Darren

Shopify Turbo Theme Review: Take Your Store to the Next Level

Hi, it’s Darren. Are you looking for a Turbo Shopify theme review? In today’s post, we will review the Turbo Shopify theme and decide if this is the best Shopify theme for your e-commerce business.

The Turbo theme is focused on one thing, and that is speed. But why is speed important?

Remember a time when you clicked on a website but hit the back button after waiting a few seconds because it was taking too long to load?

As an e-commerce business owner, having a slow website is setting yourself up for failure.

People these days have a very short attention span and are more likely to abandon your site if you’re using a slow theme that is not optimized for speed.

If your store takes longer than 3 seconds to load, they will click the back button and shop on a competitors store instead.

You can use GTMETRIX to check the performance of your website.

Make sure your images are compressed to reduce their size. You can use tinypng to compress your images in bulk and it is completely free to use.

However, the Turbo theme is developed for performance and optimized for mobile devices.

Let’s dive in deeper.

Click here to check out Turbo Shopify theme. <

What is the Shopify Turbo Theme?

The Turbo theme was created by an award-winning Out of the sandbox team who specializes in creating Shopify themes.

The Turbo theme comes in 5 styles named after cities such as Chicago, Dubai, Florence, Portland, and Seoul.

Each theme style has its own font style, color palette, and page layout. They all share similar functionality and features but it’s the smaller details which sets them apart.

Chicago Theme Style

The Chicago style uses bold colors, font styles, and large images to create a strong visual impact.

The full-screen banner creates a dramatic first impression. Clicking on the banner will play a video.

It’s great to see the theme allows you to embed YouTube videos to your home page.

Navigation is very easy with the help of drop-down menus. The header is very clean and intuitive

Below the banner, you can display featured tiles which can be linked to specific collections or blog page.

You can also display a featured product to showcase your best selling product. Customers can add the product to their cart without viewing the product page.

Scrolling further down, it looks like you can add more images with text, banners and featured products.

The theme has made it easy to showcase your latest blog posts and a secondary search bar to let visitors search your site without needing to scroll back up to the top.

In the footer area, you can link your social media profiles, display a disclaimer and links to pages with important information.

I had a quick look at the product page and noticed it is quite dark. There’s no contrast between the product and the background.

So if your product images are dark, it will not stand out on your page.

You can also display related products to offer alternative products.

Dubai Theme Style

The Dubai theme style has an elegant and strong appearance.

The layout utilizes subtle colors and a lot of white space to give you a clutter-free interface and makes navigating your store easier.

The Dubai chic style is perfect for Shopify stores selling fashion accessories and jewelry.

The header navigation is very simple and the drop down mega menu is great for organizing your product categories.

You can also display a promotional banner to let your customers know about special events or discount codes.

Under the header navigation is the full-width slideshow. This feature is great for displaying high-quality images of your products.

Lifestyle photos with people wearing or using your product can help with conversion rates. You can also add a button on the slideshow to direct your customers to specific pages and collections.

Below the slideshow, you can display featured collections, featured products, secondary slideshow, and latest blog posts.

In the footer, there is an area for customers to sign up to your newsletter, link your social media profiles and links to your categories and pages with important information about your store.

Having a quick look at the product page, I noticed there is a lot of emphasis on the product images.

Combined with the white background it really makes the product stand out and looks premium.

You can also display discounted pricing, social share icons, product reviews, and related products.

Florence Theme Style

The Florence theme style will give your Shopify store a sleek and professional look without the expensive development costs.

Similar to the Dubai style, the Florence style also uses white space and large images to create a layout without clutter.

Under the header, you can display featured collections on a split screen, secondary search bar, image boxes which you can add text to highlight specific details about your products.

You can also link your Instagram to your store and display your latest posts on the home page.

Towards the bottom of the theme, you can display customer testimonials, send feedback and VIP members to sign up area which you can use to collect more email addresses.

Portland Theme Style

The Portland Theme Style was designed for performance and mobile usability. It uses an elegant font style and color palette, combined with large imagery for more visual impact.

The Portland style uses a full-screen banner and allows you to display two buttons which takes the user to a specific collection.

It’s best to use a darker image for the banner, as the text in the navigation will be difficult to read if it is set to white.

Below the banner, you can display category tiles which takes the customer to your collections, about us or blog page. This helps customers find what they are searching for on your store more quickly.

You can also display featured collections, products, secondary slideshow and image blocks with text.

If your customer scrolls all the way down the page and wants to search for something, they can do so with a secondary search bar.

You can also embed a YouTube or Vimeo video to display on your home page.

The footer is clean and easy to use. You can display social icons and payment badges to let your customers know what type of payments you accept on your store.

The Portland theme is perfect for stores selling sporting goods such as athleisure, workout yoga equipment.  

The product page is clean and clutter free. The main emphasis is on the product images and add to cart button.

Seoul Theme Style

The Seoul theme style uses smooth rounded font style and shapes combined with a warm color palette. It creates a sophisticated looking website with user-friendly navigation.

The theme uses a full-width banner which you can use to display high-quality product images. There’s also a button to direct your customers to specific pages.

Below the slideshow, you can display featured products, collections and image gallery. Clicking on an image will enlarge it to highlight smaller details.

Similar to the other styles, there is a secondary search bar below the fold.

You can also display the latest blog posts and featured on logos. If your business was featured on any news media outlets to create credibility.

Towards the bottom of the page, there’s an area for customers to contact your business. You can also display your business phone number and a short description.

Turbo Shopify Theme Features

Product Row Sliders

Showcase multiple products from a collection on your home page.

It’s a quick method to display more content without customizing the layout.

Customers can navigate the row slider by the left and right of the screen.

Testimonials

You can display customer testimonials to create more trust and credibility with new visitors. Toggle through each testimonial using the navigation on the sides.

FAQ

Customers can access your FAQ page to find answers to common questions they might have about your business.

Having a FAQ page also helps reduce emails from customers who are asking the same questions again and again.

Customizable Page Templates

You can turn on and off specific features you want to be displayed on your store. Customizing the layout to fit your brand’s personality without sacrificing performance.

Interactive Mini Cart

When you add a product to the cart, hovering over the cart will display an area for your customers to add a note to their order on certain theme styles.

Customers can also adjust the quantity number in the mini cart without having to go to the cart page.

Ultra-fast Navigation

The Turbo theme is built for speed and performance.

Browsing and navigating around each theme is very smooth and fluid. Pages load quickly, transitions are smooth and navigation is intuitive

Your store will always be updated with the latest features without any extra fees.

What are the benefits of using Turbo theme?

Built for speed: The developers of Turbo are consistently improving their theme. Your store will always be up to date with the new features without any extra costs.

Customer Service: If you’re having trouble with setting up the Turbo theme, you can check their Theme Help Center, Turbo theme support articles and updating the theme is a simple process of using the Theme Updater app

Made for all sizes: Regardless if you are selling one product or one hundred products, Turbo can be used on a variety of different business niches.

Predictive Live Search:  Similar to Google search, the theme can predict what the customer is looking by analyzing the keywords being typed by the user.

This feature can help customers find what they are looking for more quickly.

The easier you can make their shopping experience, the more likely they will make a purchase and return to your store in the future.

Tutorials: There are step-by-step video tutorials to help you with setting up and customizing your theme.

Click here to check out Turbo Shopify theme. <

What are users saying about the theme

After reading pages of the feedback left by other users, I couldn’t find any real complaints about the theme. Most users say they love using the Turbo theme on their Shopify store.

Their support team is also very responsive and they over deliver with their customer service. It’s great to see a company passionate about their product and helping their customers succeed.

It’s safe to say, Turbo is a premium and high-quality theme. It’s fast and looks very professional. People may think you had paid thousands of dollars to create your sleek website.

It may seem expensive, especially if you’re just a beginner, but I think its worth every dollar. If you had the capital and opportunity to upgrade your store, I would highly recommend taking a look at the Turbo theme.

With any theme, there will be a learning curve before you master the platform. But don’t worry too much, there are video tutorials and a help center for your support.

How much does Turbo Theme cost?

To install the Turbo theme on your store, it will cost $350. If you’re making consistent sales, the theme will eventually pay for itself.

The number of features included will cost you more money monthly fees if you were to install third-party apps on a standard Shopify theme.

If you’re serious about your store, this theme is a worthwhile investment.

Click here to purchase Turbo Shopify theme. <

Conclusion

Overall, I would rate the Turbo theme 4.5 out of 5 stars. The high price tag may scare you away, but this is a theme which has all the features you need to take your store to the next level.

It comes with 5 different theme styles for you to choose from to match your brand’s personality.

Even Though the price tag does seem a bit high, you will eventually make your money back by converting more customers and making more sales from using the Turbo theme.

You can use the Turbo theme up to 14 days. If you don’t like it, you will receive your money back no questions asked.

Thanks for reading my Turbo theme review. If you have any questions about the Turbo theme, let me know in the comments below.

Click here to purchase Turbo Shopify theme. <

Shopify Booster Theme Review: Is it Possible to Double Your Conversions?

booster-theme

Originally named Shopify Booster, the name was later rebranded to Booster Theme.

The Booster Theme is equipped with all the features you need to double your conversions.

In today’s Booster Theme review, we will take a look at the features, benefits and  how it can help your online business.

Click here to get Booster theme. < 

What is the Shopify Booster Theme?

When I was looking for a new theme for my dropshipping business, I noticed an ad on my Facebook newsfeed about Booster Theme.

I guess they targeted me since I visited other websites related to Shopify themes.

The Booster Theme is equipped with many features to maximize your conversion rate and average order value.

You can customize the layout, edit the font styles, colors, page format and many more.

Compared to a standard Shopify theme, you will have to pay extra fees every month if you wanted to certain features that is not included with the theme.

Booster has included all the addon’s you will need for a high converting store. This saves you money over time.

Booster Theme Demo Store

I spent a few minutes quickly browsing one of the demo stores available on their sales page. Overall, it looks very clean and user friendly.

The first thing I noticed was the full width banner at the top of the page. This is great for displaying high quality photos of your products.

Below the banner, you can display products from specific collections such as your best sellers. Hovering over each product tile will display a button to view more details.

Under the products you can upload images of your products and write a short description explaining the finer details.

Scrolling down further, you can display another web banner in the background with text. The parralax effect is pretty cool feature.

Just below the banner, you can display more product collections. For example, if you dropshipping store selling watches, you can display collections for different types of watches.

You can also display customer testimonials to increase trust and credibility, collect your customers email addresses and display more images and text to further highlight your products and brand personality.

In the footer you can display social icons, newsletter signup, payment icons and links to your pages containing important information about your business.

The Product page layout is very clean and clutter free. I love the simplicity and the twitch effect on the button to draw the customers attention to click on it.

You can also display related products to keep your customers shopping on your website longer.

I would use a better designed set of trust badges. The ones used in the demo store looks very unprofessional.

The font used is very easy to read and looks great on mobile. The only thing I found kind of annoying is the product counter.

On mobile it takes up a lot of the screen when stacked on top of the button.

When I clicked on the Buy It Now button, it took me straight to the checkout page, skipping the cart page.

This is an interesting feature not many premium themes offer on their store and it’s great to see Booster Theme has taken it into consideration.

The Cart and Checkout page are just the standard Shopify layout and navigation.

Click here to check out the demo store. < 

Booster Theme Features

Mobile Friendly

The Booster theme is optimized for most modern smartphones and has made it easy to shop on mobile devices. The theme will automatically detect and adjust its layout to fit on any size screen perfectly.

If you’re dropshipping, most of your marketing will be invested on Facebook and Instagram ads. Your customers are more likely to be using their mobile devices when they see your ad.

You can display the product price, sale price, countdown timer, product variations and add to cart button above the fold to minimise scrolling.

Studies have shown mobile traffic is increasing rapidly, so it’s best to have a theme that will keep your store compatible with the latest technology. Source..

Direct to Checkout

This is a very useful feature I have seen used on a small number of Shopify themes.

Enabling this feature on the Boost theme will allow your customers to skip the cart page and take them straight to the checkout page where they enter their shipping and payment details.

The fewer steps a customer needs to complete a transaction on the front end of your store, the more sales you will be able to generate with ease.

Social Proof Sales Notification

When enabled, these popups will be displayed on the left corner of the screen which shows recent customer purchases.

Yes these are fake, however, it helps provide social proof and increase trust for new visitors to your website.

These popups can also create a sense of urgency for products currently on sale, persuading the customers to buy from your business more quickly..

I personally find this feature annoying everytime i see it used on an e-commerce store. Use these popups with caution.

Countdown Timer

This is another scarcity tactic used on Shopify stores to create a sense of urgency. You can set the timer to start from any time, but remember to be reasonable with it,

If you set it too short, the timer will end too soon. This will look kind of strange if the customer can see the product is still in stock or the discount is still applied to the product regardless of the timer.

Visitor Counter

You know that feeling when you walk into a store and it’s just you and the employee, feels kind of lonely and awkward…

Having a fake visitor counter can help new customers feel more welcomed on your store.

Enabling this feature will make your store look more popular and trustworthy.

This feature can be useful for new drop shippers with a new Shopify store.

I personally wouldn’t use this feature on more own store but it would be interesting to test to see if there are any difference in your conversion rate.

Cross Sell Pop up

This feature is great for increasing the average or value on your store. The popup will recommend related products before a customer checkouts.

For example, if a customer is purchasing a tent, you can upsell them a torch or a foldable chair since they are most likely going to be outdoors.

You can add and display up to 6 products.

Currency Converter

The currency converter in the Booster theme will automatically change product prices based on the on the customers Geo Ip.

For example, say your business is setup in the United States, by default the prices on your store are set to USD.

If someone from Australia views your store, the prices will be displayed in AUD.

This feature is useful for store owners who are targeting a global audience. It can also help increase your sales.

Most standard Shopify themes won’t be able to automatically change the prices on your store, you will have to use a third party app which has monthly fees.  

Free Plus Shipping Offer

You can offer free products on the frontend of your store. How this works is, you will offer a free product and set the price to $0.

However, the customer will have to cover the shipping costs. The strategy is to collect their email address so you can send them email marketing material in the backend.

Email Discounts

This is another popup to collect your customers email addresses in return of a discount code.

You can customize the popup to match your store’s branding and also adjust the timing, and which pages it should appear.

It is useful for collect email addresses from visitors who are about to leave your store so that you can later send them email marketing to make sales in the future.

Again, use this popup feature with care. You do not want to annoy your visitors with multiple popups on your store.

Product Reviews

By default, the Booster theme has integrated the Product Reviews App made by Shopify. After installing the Booster theme on your store, you will have to install the app and activate the app in the product page settings.

You can also use other review apps but it is not guaranteed to work with the Booster theme flawlessly.

Click here to get Booster theme. < 

What are the benefits of using this theme?

Here are some of the benefits from using Booster:

High Converting Product Page: Booster has kept their product page design minimal, allowing the customer to focus on the product images and add to cart button.

With less distractions, customers can decide to make a purchase more quickly.

Mobile Responsive: The theme looks great and performs very well on mobile devices.

You can tell the developers have a great team with creating a theme that is so fluid.

Navigating the store is easy and intuitive.

Multi Language: Booster can be translated into a different language regardless of your location.

Support: Besides having a great product, Booster has a support team ready to help with operating the theme.

Video: According to the sales page, you can also upload a video onto the home page banner.

Only a small number of standard Shopify themes have this feature.

What are the negatives?

Besides all the amazing features that are included with the Booster theme, let’s take a look at some of the negatives.

Firstly, if there are any future updates for the theme, you will have to reinstall the theme again on your store and reconfigure everything again.

This can be quite annoying if you’re making consistent progress and have to a pause on everything just to make changes to your store.

Secondly, some of the themes included in the Booster theme can be found for free on the Shopify app store.

If you do not need all the apps that comes with Booster theme, you can find alternatives for free instead of paying the $179 for a single license.

Thirdly, since the theme is quite popular, so it is important for you to customize theme so that it looks different from your competition.

If you’re a beginner at dropshipping, your products will most likely be similar to your competition. It is also a good idea to be selective about the features you enable on your store.

Customers can easily pick up if a store is dropshipping products from overseas when they see

What are users saying about this theme?

Checkout the Booster theme feedback from other Shopify store owners.

It seems the theme performs very well for dropshipping and print on demand stores.

Booster Theme Pricing

Ok, so how much does this all cost?

Single License: $179 (1 Shopify store)

2 License: $297 (2 Shopify store)

5 License: $497 (5 Shopify store)

Each license purchased will also include:

  • Native English support 7/7
  • Theme updater app
  • Booster Theme security
  • Unlimited access to the Booster help center
  • Integrated Marketing tools

Conclusion

Overall, I will rate the Booster theme 4 out of 5 star review. I really like the layout and responsiveness of the theme on smaller device.

The features included also helps improve your stores conversions on the frontend as well as the backend.

However, it is best to be selective when enabling certain features.

Too many popups on your store can make it look unprofessional and very distracting while browsing.

Click here to get Booster theme. < 

Booster Theme Alternative

If you’re looking for a more affordable theme which focuses on conversions, read my Ecom Turbo review here. The theme comes with complete training from a 7-figure marketer.

Shopify Jumpstart Theme Review: The Best Theme for Startups

In today’s Jumpstart theme review, we will take a look to see if this is the best theme to start your e-commerce business.

What is the Jumpstart Shopify Theme?

The Jumpstart theme is designed for startup businesses. Unlike most themes, it only coms in one theme style.

The theme helps you setup and launch your store quickly. Keep in mind, its best to have all your branding content ready to go such as high quality images and videos.

The layout starts off with a home page feature video. You can embed a YouTube or Vimeo video to showcase your brands story and products.

This is an opportunity for you to connect and engage with new visitors.

Visitors can play the video by clicking on the green play button. The video will appear with an opacity in the background.

Your customer can adjust the volume and also view the video full screen without leaving your website.

Jumpstart Landing Page Features

I’ve seen a few one product store make well over 6 figures in sales from using the Jumpstart theme.

The theme is simple, user friendly and easy to setup.

Here is a list of features:

Goal Tracking Tool

Just under the video, you can display a campaign tracker to show how close you are to achieving your fundraising goal.

This also creates credibility and increases trust with new visitors.

You can also show the campaign details such as the funded percent, funded amount and the number of backers.

Custom Content Sections

Below the tracking tool, you can show images with a custom message to highlight the features and benefits of your product.

Newsletter

You can collect your visitors emails by enabling newsletter signups on your home page.

Growing an email list will make money for your business in the backend, through email marketing campaigns.

Text Columns with Icons

Under the newsletter, you can add a section which explains the benefits of your product.

Combine icons and short descriptions for customers to quickly digest the information.

Slideshow

The next section under the benefits section is a slideshow where you can upload and add more photos of your product.

This helps new customers understand what your business is about and what products you are offering.

Keep in mind the slideshow images are 1200 px wide so its best to use images with the same dimensions for better results.

FAQ

You can add a FAQ section on your home page to help answer any questions your customers may have.

This also helps reduce the number of emails you will receive from people asking you the same questions.

Answering common questions can also persuade people to invest into your business if it is a startup company.

Each question can be expanded by clicking on the each tab which reveals the answer. It also works well on mobile devices.

News

This section can also be considered as a blog page. You can share content to keep your customers up to date with your business and products.

Blog content can also help build trust and credibility for your branding and business.

About Us

You can add a section on the website to inform your visitors about your business operations.

You can share the business’s vision, mission and values as well as optimizing the page for more web traffic in search engines.

Featured Product

Towards the bottom of the page, you can display a featured product.

Customers can add the product to their cart from the home page. If they click on Full details, it will take them to the product page.

On the product page, the customer can share your product on their social media profiles by clicking on the social icons.

You can also add product descriptions to the product page so that it can persuade them to make a purchase more quickly.

Footer

You can add links to pages containing important information about your business.

This can include Returns and Refunds, Privacy Statement and Terms of Service.

Displaying payment icons also lets your customers know the type of payment methods you accept on your store.

The benefits of using the Jumpstart Theme

“As seen on” Section

You can display the logo’s of media channels which your business or product has been featured on. This helps build credibility and trust for new customers.

Quick tip is to edit the logos so that they are one solid color, perhaps a light grey.

Having too many logos and colors can make your website look spammy.

Built for small catalogs

The Jumpstart theme is well suited for store’s with a small number of products.

The layout is designed to make it easier for your customers to navigate through your store.

Good user experience leads to more sales.

Custom Modules

Customize each section on your home page to display what you like.

You can add blog posts, FAQ’s, image with text and featured products.

Mobile Friendly Design

The theme is responsive on mobile screens. The layout will automatically adjust when it is viewed on a smaller device.

Search Engine Optimization

You can optimize your website with content to help search engines index your website.

Optimizing your blog can also drive more web traffic to your store.

Free stock photos

If you decide to use this theme, you will have access to high quality photos from Shopify’s partner, Burst.

The best thing is, they are completely free to use and you can download as many as you like.

Make sure you choose photos that are related to your business and brand personality.

Social Sharing Icons

You can enable social sharing icons on your home page and product page.

Just link your social media profile URL in the Sections settings. The theme will automatically update these links.

When a customer clicks on any of the icons, they will be directed to your social media profile.

What are users saying about this theme

There are only 11 reviews currently left by users and the rating is not looking so good. Only 36% of users are satisfied with using the theme.

The common complaint most people have that they are not able to see the Buy button after spending hours modifying their website.

However, this problem can easily be fixed if they contacted the Shopify support team.

Conclusion

To wrap this review up, I give the Jumpstart theme a 4.2 out of 5 star rating.

For a free theme, its packed with all the features you need to start your business today. It also looks amazing on desktop and mobile.

You can have a professional looking website without paying hundreds of dollars for a developer.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Narrative Theme Review: The Best Theme for Storytelling

The Narrative theme is designed to keep your visitors engaged on your website.

It’s a free theme created by Shopify and comes with three different styles.

It utilizes an interactive, storytelling layout to showcase your products features and highlights the finer details, similar to the Apple website.

In today’s post, we will review the Narrative theme, its features and benefits.

Keep reading to find out if this is the best theme for you.

What is the Narrative Theme?

The Narrative theme combines a bold and minimalist approach to showcase your brand’s personality and products. The theme comes in three different styles, Warm, Light and Cold.

Although all three styles are similar in functionality, the smaller details is what sets them apart.

Let’s take a closer look at each style.

Warm Theme Style

The Warm theme style lets you display a slideshow on the homepage. Unlike other themes, the Narrative theme utilizes a full window slider.

Keep in mind the images you use in the slider. Depending on the image colors, it can affect how visible your customers can see your logo, menu and cart icons.

However, the slider does not change the images by itself. It will require the user to manually click to change what they currently see on the screen. Constant changes in the slideshow

Under the slider, you can add an image combined with text to showcase what products you sell on your store.

For example, you can display a high-quality photo of coffee beans and include a short description explaining what makes your coffee beans unique and different from your competitors.

Below this section, you can embed a video to create more engagement with your visitors by linking a YouTube video to your home page.

Viewing the video on mobile will trigger be an overlay in the background to put more focus on the video.

If you continue scrolling down the theme, you will have more sections to add product images, customer testimonials and offering customers the opportunity to purchase a gift card.

Just before the footer, you will see a section that is split into two with the right side scrollable. I think this feature is not really important and can be a bit confusing for mobile view.

Light Theme Style

The Light Theme style lets you embed a video on the home page slider. The video will continue to loop automatically.

I’m not the biggest fan on displaying a video on the home page because it can slow down the loading speed of your website. Plus, who would want to see the same thing played over and over again?

The Light theme also lets you add a button on the slider to direct your visitors to a specific collection or the product page. You can also place text on top of the video to provide more context about your business.

Similar to the Warm style layout, you will have sections where you can display images, add text and buttons. This style also has the scrollable right-hand side which is a nice feature to showcase multiple products.

Cold Theme Style

The Cold theme style uses bold colors and masculine font style. The homepage layout is similar to the Light theme. It also displays a full page slider and also lets you embed a video.

Just like the other two styles, you will have sections to display images and text to showcase your brand. If you keep scrolling down, you will notice a section for Featured Collections.

Narrative Theme Features

The Narrative theme is suitable for entrepreneurs with a small niche business. The theme thrives for store owners who have no more than ten products in their catalog.

The layout of the theme was designed to showcase a single product and highlight its features.

If you’re a drop shipper who plans to start a single product store, this theme is perfect for you. You can always add more products in the future if you plan to scale your business.

Here is a list of features of the Narrative theme:

Hero Video

You can upload a video onto your homepage to showcase your brand. This video will be displayed above the fold in full screen on a continuous loop.

The widescreen layout looks amazing when being viewed on mobile.

Visual Storytelling

The layout of the theme was designed to take your customer on a journey. As they are scrolling from top to bottom, the theme’s layout will display your content in a storytelling layout.

For example, if you are selling handmade jewelry you can use close up product images to demonstrate the finer details. This makes your website more engaging and interactive.

Fixed Navigation

When a customer is browsing your website, scrolling up will trigger the header. This keeps navigation simple and easy for your visitors.

Vertical Slideshow

You can display your business information, photos and blog posts in a vertical slideshow. To view more content, just scroll down on the slider.

Wide Layout

You can showcase high-quality images to demonstrate your brand’s personality.

Take advantage of the full width.layout. The layout is responsive and performs amazingly well on smaller screen devices.

What are the Benefits of Using This Theme

Besides the features and full-width layout, Shopify has added a few little details which make the theme perform even better.

Benefits of using this theme include:

Custom Content Sections

You can customize what you want to be displayed on your website. For example, if you do not like the image blocks, it can be easily taken off your website by adjusting the settings.

Mobile Friendly

This theme looks and performs great on desktop and mobile.

The theme will automatically adjust its layout and content to fit the screen it’s currently viewed on.

This ensures your customers can easily navigate when browsing your website.

I have seen many free Shopify themes which looked great on desktop, however, it was the total opposite when viewed on a smaller device.

It’s disappointing to see amazing themes on a desktop that are not responsive to mobile screens.

Footer

You can add links in the footer which directs your customers to pages containing important information about your business.

These pages can include Terms of Service, Return and Refund Policy, Shipping and a Contact Us page for customers to communicate with you in case something goes wrong.

There’s also a section on the footer where you can collect your customer’s email addresses. Building an email list for your business can help you make more sales in the backend by sending email marketing material.

Social Media

You can link your social media profiles to your website in the theme’s admin settings.

If a customer clicks on one of the icons, they will be directed to your social media profile page. This helps with social proof and increasing trust with new visitors.

If they logged into their account, they can also share your website on their profile and friends.  

Free Photography

If you don’t have the budget for professional photos, especially if you’re just starting out with drop shipping, you can download free images from Shopify’s partner, Burst.

Just make sure you pick photos that are related and consistent to your brand’s personality and niche.

Blog

One way to increase your web traffic is to upload blog posts onto your website. Sharing blog posts rich in content will help search engines understand what your website is about.

You can optimize your content to contain keywords that people are searching for to attract new visitors to your store.

Make sure you format your blog posts so that the content is easy to digest, to keep a consistent user experience.

What are Users Saying About This Theme

The common complaint about this theme are images being cropped on mobile devices.

A quick way to solve this problem is to pick images with a focal point in the middle. This helps the slider to display the most important section of the photo on a smaller screen.

It will take some time to find the best photo, but in the end, the results are worth it.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Minimal Theme Review: The Art of a Minimalist Theme

If you’re a fan of minimalist website design, you might want to keep on reading…

It’s important to keep your website clean and well organized so customers can easily find what they are looking for without getting distracted.

In today’s post, we will review the Minimal theme and also take a look at its features and how your business can benefit from using it.

The Minimal theme focuses on a clutter free user interface and clean layout and comes with three different styles.

Choosing the right theme before your store goes live will save you a lot of time in the future.

If you change your mind and wanted to use a different theme later on, you will have to start your store from scratch.

This means uploading products, writing product titles and descriptions all over again. So its best to spend a bit of time and invest into a theme which suits your business needs.

What is the Shopify Minimal Theme?

minimal-theme-review

The Minimal Shopify theme is a free theme built by Shopify. This theme is a popular choice amongst dropshipping beginners.

The theme comes in three different styles such as Vintage, Fashion and Modern.

vintage-theme-style

The Vintage style uses a minimal website layout with a bold color palette and font style.

The theme displays blog content instead of featured collections or products under the slider.

Below the blog entries, you can display two rows of products and a featured product to highlight your best seller.

The Fashion style puts more emphasis on it’s image tiles to promote your stores products. This style is suitable for store owners in the apparel and fashion niche. It uses a light color scheme and elegant font style.

fashion-theme-style

The slider is wider compared to the Vintage style and below that, you can display different collections.

You can also display information about your business and include a map of your business’ physical location.

These homepage features helps new customers to quickly understand what your business is about.

If you can’t decide between the two, you can consider using the Modern style instead. This Modern style combines features from the previous two styles

modern-theme-style

It has an earthy color scheme with bold font style and you can display up to eight collections on your home page underneath the slider.

Minimal Shopify Theme Features

theme-features

Here is a list of features you can expect from using the Minimal theme:

Slideshow: You can display different banners to highlight products and special promotions that is currently available on your store. What I like about the Minimal slideshow is ability to add a button to direct customers to a collection or product page.

Home Page Video: Videos can be used to engage customers with your brand. You can embed a video on your home page by linking a YouTube or Vimeo video to your home page.

Product Image Zoom: Ecommerce giants like Amazon and eBay use this feature to allow their customers to see the product’s details and features up close.

Since customers cannot physically touch the product, this feature can help persuade customers to make a purchase when shopping online.

Product Filtering: You can setup filtering options to help your customers find the products they are looking for quickly.

This can improve your conversion rates by creating a smoother shopping experience on your store.

Filtering options include color, categories, prices, brands, most popular and many more.

Related Products: The Minimal theme will automatically display related products on your store to increase your Average Order Value.

This feature is widely used by e-commerce businesses to boost revenue.

Home Page Customization: You can easily add or remove certain features on your home page.

For example, as a dropshipper you don’t really want to display a map of your location.

You can also display different collections and products depending on the season or global events.

Mobile Responsive: The Minimal theme will automatically adjust the layout of your store to suit the device it is currently being viewed on.

mobile-friendly

Color Palettes:  If you don’t like the default theme colors, you can change the colors to suit your store’s branding.

Besides color, you can also change the font style to engage customers to your content.

SEO: You can edit product titles, descriptions, page titles and tags to make it easier for search engines to rank your store.

Optimizing your store for search engines is a great method of driving organic traffic to your business.

Footer:  The footer of your website should include all the important information about your business such as your Refund and Return Policy, Shipping details, Terms and Conditions, links to your social media profiles and how customers can contact you incase something goes wrong with their order.

Minimal Shopify Theme Backend Features

You can easily modify the features of this theme to match your store’s branding and personality by accessing the Theme editor.

Here is a list of features which you can customize on your store:

Header: Upload an image of your logo in a .png format so that is has a transparent background. The recommended image size is 450px x 200px.

You can also add a message in the header to let customers know about special promotions, events, contact details or even a slogan.

header-message

To customize the logo follow these steps:

  • Click on Sections > Header.
  • Click on Select image
  • You can select an image from your computer by clicking on the Library tab, and then the plus button.
  • Enter the logo’s width in pixels > Save

You can also edit the message you want to appear in the header of your website.

Product Page: You can add or remove certain features by accessing the Product pages section. Keep in mind you can not add new products in this section.

product-page

Slideshow: Create a slideshow on your home page that shows up to six images. You can adjust how often you want each slide to change and the transition effect.

slideshow

It is recommended you use images that are 1280 x 460 px in size.

To customize your slideshow follow these steps:

Online Store > Themes

Find Minimal and click on Customize

Click on Slideshow > Adjust settings > Save

Video: Create interest and engagement by adding video content on your home page.

To embed a video follow these steps:

Online Store > Themes

Find Minimal > Click on Customize

Click on Sections > Add section > Video

Enter a heading for your video

Enter the share link > Save

Featured Collections: You can feature a collection on your home to promote sales and new products. You can add and remove products whenever you like.

To feature a collection on your home page follow these steps:

Online Store > Themes > Minimal

Click on Sections tab > Click on Featured collection

You can adjust the rows, display products on sale, center product titles below product images and also display or hide vendor or brand names.

You can also display products that are sold out which will be displayed with a circle label indicating the product is out of stock.

What are the Benefits of Using the Minimal Theme?

Besides all the wonderful features, how will this theme benefit your business?

Here is a list of the advantages of using the Minimal Shopify theme:

Newsletter: You can collect your customers email addresses so that you can send updates, promotions and personalized coupons.

Your email list is an asset which generates sales on the backend of your business when you implement email marketing.

The subscription form is located towards the bottom of the website. You can edit the text to entice your customers to subscribe to your list.

You can also offer free tips, eBooks and coupon codes after your customer signs up.

newsletter

Cost: This theme is free to use and you don’t have to worry about any monthly fees. If Shopify updates their software, your theme will also be updated at no extra cost.

Blog: You can write and publish blog posts when you use this theme. Blog posts can be shared on your social media profiles where it can be re-share to create engagement and interest for your business.

blog

Blog posts can also drive organic traffic from search engines. This is a bonus since you do not need to spend any money for this source of traffic once you publish a blog post.

What are Users Saying About the Theme?

user-feedback

Every theme has its strengths and weaknesses.

I had a look through the feedback left by previous users who have used the theme and I noticed two common problems.

The first problem are the social media icons sometimes are not displayed on the website but are replaced by numbers.

All you have to do is disable the social media icons and re-active them on the website.

The second problem people have with the theme are the colors not changing when adjusted in the backend settings.

These issues can easily be fixed by contacting the support team and won’t affect the customers user experience when they are navigating your store.

Conclusion

Overall, I would rate the Minimal theme a 4 out of 5 star.

It doesn’t have the same visual impact compared to themes like Brooklyn and Supply.

However, the theme is very easy to use and also saves you money and time from hiring a developer.

The features and benefits you get with this free theme surpasses its negatives points.

I highly recommend the Minimal theme for Shopify beginners.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Debut Theme Review: Is This the Best Free Theme for Drop Shipping Beginners?

Drop shipping has risen in popularity as a method of making money online.

But first, you will need to setup a website as the foundation for your business.

This is where the Shopify ecommerce platform comes into play.

Shopify has made it easy for beginners to set up their online store quickly.

All you have to do is sign up, pick a theme, upload the theme and you’re done.

However, with so many themes currently available, which one do you choose?

In today’s post, we will review the Debut theme and take a look at its features and benefit to see if this is the right theme for you.

This theme comes in two simple and elegant styles making your website look professional without the extra costs of hiring a developer.

What is the Shopify Debut Theme?

debut-theme-review

Debut is a free Shopify theme suitable for most store owners regardless of your inventory size.

You can setup your store quickly and start selling your products in no time. The Debut theme will make your website look professional without the high costs of hiring a developer to create from scratch.

Just a reminder, if you do decide to change your theme in the future, you will have to build and re-upload all your products, images, titles and descriptions again.

Your new theme will not be automatically updated with your current products.

The Debut theme comes in two styles, Default and Light.

Both theme styles utilise a widescreen slideshow where you can upload multiple images to showcase your products and brand personality.

You can also adjust the height of the slideshow, how often the slides change, add text and buttons, and choose where you want to direct your customers when they interact with the banners.

Default Theme Style

default-style
Default Style

The Default theme style is much more masculine compared to the Light style.

The theme style color palette is very simple, putting more emphasis on the images. It also uses a combination of font styles which makes reading information on your store effortless.

The Default theme does not include a banner above the header. This banner can come in handy when you have sales, promotional events or coupons you want customers to see when they visit your store.

The header is made up of a three column layout. On the left side, you can add your brand logo, in the middle is where your customers can navigate your store.

On the right hand side is the Search function and Cart where customers can view the products they want to purchase.

Under the slideshow, you can display product images or content to create engagement with your brand.

featured-content

A nice feature I like is the ability to zoom in on the featured product images, similar to a product page.

You can also display customer reviews to create social proof and increase trust with your customers.

customer-testiomonials

Below that, you can display featured collections to highlight your store’s products.

Light Theme Style

light-style
Light Style

The Light theme style uses an elegant color scheme and simple font styles.

The first difference you will notice is the promotional banner in the header of the theme. You can use this banner to let your customers know about special offers, such as Free Shipping or discounts codes.

promotional-banner

Below the slideshow, you can display specific collections to highlight new products or products on sale.

trending-products

The Light style also includes a secondary slideshow you can use to showcase your products potential.

For example, if you have a home decor store, displaying lifestyle photos of your products helps create the perceived value of high quality product. It also builds authority for your brand and store.

Further down, you can also embed a video from your YouTube or Vimeo account. Video content is an easy way to engage and connect with your customers.

video-embed

Below the video, you can display product collections so your customers have a clear understanding of the products your store sells.

Debut Theme Features

theme-features

Besides the layout, let take a look at the features which turns this free theme into a professional one.

Product Filtering: Your customers can filter products by price, type and best sellers when the are browsing for products in your collections. This helps your customers find the right item quickly leading to more purchases.

Multi Level Menu: You can create easy navigation on your store by using drop-down menus.

Drop down menus are used to organised your products which makes it easier for your customers to find the right category. Drop-down menus are great for store’s with large inventories.

For example, a customer can click on Catalog and then select from the Organise or Protect category.

drop-down-menu

Customer Testimonials: Customer testimonials can be displayed on specific pages on your store.

You will have to type up these testimonials manually in the settings. I noticed this feature is not available in most free themes.

Customer feedback can be collected from your social media profiles and is a great way of creating social proof and trust for new customers.

customer-testiomonials

Promotional Banner:  The promotional banner is used to grab the customers attention to let them know about special promotions, events and discounts. Promotional banners when used correctly can increase your sales.

You can adjust the colour and text of the banner to match your branding.

promotional-banner

What are the benefits of using the Debut theme

Here’s a list of benefits from using this theme:

Image Zoom: As mentioned earlier, you can feature a product on the home page. Customers can zoom in on the image when they hover their mouse cursor on top.

zoom-product-02

This feature is great for store owners who are selling products with small details like hand made jewellery.

Responsive Design: The contents on your website will adapt to the size of the screen it is currently being viewed on.

This is important because you want to provide your customers with the best user experience regardless of the device they are using.

mobile-friendly

Social Media Icons: Link your social media profiles to your store. Visitors who click on these social icons will be directed to your social media accounts.

Social media platforms are a great way for customers to share your content and attract new visitors to your business.

You can connect Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter profiles by adding your links to the theme settings. The theme will then automatically update these links when your website goes live.

social-icons

Blog: On the homepage, you can display your featured blog posts and stories. Having a blog on your website allows you to share content with your audience.

Your blog posts can also be a tutorial or helpful information to provide them guidance when they are shopping on your. It also creates authority and trust for your brand.

Blog posts can also be found by search engines and is a good source of free traffic to your business.

blog-post

Map: If you have a physical location for your business you can display a map on your home page. This feature is great for brick-and-mortar businesses so customers to easily find your store.

map

What are users saying about this theme

user-feedback

Taking a look at the feedback from previous users, it seems as though the theme has issues when it’s viewed on mobile devices.

Images on the website will not automatically adjust itself to fit the screen. This means your customers will only see a small area of the photo. Your customers will have to do a bit of scrolling to see the rest of the photo.

This is a big problem, especially if the majority of your traffic comes from mobile.

Conclusion

Overall, I would rate this Shopify theme 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Debut does have many great features and does make your website look professional.

Whats more impressive is the cost of the theme. Debut is completely free to use and is made by Shopify themselves.

However, the one key issue which makes this theme fall short is the “Mobile-friendly design”.

Many users have reported the theme not performing as well on mobile devices. Sure it looks great on desktop, however can be problematic on certain mobile devices.

Images appearing cropped and elements on the page overlapping each other. This leaves your website looking cluttered and unprofessional.

With more customers using their smartphones for online shopping, you would want to steer away from the Debut theme until Shopify fixes these issues.

Hope this review has helped you with deciding if you should use this theme or not.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Supply Theme Review: Is This the Best Free Theme on Shopify?

Choosing the right Shopify theme before you launch your online store can be challenging.

There are so many themes to choose from with similar features. However, not all of these themes are suitable for the same niches.

Picking the wrong theme can set you back in the future if you plan on changing your theme.

This means you will have to start from the beginning…

In today’s post, we will go through the features of the Supply theme to see if it is the best fit for your Shopify store.

What is the Shopify Supply Theme?

The Supply theme is a free theme developed by Shopify.

It has a clean, minimalist design and easy-to-navigate and best used by store owners’ how have large inventories.

You can upload more than 50 products and up to 5 collections.

The Supply theme comes in two styles, Blue and Light.

The noticeable differences between the two styles are its color palette and font styles.

Below the home page slideshow, you can display 6 collections and under that, a featured collection to showcase your best sellers or any special promotions.

You can also display specific product categories so that new visitor’s to your online store understand what you sell and how you are different from competitors.

On the other hand, the Light theme only allows you to display for collections on the home page and a featured collection below that.

Both theme styles can be customized with an easy to navigate layout. The photos and collections are arranged to avoid clutter.

Supply Shopify Theme Features

The main features are focused on creating an easy to navigate  

Websites that are difficult to navigate or look very cluttered will drive away customers.  

Here is a list of the main features of the Supply theme:

Large Product Catalog: Most free themes will only let you upload up to 50 products. With this theme, you can upload much more than that.

The Supply theme is suitable for store owners with a large inventory of products such as wristwatches, watches and fashion accessories.

Feature Collections: Other free themes will limit the number of collections you can display on your home page.

However, with the Supply theme, you can showcase up to six collections.

This helps communicates enables customer’s to start shopping on your website.

Collection Filtering: You can activate a filtering module so your customers can check or uncheck boxes to filter their search by price, brand and many more.

Home page Slideshow: You can add multiple images for the home page slideshow

However, you can only add images and can not upload any videos

The slideshow does not have any clickable links or buttons to direct your visitor to a collection or product page.

Supply Shopify Theme Backend Features

You can customize certain features on your website

Content Sections: You can modify how you want the sections to look on your home page.

If you do not want to display a featured collection you can easily remove it from the theme.

You can decide on the number of product rows to display and also able to modify the footer to suit your business.

Customize Slider: you can modify the number of slides on the home page. Keep in mind the Slider is not full screen.

You can also adjust how frequent you want the slides to change.

SEO: You can optimize your product title and descriptions by altering the Meta Title and Meta description. Doing so will allow search engines to crawl your store and help you index your content.

Drop down: You can enable drop downs from your stores’ menu. Dropdowns help organize your products into categories.

Customers can navigate your store with ease and takes them directly to the products they are looking for.

For example, your main category is “Cases”. Under that, you can display related categories such as Straps, Shoulder Bags, Backpacks and many more.

Social Media: You can display social media icons which you can link to your social media accounts.

All you have to do is type the URL of your social media profile in the theme settings and they will be automatically integrated with your store.

For example. When a customer clicks on the Instagram icon, they will be directed to your Instagram profile.

You also have the option to add pages like About Us, blog posts, Shipping Details and Return Policies. The more information you can provide creates a hassle-free shopping experience for your customers.

Advanced Theme Features

Header: You can customize your header to display certain features. For example, you can upload a logo, display a simple message for your customers.

Follow these steps to customize the header:

  • Click on the Sections tab.
  • Click on Header.
  • Select a menu > Save

Footer: The footer of every website should contain all the important information about your business. Some of the features you can add to your footer include an About Us page, Contact Us, Shipping, Returns and Refund Policy, Payment Icons, newsletter signup and Quicklinks.

Follow these steps to customize the footer:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes.
  • Click on Supply >Customize.
  • Click on  Sections.
  • Click on Footer > Check the features you want to display > Save

Payment Icons: You can display payment icons in the footer to let your customers know the different payment methods you accpet on your store. Simple check the of the payment options you accpet on your store and the theme will display these icons accordingly.

Product Page: This is where your customer will analyze all the information they need to know before buying the item.

You can create discounts to show customers how much they will be saving if they were to make a purchase. With other Shopify themes, you will have to use a third party app to display this feature.

Another feature I like is the zoom functionality for product images. Similar to Amazon, you can zoom into the photos by hovering your mouse over the image to give you a better understanding of the product design and features.

You can also display stock information to let customers know how many products are left. This feature can help increase your sales by creating scarcity.

Other features you can display on your product pages include social sharing icons, customer reviews, related products and dynamic checkout button.

To edit your product page features, follow these steps:

  • Themes > Click on Product pages.
  • Click on Sections.
  • Click on Product.
  • Check the settings you want to display on the product page > Save.

What are theBenefits of Using the Supply Theme

Here is a list of benefits of using this theme for your business:

Cost: The Supply theme is completely free to use. There are no hidden costs or any subscription fees besides your monthly Shopify bill.

Customization: You can customize many elements and features of the theme to match your brand’s identity and personality.

Updates: As an official Shopify theme, you will receive free updates to keep your store compatible with Shopify’s software.

Technology is constantly changing so it is important to keep your store fast and fluid with different devices.

Responsiveness: The theme will automatically adjust itself when customers view your store on their mobile devices.

Email Subscription: You can collect your customers email addresses by displaying a newsletter sign up form on your store. To collect more email addresses, you can offer discounts, coupons, freebies or helpful content to entice customers to give you their email address.

Unlike the annoying pop ups you may have come across on other themes, this newsletter sign up form is much more subtle and less distracting when a customer is browsing your store.

Product Reviews: You can easily integrate a Product Review app to collect feedback and product reviews from customers who have made a purchase on your store.

Displaying reviews on your store builds trust and provides social proof to engage new visitors to your business.

What are users saying about this theme?

From reading the reviews left by other users, I noticed two common problems.

The first problem relates to viewing the theme on older browsers. Drop-downs are not functional if a customer views your store on Internet Explorer.

It’s always a good idea to test your website on different web browsers and devices before you launch your store online.

The second problem is the liquid coding language used by the Shopify platform.

I recommend hiring a developer who specialises in this coding language if you want to modify the theme to suit your needs.

Compared to other themes I have reviewed, these problems are minor.

Conclusion

To wrap up this review, I rate the Supply theme a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The benefits of the theme definitely out weighs the negatives.

The clean minimal design is great for store owners who have a large inventories and multiple categories.

The layout is designed to create a clutter free user experience, putting more emphasis on your products design and its features.

You can easily customize the colors, fonts and features to match your branding and personality. Integrating marketing apps can improve your store’s conversion rate and boost your sales.

If you’re a Shopify beginner, give this free theme a go!

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Brooklyn Theme Review: Why is This Theme so Popular?

What is the Brooklyn Theme for Shopify?

brooklyn-theme-review

Before you launch your online business, you have to make sure you pick the right theme.

With so many themes available, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your store.

Having a bad looking theme will have a negative effect on your business, especially for first impressions.

Research shows 70% of consumers refuse to make a purchase if the website is designed poorly.

In today’s post, we will take a look at the Brooklyn Shopify theme to see if the layout, style, and features are best suited for your business.

This theme is perfect for business owners who are selling apparel and is a popular choice amongst new drop shippers.

Brooklyn Theme Features

Theme Styles: Brooklyn comes with 2 styles, classic and playful.

Each style has its own color palette and font style.

classic-style
Classic Style
playful-style
Playful Style

Sleek Design: The Brooklyn theme helps store owners showcase their products with large image tiles.

Showing how an outfit will look on a model can help resonate with customers and create brand loyalty.

This would be more difficult to achieve if the theme only shows small images.

Slide Show: Both theme styles include slideshows which you can use to display important information about your product or to promote a product.

A slide show is a series of images which transitions over time.

widescreen-slider

Home Page Video: You can upload a video to YouTube or Vimeo and link it back to your online store.

This feature is quite useful if you have a promotional video about your business or products.

Customers can watch the video directly on your website without the need of visiting YouTube or Vimeo.

Dynamic Product Grid: The theme will automatically adjust its layout based on the number of products available.

This makes the website look more fluid and creates a better user experience.

dynamic-product-grid

Slide Out Cart: Customers can add products and make edits in their shopping cart without leaving the current page.

The interface creates a flawless user experience so that your customers can complete their transactions more quickly without any distractions along the way.

Free Stock Images: Using this theme will give you access to hundreds of royalty free photos taken by professionals which you can use on your store.

As a Shopify beginner, you might not have the budget or time to create your own images so using stock images can create more engagement and captivate more customers to your brand.

SEO: You can add meta descriptions to your products and also edit the meta title. These details are important for search engines to index your website.

Having your website rank in search engines increases organic traffic to your store. Organic traffic is free and lowers your marketing expenses.

Drop Down Menus: Drop-down menus to help organize the structure of your store.

For example, you can have a category named Accessories and have a subcategory named Hats. Organizing categories and collections create easier navigation for finding products.

Social Media: Social media is a must have for any theme. You can easily link your social media accounts to your store in the admin panel and the theme will automatically display social icons on your store.

When a customer clicks on the icons, they will be directed to your social media pages.

social-media

Sidebar Menu: The Brooklyn theme will automatically display a sidebar menu when viewed on mobile. A sidebar menu simplifies the header and de-clutters the mobile screen.

Footer: The footer of a website is where customers can find important links containing information about your business.

These links can include Contact Us, About Us, location details like your business address, Privacy Policy, shipping details, and payment badges.

You can also customize the footer to show specific content.

Email Subscription: You can collect your customers’ emails by setting up an email collection campaign. Customers can enter their email address in the form towards the bottom of the page. They can receive

What are the benefits of using the Brooklyn theme

Here is a list of benefits from using this theme:

Cost: If you were to hire a developer to create this theme for you from scratch, you will be expecting to pay a few hundred dollars.

If Shopify updates their software, you will have to pay the developer more money to update the theme to keep it compatible.

The Brooklyn theme is completely free to use with no extra hidden costs or monthly subscription to worry about.

If Shopify updates their platform, the theme will also be automatically updated for free.

Collections: Most free Shopify themes will only allow you to create a maximum of 5 collections which limits your store if you have multiple product categories.

With the Brooklyn theme, you can create up to nine collections to showcase your products.

Why so many collections? Well, the developers have created this theme for apparel stores.

When you have a clothing store, you will be selling more than just T-shirts.

Home page Video: Not many free themes allow you to use a video on your home page. You can feature a video by linking it from either your YouTube or Vimeo. Using video on your home page is a great way to engage your visitors with your brand.

Featured Collections: Featured collections can be handpicked to showcase specific collections under the home page slider.

Featured collections can be used to highlight the best selling products.

Newsletter: Collect your visitor’s emails so that you can grow your email list to market back to them in the future.

This feature is already built in with the app so you don’t need to worry about installing any third party apps to do the same thing.

You can customize the email form to make it more enticing for visitors to sign up with their emails.

collect-emails

Slideshow Call-to-action button: Many Shopify themes do not have this feature on their home page slider.

The call-to-action takes the visitor directly to a collections page that is related to the slider banner.

For example, you can create a slider about sneakers. When a customer clicks on the button, they will be taken to the sneakers collection.

Blog: Your blog content can also engage, educate and help your customers when they are browsing your store.

Blogging can also rank your online store in search engines when you create content around specific keywords.

Integrating a blog on your online store can also help build trust and credibility with new visitors. That’s why many new Shopify stores use the Brooklyn theme for all its in-built features.

blog

Backend Customization Features

Colors: If you do not like the default color palette of the theme, you can easily change the color scheme to match your store’s branding and personality.

To change the color, follow these simple steps:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes
  • Click on Customize
  • Click on Theme settings
  • Click on Colors
  • Click the color swatch > color picker > save

customize-color

Shopify also displays recently selected colors to save you time on finding the same colors you have used before. Currently used shows you the colors you are currently using on your store.

Typography: You can change the font style and size of the text on your store.

To access typography settings, follow these steps:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes.
  • Click on Customize
  • Click on Theme settings
  • Click on Typography > Change to use the font picker > Save

font-picker

You can also change the font style by clicking on Regular and choosing the style you like. Different font styles help enhance readability and usability on your store.

typography-style

Cart Page: You can add certain features to the cart page and set the cart type for your store.

You can place a box for customers to include special instructions on how to prepare or deliver their order before they complete their checkout for a more personalized experience.

To include the note box, follow these steps:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes.
  • Click on Customize
  • Click on Theme settings
  • Click on Cart page
  • Check Enable order notes > Save

You can have the cart appear on a separate page or have the cart slide out from the right side of the page.

This keeps customers on the same page when they add a product to their cart.

cart-page

Social Media: You can enable social sharing buttons for your product pages, blog posts and links to your social media accounts.

To customize your store’s social media settings, follow these steps:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes
  • Click Customize
  • Click on Theme settings
  • Click on Social media > Save

Furthermore, you can upload your own social sharing image. A social sharing image is a photo that appears on a person feed when they share it.

To upload a social sharing image, follow these steps:

  • Click on Select image
  • Upload your own image or click Free images to use a stock image from Burst.
  • Select an image > Save

social-sharing-image

Favicon: Favicon’s make your website look more professional and great for branding. The recommended favicon size is 32px x 32px. You will see a Favicon on a web browser above the URL.

To customize your store’s favicon, follow these simple steps:

  • Shopify admin > Online Store > Themes.
  • Click on Customize
  • Click on Theme settings.
  • Click on Favicon.
  • Click Select image > Upload your own image or click on Free images to use a stock image from Burst.
  • Select an image > Save

favicon

What users are saying about the theme

brooklyn-theme-user-reviews

Here is a list of the common complaints of people who have used the theme:

Frequent Updates: One inconvenience with the Brooklyn theme are the frequent updates.

You will have to set up your website again from scratch. This means you will have to re-upload images, product names, and product descriptions.

Updates are free, if you enjoy using the theme and do not want the updates, you can continue using it without worrying about any complications.

No Embedded Videos: Videos can only be uploaded onto the home page. You won’t be able to add video content to product pages.

With the Brooklyn theme, you can only upload product photos for your store.

Poor Image Resizing: Some users have reported about their slideshow images not appearing on smaller devices.

To solve this problem, center aligns your images. When the image is cropped on a smaller screen, your visitors can still see the middle of the image from your home page slider.

Conclusion

Brooklyn is a free Shopify theme perfect for apparel businesses with large inventories. Similar to the Shopify Venture theme, you can upload up to 50 products.

The Brooklyn theme also works well for stores with fewer products to sell.

What I really like about this theme is the minimal user interface with an emphasis on the sliders.

These sliders are great for showcasing people using your products to communicate your brands’ personality.

Another useful feature I like about this theme is the homepage video.

All you have to do is copy the link from your YouTube or Vimeo video and paste it in the Theme Settings.

Video content can engage customers and generate more interest in your business.

If you’re on a budget, the Brooklyn theme is a great choice for beginners.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

Shopify Venture Theme Review: Create a Bold Yet Minimal High Converting Store

What is the Venture theme for Shopify?

venture-shopify-theme

Venture is a minimal designed themed created for stores with large inventories.

It is free to use which is perfect for drop shipping beginners. You can always invest in a paid theme when you scale your business.

All you have to do is download the theme and upload it to your Shopify store.

You do not need to worry about any coding since the theme comes as a template for you to modify the product descriptions, product photos, categories and many more.

The main noticeable features for Venture is its widescreen slideshow banner, promotional banner to display special promotions and multi-drop down menus.

Venture Theme Features

Theme styles: Venture comes with 3 theme styles which are Snowboards, Outdoors, and Boxing.

All three styles are the same on both desktop and mobile.

The only noticeable difference between each style is the color palette and fonts.

snowboards
Snowboards Style
outdoors
Outdoors Style
boxing
Boxing Style

Products and Collections: Upload up to 50 products and create up to 5 collections.

Collections is another word for a category of products. For example, if you have a camping store, you can create a collection for.

When a customer clicks on the tents collection, only products related to tents will be displayed on the page.

collections

Full-width Slideshow: Widescreen slideshow eliminates white space on the sides of the website.

You can display banners to highlight products and current promotions when a visitor lands on your website.

You can use this feature to upload high-quality images to create more trust and engagement with your brand.

Showing photos of people using your products can increase your conversions.

Product Filtering: Customers are able to filter through products by type, sort by best sellers and price.

This feature comes in handy if you have a large inventory of products. Brands and collections.

Filtering products create a better user experience when a customer is searching your website for a product.

Making it easier for a customer to find a product they want, the more likely they will make a purchase.

Customization: You can simply change fonts, font sizes and colors of the website by toggling the color palette to suit your brand personality.

SEO: SEO will help your store rank in search engines.

You can use specific SEO keywords in your meta title, meta description, and product descriptions.

Optimizing your store’s SEO can drive more organic traffic to product pages.

Mobile Friendly Design: The theme is designed for an intuitive experience on handheld devices.

Your website will adjust itself to fit the customer’s mobile device.

Navigation panels, font sizes and images to suit the device.  Keeping the user experience consistent can increase sales and conversions.

Social Media Icons: The Venture theme makes it easy for you to link your social media accounts.

The theme will automatically display social icons on your online store.

You can link your Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest account to your store.

Your social media networks can be used to advertise your store. Social proof is very important for online businesses because it creates more trust.

You can turn a visitor into a paying customer by uploading and sharing customer-generated content.

Footer: The footer of a website is necessary if you want a high converting e-commerce website.

In this section, you can display information about your business such as shipping policy, privacy policy, refund policy, About Us page and Contact Us page.

The theme also has a subscription feature which you can use to collect your visitor’s emails.

You can send out notifications of upcoming promotions, new blog articles, and news updates.

venture-footer

What are the benefits of using Venture theme

Here is a list of the benefits of using this theme:

Free: The Venture theme is completely free to use. There are no hidden fees or monthly subscriptions to worry about. You will also save money

Built for Shopify: The Venture theme is built for the Shopify platform so the code will run smoothly.

If Shopify updates their software, the theme will still be compatible. You don’t have to worry about reinstalling the theme.

Responsive: Research shows customers are more likely to interact with your brand from a smartphone or tablet than a desktop computer.

The Venture theme is able to adjust its layout and navigation to suit your customer’s device.

The theme can detect the type of device your customer is using and adjusts the website for better user experience.

venture-theme-benefits

What are users saying about this theme?

Coding: You will not be able to change the theme’s code if you would like to customize features with a developer. If you are a beginner with Shopify, using a free theme is enough to get you going.

For example, a user hired their own developer to create a pop-up shopping cart for their store.

Unfortunately, this can not be accomplished with the Venture theme.

Scaled Images: When you view the theme on smaller screens and devices, images will appear cropped even though the theme is responsive.

Scaling images for multiple devices requires more advance coding and tweaking.

I’m guessing the developers had to compromise some web features to make room for more useful features.

Besides these negative points, some users wanted a currency converter built in the theme.

Unfortunately, this is only a free theme.

To have these types of features you will either have to use an app or purchase a paid theme with these features already built in.

venture-theme-user-reviews

Conclusion

Overall, I would rate this theme 3.5 out of 5-star rating.

If you’re a beginner with Shopify or planning on starting a dropshipping business, this is a clean and easy theme for you to use.

When you start to make consistent sales, you could always purchase a paid theme that includes all the apps and features you need to scale your business.

This will save you money on monthly subscriptions fees if you were to install marketing apps.

Since the Venture theme is made for Shopify, you do not need to worry about any coding and will always be updated if Shopify makes any changes to their software.

eCom Turbo Shopify Theme
Are you looking for an affordable, premium theme with all the features for a high converting store?

Click here to check out my review of eCom Turbo Shopify Theme.<<

ecom-turbo

8 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners 2019

Affiliate marketing is a great source of income.

You create value first by helping your audience and then offering an affiliate product to help them achieve their goals.

Recurring commissions depending on the type of product.

Here is a list of affiliate marketing programs for beginners to make money online.

1. JVZOO

jvzoo

JVZOO is a marketplace for digital products. JVZOO makes it easy for sellers to promote their own products and provides affiliate marketers products to promote.

There are over 21 categories to choose from so you’re most likely to find a product related to your niche.

Spend some time finding good quality products when promoting to your audience.

Pros

  • Free to use for both sellers and affiliates
  • Instant payments: Affiliates are paid instantly via PayPal. As a new affiliate, the vendor may withhold payments until the refund period is over.
  • Affiliate cookies: You will be paid a commission everytime a referral makes a purchase from the vendor, even in the future.
  • Generous commissions: Sellers can offer you up to 50% of each affiliate sale. Digital products have no distribution costs!
  • Sales Statistics: Access to analytics to track which products are converting the best.

Cons

  • Not all products are equal: Some products can be complete junk. You don’t want to ruin your reputation online by recommending bad products.
  • Submitting Applications: You are required to submit an application to the vendor to request permission to promote their products. Sometimes there can be a bit of waiting.
  • Refunds: If a customer requests a refund, PayPal will take money back out of your account.

2. ClickBank

clickbank

ClickBank is one of the world’s largest affiliate network with a well established reputation.

You will often hear other affiliate marketers reference ClickBank, especially on YouTube.

This platform is great for beginners and also suitable for experienced affiliate marketers.

Pros

  • Inventory: Wide variety of categories and products for most niches. New products are regularly added.
  • High commissions: Vendors can offer up to 70% in commissions for each product sold. Great potential for long term passive income.
  • Easy access: Just sign up to ClickBank and start promoting products. Most vendors allow you to promote their products instantly.

Cons

  • Junk Products: Many digital products, programs and guidebooks can be low quality which adds no value to the customer. Spend some time to find quality products, it is worth it the long run.
  • High Competition: You will find high quality products which adds value for your leads. However, beginners are not likely to compete with more established affiliate marketers. More experienced affiliates are more likely to dominate the search engine results.
  • Earning Commissions: The maximum commission you can earn is $150 per sale regardless of the product.
  • Location: ClickBank is not available for certain countries.

3. Amazon Associates

amazon-associates

Amazon has one of the biggest affiliate programs in the world. Amazon associates program is great for affiliate marketing beginners.

However there are some disadvantages with Amazon so it is best to do your research about the risks first before you begin investing your time.

Pros

  • Reputation: Amazon is an established brand and credibility online. They offer fast shipping methods and efficient service.
  • Size: You can also reach an international market with access to hundreds of consumer products.
  • Revenue: You can earn referral commissions from not only the product you are directly promoting but also other products they purchase in 24 hours.
  • Sales support: Amazon will send out abandoned cart emails and follow up messages to help you make sales. They also recommend related products after a customer completes their transaction.

Cons

  • Low commissions: Commission rates can be as low as 4% and it can go up to a maximum of 10%. Depending on your niche, you can find products costing between $100-$1000.
  • Referral Time Limits: If someone clicks on your affiliate link but doesn’t complete a transaction within the 24 hour time limit, you will lose out on the commission.
  • No PayPal: Amazon does not use PayPal to pay their affiliates. This can cause problems for affiliates living outside the United States.

4. Commission Junction

commission-junction

Commission Junction is a trusted name when it comes to affiliate marketing, with over 20 years of experience.

You can rest assure you will have quality products to promote on your website.

Pros

  • Reputable advertisers and brands: Higher quality products known to be reliable. This ensures your website has a good reputation.
  • Tracking software: Tracking of links can help you find best performing products.
  • Commissions: Paid directly through Commission Junction. You can choose from direct deposit or check sent in the mail

Cons

  • There can be inconsistent payment schedule.
  • Your account can be banned without any warning.
  • You may not be approved for the affiliate programs you like. Your website is not related enough to promote their products as a beginner.

5. ClickFunnels (Software Example)

clickfunnels

ClickFunnels is a landing page building software created by Russell Brunson. The ClickFunnels software is a great marketing tool for business owners and entrepreneurs to set up funnels and collect leads within a few minutes.

Pros

  • Generous Commissions: ClickFunnels offers a 40% commission on all sales.
  • Sticky cookies: Helps generate commissions from related purchases.
  • Big list of products to promote to your audience.
  • Free ClickFunnels affiliate training to help you earn commissions.
  • ClickFunnels community is responsive and helpful in case you need help.

Cons

  • Affiliate payments can take up to 45-60 days.
  • High price of ClickFunnels can lead to more refunds and subscription cancellations.
  • Customers awareness levels of ClickFunnels has increased. This makes it more difficult for beginners to attract new leads.

6. MarketHealth

markethealth

If you have a blog in the health and beauty niche, Market Health is for you.

Market Health is a company focused on creating high converting health and beauty products for the internet.

Pros

  • Affiliates are paid twice per month. Frequent payouts allows you to reinvest the money back into your business as a beginner.
  • 50% commission rate per action, lead or sale.
  • You can negotiate with Market Health for higher payouts if you generate at least 20 sales per day.
  • Products created for different regions will have landing pages in the same language.
  • 30 day cookies for all products on Market Health. You still have the chance to make commissions if a customer decides to make a purchase after a couple of days.
  • Advanced tracking tools to analyze your progress.
  • You can promote most products instantly.

Cons

  • Being a direct network, people who want to promote their own products won’t be able to.
  • Commissions are based on Cost Per Action (CPA), Cost Per Sale (CPS) and Cost Per Lead (CPL). No recurring income for each sale. Market Health does remarket for you via newsletter and coupon offers to attract old customers back.
  • There is a system defect which will automatically log you out of the platform. This can become annoying when you’re trying to look for products.

7. ShareASale

share-a-sale

ShareASale is an easy to use platform for affiliate marketing beginners. It has over 3900 merchants on its network with a healthy mix of products for affiliates to promote. You can find products from big and small brands to promote as a beginner.

Pros

  • Large Variety: With over 3900 merchants to choose from you can find affiliate programs to promote for almost every niche you can think of.
  • Ease-of-use: User friendly interface for beginners to navigate the platform. You can easily search and apply for affiliate offers you like or suits your audience.
  • Reporting Features: Customize reports to display information most important to you. ShareASale reporting tools make it easy to keep track of your progress.

Cons

  • Payment Threshold: ShareASale can hold onto your affiliate commissions until you reach a certain threshold before your payments are released.
  • Not notifications when affiliate programs are shut down without you knowing. You can miss out potential sales and commissions.

8. Google Adsense

google-adsense

When you own a website for quite some time, you can monetize your efforts by enabling Google Adsense.

Adsense matches its text and display ads based on your website content and visitors. The ads are created and paid by advertisers promoting their products.

Pros

  • Free to use: No signup fees.
  • Ease-of-use: Suitable for beginners.
  • Efficiency: Ads are provided by Google. You don’t need to waste any time creating ads from scratch.

Cons

  • People using Ad blocking software won’t be able to see ads on your website. You will lose out a on small perentage of potential commissions.
  • Ads: Some Google ads can look very unprofessional in appearance. This can create a negative user experience.
  • Commissions: Google does not provide details about revenue numbers for displaying ads.
  • Traffic: Your website needs to be on the front page of search engines to maximise your visitors.

Conclusion

Affiliate networks and programs is a great way to monetize your website. There’s almost a product for every niche which you can recommend to your audience.

Remember to only promote products which adds value for your audience. You do not want to damage your online reputation by offering junk products.

I hope the list above has given you some ideas on affiliate marketing.

Let me know what affiliate networks you like best in the comments below.