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How to Create Your Own Shopify Store and Customize its Theme
Learn how to get started on Shopify by creating your own store and customizing its theme from Shopify's theme library. We'll take you step by step so you can get a good start on your eCommerce shop!
Currently one of the biggest eCommerce platforms is Shopify. Shopify offers a 14-day free trial to let its potential users explore its functionality before deciding on launching their online store on the platform.
To help you decide, this tutorial will help you have an overview of how to create an online store in Shopify and change its theme.
Creating an account and a store in Shopify
Step 1: Visit www.shopify.com.
On the box that says “Enter your email address”, enter the email address that you want to use for your business. Click or press Get started.
Step 2: You will then be prompted to enter your password and the name of your store. Click Create your store.
Step 3: Shopify will ask you some questions about the nature of your business.
On the question Are you already selling?, additional options will appear depending on what you choose. If you select I’m just playing around, you will be offered help to kickstart your business. You don’t have to avail of any of this help right now. If you select I’m not selling products yet, you will be asked if you already have something to sell. If you select I’m selling, just not online, you will be asked when you want to launch the store and whether you will both online and in person. If you select I sell with a different system, you will be asked the other platforms you already use.
After that, you will be asked to disclose your current revenue, the nature of the products you will be selling, and whether you are creating a store for yourself or not. Once you are done, click Next.
Step 4: You will then be asked next to enter your business address. After filling out the form, click Enter my store.
Step 5: Shopify will load the main admin page and your 14-day trial will begin. By default, your online store is password-protected until you are now ready to launch it.
Changing the Shopify online store theme and customizing it
For now, let us explore the Customize theme option. Click on the Customize theme tab, and then click on the Customize theme button.
Step 6: The Themes page will be loaded. The default theme is called Debut. To change it, scroll down near the end of the page to find the Theme library. Click on the Explore free themes. At the time of writing, there are nine free themes. Click on one of them. Additional options may be shown. Once you are decided to use the selected theme, click Add to theme library.
Step 7: You will be returned to the Themes page. The selected theme, Express, appeared on the Theme library.
To activate the theme, click on Actions and then click Publish. It will not remove the password protection placed by default on your online store.
The Express theme will now appear on the Current theme portion of the Themes page.
Step 8: Clicking the Customize button will load the theme editor. You can change the colors, the fonts, and the arrangement of the sections and their layout.
The loaded page by default is the Home page. To change the page you want to edit, click on the Home page, and a drop-down box of the existing pages will appear. Select one of them to edit them.
The Sections tab on the left side of the editor contains the sections of the selected page. You can add a section by clicking on the Add section at the end of the list. To rearrange the order of the sections, click on the sections and drag them to different places of the list until you get the desired order. To hide certain sections, click on the eye icon.
The Theme settings tab on the left side of the editor contains more controls, such as colors, typography, and icon sets used. Click on the options to modify them.
While customizing your theme, always remember that the theme and the theme settings you use should match with your products.
Once you are done, click on the Save button on the upper-right corner of the page.
Changing the name of your Shopify store
Click Settings on the bottom of the left sidebar of the admin page. Several categories will be listed in the Settings page. Click General.
The very first thing listed in the General settings page is Store details.
On the textbox under the Store name label, simply replace the old store name with a new one.
There is a warning, however... You cannot change the Shopify URL to your store. If you wish to, you have to create a new Shopify account. (However, if you are using your own domain, this won’t be a problem.)
The next steps
Our guide does not end here! You still need to add products and include them in collections. Check out our guides below:
