You’ve created the best products in your industry. Your brand design is on point. You’ve set up social channels for your business. This means you’re finally ready to launch your Shopify store!
Not so fast. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of introducing your business to the world and miss some critical steps.
While, on the surface, your brand and website look polished, there are several checklist items that will ensure a smooth e-commerce launch. Are your product pages search engine optimised? Have you created a marketing plan to promote your brand? Does your website have critical pages like FAQ and contact information?
This ultimate e-commerce checklist contains all the to-dos you’ll need to complete before your store goes live.
The 11-point e-commerce checklist for your Shopify store launch
Add sales channels: Consumers now expect an omnichannel experience from brands, as more turn to unconventional search sources like YouTube and TikTok to discover and buy products.
Create a custom domain: Custom domains can give your site a brand recognition boost and make it easier for customers to remember your URL.
Review the checkout experience: Before you officially open for business, be sure prospective customers can actually complete a purchase on your online store.
Build essential pages: Store trust relies on critical pages on your website that signal to the customer that you run a legitimate business.
Review your automated emails: Every e-commerce business owner should consider adding email to their marketing plan when starting an online store.
Conduct a content audit: Editing is a critical part of any writing exercise. Read back every word on your site or – even better – get a second set of eyes to double-check your work.
Set up analytics and tracking: It’s important to have analytics set up from day one. This data will give you valuable insight into your visitors and customers.
Brush up on e-commerce SEO: If you’re starting an online business, make sure your website shows up in search results when customers look for terms related to your product.
Optimise all images on your website: Images that load too slowly can affect user experience and performance in search engines – and slower load times can even lead to lower conversion rates.
Build a pre-launch marketing plan: You'll launch your site to crickets unless people know about it. The best way to spread the word is with a pre-launch marketing strategy.
Get your back office in order: Ensuring that your processes are in order before you go live can help eliminate shipping delays, inventory issues and customer service debt.
Now that you’ve crossed off everything on your list, it’s time to launch your e-commerce website and brand to the masses. Put your marketing plan into action and start building brand recognition. Let Koola Digital launch your e-commerce website for you and engage your audience in ongoing marketing. We are the partners you need.
