free! (https://search.google.com/search-console)

  • Sign up for the FREE Search Console Account on Google (use the link above)
  • After you validate you own your domain (there are many ways to validate your domain), click on SITEMAPS
  • Then, enter “sitemap.xml” in the ENTER SITEMAP URL box and hit submit
  • It can take a little while, but now Google knows what to index for your new store.

Install Google & YouTube channel (https://apps.shopify.com/google)

Setup Google Merchant Center (free account) and follow the steps

Setup GA4 (the latest and greatest Google Analytics platform)

Adjust

Microsoft Clarity; see where people are struggling to use your store (session recordings, heatmaps, click tracking, etc., all free)

Adjust your navigation to bring products you want to sell more units (maybe for overstock or the best seller)

Change your Homepage images regularly

Break out your collections so people can find what they want easier

Email Capture

Welcome/Email Collection: use Shopify Email or Klaviyo to setup a welcome email flow and sign-up form pop-up

Go!

See, not too hard. You can get started on this now. At zero expense to you. We love checklists because they help catch little and big things that are out of sight and often out of mind. There’s a reason airline pilots, Formula 1 race teams, and surgeons use checklists. “Doctor, is it 12 sponges or 11 we should remove from the patient?”

Here’s to your success and an optimized Shopify Store! (Ahem, many of these items apply to other platforms such as WooCommerce, WordPress, Magento, and more. Feel free to use these tips on the platform of your choice.)