Using Shopify for AMP

obile devices by streamlining the code of web pages.

Like mobile use, AMP is becoming more and more popular with each passing day. When implemented well, it can speed up page load times and reduce the bounce rate on mobile sites that historically load too slowly.

AMP can also have benefits in terms of SEO, because Google’s algorithm often shows more love to AMP posts by showing them above the other search result.

Up-to-date on the latest Google trends, Shopify makes using AMP possible for both blog content and product pages. Other online store builders are a little behind on this and don’t allow their users to use AMP this way.

As mentioned, since AMP increases the load times of mobile pages, it can potentially allow for longer dwell times, lower bounce rates, and increased customer engagement with your products.

On the downside, AMP functionality is only available via a paid app. However, given Google’s increased emphasis on promoting AMP content, it’s worth the additional costs.

Shopify’s Customer Support
Shopify customers benefit from comprehensive support. In fact, the company outshines the competition by offering 24/7 support via email, phone, and live chat. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement.

For example, if you have a technical issue and need help with code or something similar in in nature, you may not receive the help you need from Shopify’s standard support service. Some customers have even found better help by posting technical queries in an ecommerce forum. In this regard, there is room for improvement.

Meanwhile, as its name suggests

 ‘Shopify Pont of Sale’ app allows you to physically take credit card payments for offline selling, send text receipts to customers, and track inventory with each offline sale.

In addition to these sale and management-related apps, Shopify has recently released a new ‘Ping’ app, which allows you to chat with customers, answer questions, and share product details via Facebook Messenger. However, this app is currently only available or iOS devices.

That said, according to Shopify, the ‘Ping’ app should soon be available for Android devices as well, and they also plan on offering support for additional chat services in the near future.

Other apps for mobile functionality currently include an ‘Entrepreneur Articles’ app, a business card design app, and a logo maker app.

Most Shopify users won’t find much need for anything other than the ‘Shopify’ app, but more options and mobile functionality is always a plus.

Blogging with Shopify

Blogging is a popular and proven way to boost traffic to an online store. Recognizing this, the Shopify platform includes a helpful built-in blogging tool. With it, you can create the right content to improve your search rankings and get your site organically noticed for free.

Unfortunately, when it comes to blogging, Shopify pales in comparison to the sophistication and functionality of WordPress. For example, unlike WordPress, Shopify’s blogging tool doesn’t include Yoast-like SEO plugins or allow for content versioning. It also only allows you to use tags to categorize posts. Unlike other blogging platforms that allow for the use of both tags and categories, there are no blog categories available.

Exporting blog posts with Shopify could be easier as well. In fact, Shopify advises its users to copy and paste blog content manually to a new location. Once again, however, you can work around this, but doing so requires the use of Shopify’s API. This may be difficult for sellers with fewer technical skills.

All that said, Shopify’s built-in blogging capabilities are a nice surprise as many ecommerce site builders don’t allow for blogging at all. Although its blogging tool can be improved, it will meet or exceed the needs of most online sellers.

Shopify and Mobile Devices
Like to keep track and manage things on the go? If so, you’ll be happy to know Shopify offers not one but two primary apps, for doing exactly that.

With the ‘Shopify’ app, you can view reports, add and edit products, communicate with staff, and view and fulfill orders via an iPhone, iPad, and any Android mobile device – not too shabby.

Reports, Reports, Reports

Reports certainly aren’t fun, but there a necessity when running an ecommerce store. The good news is Shopify offers a comprehensive selection of reporting options.

With Shopify, you can create several different:

• Marketing reports
• Customer reports
• Abandoned cart reports
• Sales reports
• Tax reports
• Search data reports and more!

In other words, if you like data, Shopify is for you. However, all of these reports are only available with their more expensive Shopify, Advanced Shopify, and Shopify Plus plans. If you’re on a less expensive Shopify Lite or Basic Shopify plan, you’ll only have access to a much more basic dashboard offering little more than a handful of stats.

If you crave even more data and want custom reporting functionality, a comprehensive report builder is also available. However, you must be on the Advanced Shopify or Shopify Plus plan in order to use it and enjoy its benefits.

Blogging with Shopify
Blogging is a popular and proven way to boost traffic to an online store. Recognizing this, the Shopify platform includes a helpful built-in blogging tool. With it, you can create the right content to improve your search rankings and get your site organically noticed for free.

Shopify’s VAT MOSS Function

A huge plus of using Shopify that rarely gets mentioned in Shopify reviews is its VAT MOSS, or VAT Mini One Stop Shop, functionality, which is extremely important if you frequently sell digital products to customers in the EU.

VAT MOSS is an EU requirement in which digital products must have the value added tax, or VAT, added to every digital product for each individual EU country. For instance, A VAT rate must be applied to every digital product sold in the UK, and another one must be added for France, and then Italy, and so on.

Unlike many of Shopify’s competitors, Shopify automatically calculates the appropriate VAT rate. This means there’s no need to do this manually, which can be a real hassle. For many, this alone is a powerful unique selling proposition for Shopify over its competitors.

Digital Products and Shopify
Speaking of digital products, while most people use Shopify to sell physical goods, it can be used to sell digital products as well. In order to do so, however, you need to visit Shopify’s app store and install the ‘Digital Downloads App.’

While this is an extra step, the app is free and extremely easy to use. It can also be configured to work automatically. After ordering with a credit card through Shopify Payments or a payment gateway, the download link is automatically emailed to the customer to fulfill their order.

That said, there is a limit on how large the product files can be. With Shopify, only products 5GB and under can be sold. Once again, there are ways to work around this through the use of third-party apps, but with this comes added costs.

Shopify and SEO

Search engine rankings play a crucial role in traffic generation for just about any website, so you can’t talk about Shopify or any other ecommerce site builder without discussing SEO. While Shopify’s SEO features are far from amazing, they’re quite good for the most part and compare favorably to Squarespace and other hosted website creation solutions.

How so? Well, Shopify makes managing on-page SEO surprisingly easy. Adding or changing title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and alt text is both simple and straightforward. Adding 301 redirects with Shopify is just as easy. In fact, the platform automatically prompts you to add redirects and even creates them for you whenever page URLs are changed.

That being said, Shopify’s SEO functionality could be improved in a few areas. For example, while being able to customize URLs is nice, Shopify adds prefixes to products and pages. Ideally, the platform wouldn’t add these as Google prefers pages with simpler URL structures.

Changing the names of image files could also be easier. For instance, in order to change the name of a file for SEO purposes, you must re-upload the file after renaming it locally.

Overall, however, Shopify offers robust SEO features that leave little to complain about.

Shopify’s App Store Add-Ons
Shopify’s core features are quite impressive and nothing to scoff at, but it also has a dedicated app store filled with free and paid apps to maximize the functionality of your online store.

Not content with simply creating an app or two, Shopify offers more apps than any other platform. Most of the apps are designed to add a specific function, but some serve no purpose other than allowing the platform to communicate with other tools, like Zendesk.

Nonetheless, the sheer number and variety of apps in the Shopify app store is one of the platform’s biggest selling points. However, they can also be a potential drawback.

Despite providing you with a gigantic range of add-on options to improve site functionality and integration with other tools, many of the Shopify apps must be purchased. Other platforms provide the same level of functionality right out of the box, so you spend less on apps.

Some of Shopify’s most popular types of apps include:

• Advanced reporting and accounting apps
• Data capture apps
• Abandoned cart saver apps

Needless to say, if you need a little more functionality than Shopify’s off-the-shelf features can provide, the platform’s app store is worth a look.

Before moving on, however, we need to address the monkey in the room, or lack there of. MailChimp is one of today’s most popular email marketing platforms, but Shopify lacks an app to officially integrate it into its ecommerce platform. In fact, due to some issues regarding privacy and data protection, the much-anticipated integration of the two platforms has been put to a halt.

While you can still use both Shopify and MailChimp, the only way to do so is to perform some time-consuming manual workarounds.

Shopify and Dropshipping
Dropshipping is huge these days, especially with smaller startup stores. With dropshipping, there’s no need to purchase, store, and ship products – a dropshipper does it all for you. In essence, you’re the middle man. You simply send the customer’s order to the dropship supplier, and they’re responsible for delivering the product(s) right to their door.

Keeping pace with the popularity of this business model, Shopify offers a wide variety of dropshipping apps, making the entire process easy as 1-2-3. In fact, when it comes to dropshipping, it’s arguably the best ecommerce platform 

Shopify POS

Another extremely unique and advanced feature of Shopify is its point-of-sale, or POS, functionality. With Shopify’s tills, receipt printers, barcode readers, and other POS hardware, you can sell both online and in a physical store or location. All you need is the right hardware and an Android or iOS device.

With several applications available for these Shopify POS tools, you can sell the same products in your online store offline at an event, pop-up shop, market, or even in a brick and mortar retail location. Not only will your stock count and inventory automatically sync across all sales channels, but you can benefit from accurate reporting as well.

Best of all, you don’t need to go with one of the more expensive plans to take advantage of Shopify’s POS functionality. In fact, you can use a card reader and sell in person with any plan, including Basic Shopify and Shopify Lite. In order to register shifts and create staff pins, however, you will need at least the standard ‘Shopify’ plan.

Nonetheless, Shopify’s POS functionality is a huge selling point, and it can be a game-changer for any small business looking to exploit every sales channel possible.

Shopify’s Abandoned Cart Recovery
If you already have an online business, then you know how aggravating abandoned shopping carts can be and how much they can eat into your bottom line. In fact, according to most stats, abandoned carts can cost businesses up to 15 percent in monthly revenue. Shopify’s abandoned cart recovery functionality solves this problem.