How to customize your store theme

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics of editing your online store theme.

If you haven't built a website before, that's not a problem. Shopify makes it easy to create a website without the need for technical knowledge.

Before we get started, I want to warn you about something. The truth is, you can spend hours setting up your store to try to make it absolutely perfect. But instead, it's better to focus on getting the basics right so you can launch your store faster. There's a saying you may have heard before: "done is better than perfect." And as a new mom, I'm learning more and more about this every day.

You don’t need your online store to be perfect. You just need it to be good enough to launch. You’ll have time to make improvements later. Now let’s get started!

Right now we will customize the Maker theme. Click "Customize" to launch the theme editor. When editing a theme, I recommend starting at the top and working your way down so you don't miss anything. Don't forget to click "Save" in the upper right corner after making changes. If you move to another page without clicking "Save", you may lose your changes.

The order and availability of each section may vary depending on the theme. First, let's click on the "Announcement" section. The announcement bar is a marketing opportunity to display information such as free shipping, a sale, or a promotion. Let's add some information about the grand opening sale.

In the "Header" section, you can change your logo and navigation. Let's upload a logo and adjust its size. If you don't have a logo yet, you can use Shopify's free logo maker, linked below.

The default menu section is "Main menu". This is the main menu with a drop-down list that we created earlier. In the theme editor, you can select the menu. But in order to edit it or add a new menu, you need to go back to the navigation section of your admin panel.

Now we'll begin editing the "Image with text". This section contains a field for selecting an image. The image you choose is your customer's first interaction with your company. Create or find an image that will sell your product and reinforce your brand.

Remember that you can find free images on Burst, Shopify's free stock photo website. Just click "Change," then "Free images", and find an image that fits your business.

Ideally, if you have people in your photo, you want them to reflect your ideal customer. I’m thinking tea drinkers, so I’ll search Burst to see if there’s anything there. The copy should either reflect your brand or promote a specific collection or sale you’re running. Don’t be afraid to get creative here.

You can also add alternative text to your images. This will help your photo be found in search engines and make it accessible to the visually impaired. Once you've added the text, you'll need a call to action to entice visitors to click. Examples of calls to action include "learn more", "shop now", or "visit collection". Click "Save".

I don't want to show the slideshow in my store right now, so I can click the eye button to hide it.

The "Featured collection" section allows me to select one collection of products that I really want to show people. Click "Select collection" and choose the collection you want to display on the main page. If you don't have a collection yet, you can select "Create collection" and you will be redirected to the collections section.

Continue browsing through each section of the online editor, filling out information and adding images or videos.

You can also change the order of sections by clicking the button with six dots and dragging the section to the desired location. You also have the option to add new sections to your store.

I want to showcase my best selling product. So I'm going to add a "Featured product" section. I'm going to drag it up to showcase it at the top of the page.

I find it easy to customize this theme to suit my business.

Another area where you can see even more customization is the theme settings. Here you can make changes to colors, typography, and other elements like social media links, popups, and the checkout page. By the way, there will be a lesson on checkout soon in this course.

Once you have made all the changes to the theme, click "Save".

Your store will grow as your business grows. If you are using a theme created by Shopify, you can contact Shopify support anytime, any day. If you are using a paid theme created by a Shopify partner, you will need to contact them directly. Their contact information is listed on the theme page in the Theme Store. They have documentation and contact information if you need additional help with setup.

The last part of setting up your online store is very important. Let's look at it in the next lesson.