How to Make a Shopify Website in 2021

Updated: April 11, 2021

Want to Learn How to Make a Shopify Website in 2021?

For any business to be successful, they need to have a dedicated online store to make additional sales. Considering the online world is growing at an accelerated rate, it’s challenging to imagine a successful business without some sort of online presence.

Still, as monumental and essential it is to have an online store as a business, it has become increasingly difficult to fully understand where you should begin in this journey. In fact, there are countless tools and platforms available for businesses to use, with most not knowing where they should begin.

Thus, there comes the invention of Shopify, the excellent commerce platform that allows any person to set-up an online store and sell products. As a result, we’re going to discuss all of the details involved with how to make a Shopify website in 2021.

Keep in mind, setting up a Shopify store isn’t all you’ll need to know with the platform, as there are plenty of other points you should know. Once you get the first step of having an online store out of the way, expect to make significant progress with your business as you finally have an online presence besides social media or a website.

What is Shopify?

Shopify was founded in 2004 after its owners Tobias and Scott wanted to open an online store for snowboarding equipment. Soon after, the company has grown to have over 3.6 million businesses on its platform in 2021—a fairly remarkable accomplishment in such a short time.

Basically, think of Shopify as a tool for you to create an online store. Rather than worry about coding or any annoying traits of having to build a site, Shopify does it for you. You select a package, design it, and start adding your products. It’s a relatively easy concept to grasp.

In return for using their platform, you pay a monthly fee to Shopify to keep your site up and running. There are many options to select from, ranging from how many products you can have, website space, design options, etc. Be sure to take a close look to see which is best for you.

How to Make a Shopify Website in 2021?

Now that we’ve discussed the details related to Shopify, you more than likely want to begin your journey onto its website. Before we begin, make sure you know what you need from Shopify before beginning your journey. If you’re a brick and mortar that needs an online platform for your store, understand what that entails.

On the other hand, if you’re someone from Etsy who wants a site of their own for whatever product you’re selling, realize what that requires. Having a good understanding of what you want and need will go a long way in the success of your site. Nevertheless, let’s take a look!

Start a Trial

First and foremost, you’ll need to start a trial when you go to Shopify. Rather than worry about selecting a package at this point, just signup for the free trial. You’ll be prompted with several questions such as your name, address, contact number, etc.

From here, it’ll ask you if you have products, what you’re intentions, and other questions that’ll help with the set-up. (Don’t want to set it up yourself? Check out pre-made Shopify stores here) If you’re just interested in how the platform works without actually setting anything up, make sure you select the right option for that. Next, you’ll begin the process of setting up your store.

Pick a Theme

At this point, you’re ready to begin setting up your online store. Notice, you’re in the admin area, where you can customize your store, upload products, set up payments, and much more. Before doing anything, get familiar with all of the various tabs and what they do.

Once done, head on over to the theme store to select a theme for your site. Think of a theme as the overall look for your site and its appearance. Check out reviews and features, and preview it to see how it’ll look. Then, get the theme and publish it on your site. It’s as simple as that.

Add Products

Once you’re familiar with the theme you picked and edited it how you want, here is where you’ll begin to add products. Head over to the products section, which is where you’ll start this process. First, go to collections, which is what makes the grouping of products.

For example, if you’re selling clothes, you might have shirts, pants, socks, and hats as four different collections. Next, head over to the product section to add the specific products you want. Make sure you have appropriate images for all, as the photos of products go a long way.

Set Prices

The payment gateway is where you’ll take payments from other customers. Be mindful of which payment gateway is best for you as they all vary in transaction fees, card types, offsite checkout, etc. There’s a lot to consider here, so read it over carefully. Again, if you don’t feel like setting up the spiffy store yourself you can go here to get a pre-made Shopify store.

Once you have the right payment gateway selected, here is where you’ll take the time necessary to set prices. Be mindful of how much it’ll cost you to make a product and what you’re hoping to make back. Prices are important so take the time necessary to see what’ll work best for your site.

Understanding Shipping

Shopify does an excellent job at calculating the estimated shipping based on where the customer ordered it from. Thus, shipping costs shouldn’t be too difficult for you to understand as Shopify helps you out a lot in that regard.

Availability and Organization

Once you have your products and look of your site set-up, test it out before publishing it. You can have a friend order a product and see how it’ll work. That way, if there are any adjustments you need to make, you can easily make the appropriate adjustments.

Lastly, to make your site live, you’ll need a domain. The best way to do this is to purchase a domain from Shopify. It saves time, and they do everything for you, two areas that are extremely necessary when it comes to running a Shopify store.

Although we didn’t go through the nitty-gritty of it all, that’s everything to make a note of with how to make a Shopify website in 2021.