Shopify theme development - store optimization to improve customer experience

The Shopify theme development project concerned the online store selling physiotherapy products. A Shopify specialist has been hired to make code corrections and visual changes to optimize the customer website.

Shopify theme development - project’s details

Nowadays, updating the website is a must. If we want to follow the latest trends, of course. Updating is also often a security feature.

In an outdated software or website, it is highly probable to find a vulnerability in the code to launch a cyber attack. Shopify updates automatically. In the case of this platform, we aren't exposed to attack caused by outdated software. However, when using WordPress or Magento, it is important to keep your site up-to-date. In the IT industry, a year is all eternity. Many people who exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software use automatic scanners that track the page code - Robin, SoftwareSupp Freelancer

I am a WordPress and Shopify freelance expert and have been working in the field for over 10+ years, and in the last 3-4 years with my current job, I have developed skills of being a support specialist. Years of experience working on various worldwide projects give me the confidence to provide the highest quality service.

The goal of Shopify theme development project implementation:
Optimization of the store in terms of SEO requirements and expanding the functionality of the website

Project's scope:‍

• Visual fixes by modifying the Shopify theme
• Corrections in the website code
• Store's functionalities extension with advanced attributes and features of products

Projects time: 36h

Design and visual effect improvements as a primary objective of the Shopify theme development project

It took about 36 hours to adapt the store to the customer's needs. During this time, the client ordered extra tasks on an ongoing basis. Part of the complementary job resulted from necessity, and some from additional preferences. It was the case, for example, with the fixes in the code. It turned out that the code structure needed to be changed.

The main goal of the project was to expand the functionalities of the store. Further, the client wanted to optimize individual elements for the efficient positioning of the website in search engines. The project also focused on visual changes that improve the user experience. The adjustments were typically front-end. Hence, the following coding languages were used: PHP, Javascript, HTML CSS.

Shopify developer's tasks:

• Supplementation of the section with missing elements/information
• Developments on the product page
• Changes in headings
• Flattening the page structure
• Linking repair
• Adding a sitemap
• Visual updates

As data published by Shopify shows, as much as 93% of customers consider visual appearance as a determining factor in a purchasing decision.

The Shopify online store which the project concerned sells products for physiotherapy. The customer wanted to correct and expand some of the website's details and complete the missing information. The changes in the headlines were a task not only for better SEO and positioning, but also for the content's optimization, which directly influences the reader's impression. It means that the appropriate structure of the website improves the content's readability for users and Google's algorithms. The website user and algorithms have a better understanding of the content that has the appropriate structure. In this project, one of the tasks was to change the headings from H1 to H2. H1 is the headline that titles the entire page. On the other hand, the H2 headers are used for titling the page's content, such as a broad text fragment. A properly designed website contains 1 H1 header and some H2.

‍
The flattening of the webpage structure consisted in editing the code so that all products appear on one page with the possibility of scrolling. This option makes it easier to navigate. The user can find a specific product faster and more comfortably than switching product pages. Checking the linking on the website blog was to verify the problem of hiding links and the lack of highlighting. Expanding the website's functionalities also depended on adding icons for payment methods in the cart and on the product pages. The possibilities of developing an e-commerce store are endless.

Development of advanced product attributes

‍

Shopify theme development focused on supplementing the template in the product with advanced variants. A miniature carousel has been created to open the possibility of choosing the product at different prices, in various colors. The choice of the appropriate variant determines the change of the price and the displayed picture.

Robin's job was to create an XML sitemap, update variant pictures and fix fonts. He designed a custom functionality to switch the product's images on a selection of variants - a JavaScript query to change a picture with the click of the variant. Thanks to mentioned functionality, the website looks better and duplicated products are removed and consolidated into single products using alternatives. Robin needed 16h to finish these three tasks. He has demonstrated his skills how to code in Shopify.

Sitemap

A sitemap is a list of URLs that we want to point to the web crawlers. A sitemap helps search engines to index the page correctly and faster. It affects the positioning of the site in searches. This form of communication with the search engine informs which subpages are important and which are less.

With a developer from SoftwareSupp, the client carried out various tasks, commissioning them day by day, depending on the needs. In this project, we can clearly see the positive aspect of hiring a developer on-demand. SoftwareSupp made sure that the client received a qualified expert in order to complete the tasks in the project.