Shopify is witnessing terrific progress globally.
Currently, it has 3,924,979 live websites, exceeding approx 6 million stores with a total sales of $543 billion.
These numbers explicitly signify the evolving preference for Shopify among businesses of all sizes. This makes “upkeeping and updating” your Shopify website the lifeline of your entire business.
Unfortunately, eCommerce owners invest in robust website development but fail to maintain it with time. As a result, it adversely affects the store’s health, brand reputation, and customer conversion rate. Consequently, it directly impacts the business revenue.
Don’t let your eCommerce business suffer! Save this 8-point checklist for maintaining your Shopify website to sustain performance and combat security challenges.
Step 1: Periodically take website backups
The most tedious task on a regular basis, however, is highly critical and can’t be avoided in any case. You must back up the website’s theme, product information, customer data, orders, financial records, gift cards, and discount codes.
There are two methods to process it –
- Manual backup – Export the above mentioned data (each separately) from Shopify Admin in a CSV File.
- Automated backup – Use Shopify’s trusted partnered apps as per your business needs and budget.
We strongly recommend you take backups twice daily to prevent data loss from human/technical error, disaster, or cyberattack.
Step #2: Monitor security checks
Ensure you have enabled two-step verification and updated your latest contact details. It is of utmost importance, and usually, eCommerce owners forget to make changes over here.
Also, practice changing the passwords every quarter.
In addition, timely renew your SSL certificate. You can purchase a long-term subscription to avoid last minute rush.
Besides, you can add a Shopify Trust Badge on the website and payment checkout page to promote the brand’s credibility.
Apart from these aspects, consider:
- implementing code standards for safety, quality, and compliance,
- employing Shopify built-in fraud analysis solutions like Shopify Flow, and
- locking restricted products or content by configuring apps like Locksmith.
Step #3: Conduct comprehensive code audits
A code audit is an end-to-end process of analyzing your Shopify website to identify bugs and expose security vulnerabilities. It includes code reviews in three stages – frontend, backend, and infrastructure.
You must conduct it every quarter to ensure:
- the code used in your Shopify website is as per the quality standards,
- the current code stack can easily migrate to the latest Shopify version,
- there are no performance issues, especially site downtime, and
- the website is 360-degree safe and not error-prone to hackers.
Step #4: Review speed score on Shopify
Check your eCommerce website speed score on Shopify itself. You can fetch the Reports from your Shopify Admin under the Analytics section.
It evaluates your store’s performance broadly on the below parameters:
- third-party APIs, libraries, and services integrated
- analytics library packages
- theme code
- count as well as the file size of images and videos used
Shopify utilizes Google Lighthouse performance metrics to calculate the score. It daily computes the rank by analyzing overall traffic visitors in the last seven days.
So the ideal score is 50; however, above 70+ showcases your site is faster. Thus, aim for a higher score—between 80-95.
Pro tip: You can improve the speed score by optimizing app functionalities, themes, liquid code, images, videos, and fonts.
Step #5: Monitor and optimize Shopify SEO consistently
Improve your eCommerce website’s ranking on Google by utilizing the built-in SEO features in Shopify.
You need to maintain each section thoroughly by contextually incorporating keywords in all content-centric areas, such as –
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Adding keywords in H1 headings
- Blog post URLs
- Webpages titles
- Product pages (title, description, and alt tags)
- Home Page Content
- Collection packages
- Image Alt tags/texts
In addition, check for broken links and 404 pages in the search console. From search engine discoverable content to covering SEO technical aspects, Shopify SEO needs continuous A/B testing on problematic pages.
Step #6: Update your Shopify storefront
From UI/UX to website navigation, graphics, and copy—enrich your website bi-annually. We recommend reviewing it in the off and pre-peak season of your business. It should not be stagnant; instead, amplify it in a visually appealing way.
Here are some tips.
- Ensure your Shopify website is responsive.
- Keep the menus, section, and CTA super simple.
- Check the navigation from a novice user’s perspective.
- Devise branding colors as per your target audience.
- Use HD images and actionable videos with crisp content.
- Review the functionality of the product checkout page
- Maintain proper categories for new, featured, back-in-stock, on-demand, and best-selling products.
Pro Tip: During the festivity, revamp your store as per occasion, just like brick-and-mortar shops. Be ready with two to three predefined, branded content templates.
Step #7: Leverage Shopify analytics
Shopify analytics reports extensively help website performance tuning, empowering marketing insights, and boosting conversions. In fact, these analytics act as a concrete foundation for updating your storefront, such as:
- the primary source of your traffic volume
- your customer’s geographical location
- real-time performance of your sales channel
- search phrases that customers use to discover your products
- popular products and average order value
Besides, Shopify analytics offer tons of valuable insights to optimize your site structure, sales channel, and marketing campaigns user-friendly.
On top of it, you can also integrate Google Analytics to track buyer’s journey, sessions, visitors, and navigational behavior.
Step #8: Crosscheck inventory and promotional offers
The most crucial aspect—your inventory—needs close monitoring with real-time sales across your Shopify website and associated commerce channels. It includes updating:
- stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and minimum threshold
- product descriptions with the latest discount code (with a valid period)
- shipment and fulfillment information comprising FAQs on checkout
- cleaning up old inventory from the website (customized festive products)
- automate inventory and set stock synchronization using Shopify APIs
The bottom line
Shopify website maintenance must be your topmost priority, as better customer experience will eventually drive good sales for you. On the contrary, missing out on even a single point would straightforward affect your ROI.
So, with the exponential growth of eCommerce globally, consider investing in Shopify maintenance services facilitating end-to-end business support.
