Tools & Apps to Build a Successful Online Business
Here's a list of faves based on client results and our own experience. We love to share what works! Disclosure: We only recommend products we would use ourselves or recommend to our clients. All opinions expressed here are our own. This page may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission.
Store Setup | Reviews & Wishlists | Product Customization | Customer Management | SEO | Email & SMS Marketing | Sales Channels | Boost Sales | Measure for Success
SUCCESSFUL SHOPIFY STORE SETUP
Congrats on selecting Shopify to build your eCommerce business! The resources below will help set you up for success - branding, theme selection, make your website accessible and back up all of your hard work. Don't have Shopify yet? Sign up for your free trial today!
-
Recommended Shopify Theme
Get "Be Yours" Theme ($280)Unlimited mobile-first design possibilities, super fast, built-in marketing capabilities, SEO functionality and more. Contact us for additional benefits and save $$.
-
AI Business Name Generator
Namelix (free)We tested quite a few and this one is our favorite. Try different keywords and synonyms for best results.
-
Branding Color Guide
View the Guide (free)Get some ideas for your brand and logo colors by understanding how it connects to the emotion of your customers.
-
Online Graphics & Video Creation
Get Canva Pro ($13/mo)Easy-to-use image editing features, thousands of custom templates and stock images, background remover, and more!.
-
Logo/Branding Design on a Budget
Go to 99Designs ($299+)The creative platform for custom graphic design: logos and more. Hire a talented designer or start a design contest..
-
Check Spelling & Grammar
Get Grammarly (free)Free tool to make sure your spelling, grammar and tone are optimized. Chrome browser extension available.
-
Accessibility App for Shopify
Get AccessiBe ($49+/mo)Avoid lawsuits and ensure everyone is able to enjoy your website , regardless of ability! WCAG and ADA compliant..
-
Translate Your Store
Get Weglot (free+)Instantly sell in new markets by translating your store with Weglot. No duplicate websites. Fast, simple integration..
-
Collect International Duty & Tax
Get Zonos ($2,500/yr)Grow your business globally. Avoid abandoned carts and rejected packages. Let them pay duties, taxes, & fees up front.
-
Backup Your Shopify Store
Get Rewind App ($9+/mo)Rewind provides account-level backups of your Shopify store - including all of the data and content you have built into it..
REVIEWS + REWARDS + WISHLISTS
A reviews app is a must for social proof and SEO (your customers will use keyword phrases). We don't recommend the free Shopify Reviews app. Also consider rewards and wishlists.
-
Customer Reviews
Get Judge.Me (free+)Product and site reviews including photo, video and Q&A. Great for social proof and boosts SEO. Connect to GMC.
-
Customer Wishlist
Get Wishlist Plus (free+)Full-featured & mobile optimized. Drive traffic & sales with personalized email & social campaigns based on activity.
-
Loyalty & Rewards
Get Smile.io (free+)Turn your customers into repeat purchasers by creating a powerful rewards program. Keep your brand top of mind.
PRODUCT CUSTOMIZATION
You may need to either add product options for your custom or personalized products or edit many products at once, here are some recommended apps to help you.
-
Create Custom Products
Get G-Variants (free+)Build custom products with options including dropdowns, calendar, file upload, swatches, button, checkbox & more.
-
Size Chart Builder
RT Size Chart Builder (free)A tool to add useful size chart tables on your product pages. Limitless custom size chart creation. Available as a popup.
-
Easily Edit Multiple Products
Get Bulk Product Edit (free+)Very powerful editing capabilities. Easily bulk edit (even metafields). Schedule updates! Select the app from the dropdown..
-
Accept Donations
Get DonateMate (free+)Allows your customers to make custom donations throughout your Shopify store, including POS and post-checkout.
CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT
It's important to not only stay on top and manage your customer communication, issues, etc. but keep your customer list clean by removing fake accounts. Here you will find some tools to help you with that.
-
Stop Fake Orders, Accounts & Bots
Get Shop Protector (free trial)Protect your shop from form spam and bots. Stop fake orders and fake accounts. Protect your store in real-time..
-
Omnichannel Helpdesk App
Get Gorgias ($10+/mo)True omnichannel customer management including SMS, phone, live chat, FB and IG comments and DMs, all in one place..
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
SEO should be one of your top priorities since it will explain to Google (using relevant keywords) what each web page is about and when done right will also make your SEO results irresistible to your potential customers.
-
Google Business Profile for Search & Maps
Google Business Profile (free)Reach your customers via Google, increase your visibility on Google, gain credibility with reviews, and control your business information.
-
Apple Business Connect for Apple Maps
Apple Business Connect (free)Connect with customers and manage your information such as business location, business hours, contact information, photos, and reviews.
-
Learn How to Implement Shopify SEO
View ResourceIf you’re looking to learn how to implement SEO related configurations in Shopify, check out the included guides and resources.
-
Keyword Research Tool
Go to Google Trends (free)Keyword research tool to understand keyword search volume, identify seasonal trends, find trending topics, & more.
-
Super Charge Google Trends
Glimpse Trends or Reports (free+)Discover trends before they’re trending. Glimpse tracks every topic across the internet to identify growing trends..
-
Get Blog Content Ideas & More
Go to Answer The Public (free+)Discover what people are asking about. Just enter 1 or 2 words about a topic. An untapped goldmine of content ideas.
-
AI Create Website Content
Get Jasper AI (free trial)Supercharge your content marketing. AI makes it fast & easy to create content for your blog, social media, website, and more!.
-
AI Text Generator
Get Canva Magic Write (free+)Magic Write in Canva Docs is your very own AI text generator to help you get out a first draft, fast. Start with a prompt and watch!.
-
SEO Tool
Get Ubersuggest (free+)Ubersuggest is a FREE SEO tool that enables you to do keyword research, analyze competitors, do site audits and more!
EMAIL & SMS MARKETING
Email and SMS marketing is still one of the best ROIs (return on investment) for your business to encourage visitors to become customers and bring customers back to buy more.
-
Spam Trigger Words To Avoid
View Free ResourcesKeep your emails out of your customer's spam folder. Spam trigger words to avoid or reduce in your subject line in an easy list.
-
Replace Ugly Shopify Notifications
Get Orderly Emails App ($99/yr)No coding knowledge required! Easily replace your ugly, boring Shopify notification emails with beautiful emails..
-
Email & SMS Marketing with Klaviyo
Get Klaviyo (free+)Full-featured platform. Send automated email and SMS sequences based on the visitor/customer interaction with your brand..
-
Email & SMS with Omnisend
Get Omnisend (free+)Provide an omnichannel customer experience and design a single automated workflow that can do email and SMS..
SALES CHANNELS
There are different sales channels to consider depending on your niche and where your best-fit customers can be found. Feel free to experiment with any of the channels below.
-
List Products in Google Search & Ads
Google Merchant Center (free)Add your brand alongside the Google search results when someone is searching for your products. Requires feed app.
-
Submit Products to GMC
Shopify Google Sales Channel (free)Sync your products to Google Merchant Center, list products for free on Search, YouTube and more.
-
Sell on Amazon, eBay, Google, Walmart
Codisto (free trial)Create, manage and sync product listings, keep inventory and product details in sync, receive and fulfill orders directly in Shopify.
-
Your Own Branded Mobile App
Get Vajro (30-day free trial)Deliver an amazing shopping experience for your customers with a mobile app that looks and works exactly how you want it to..
BOOST SALES
There are several different methods to increase your sales, conversions and AOV (average order value). Here are some apps to help you with that.
-
Convert More
Get Vitals App (7-day free trial)Convert more visitors into customers, create upsell & cross-sell campaigns, capture email addresses without popups and more..
-
Push Urgency, Trust & More
Ultimate Sales Boost App (free+)Increase sales with urgency, countdown timer, trust, BOGO, trust badges, promos, and more. Select app from the dropdown..
-
Subscription & Autoship
Get Recharge App (30-day free trial)Give your shoppers more options and increase your customer lifetime value (CTV) by offering subscriptions. Easy setup.
-
AI Customer Journey Personalization
Get ReBuy App (21-day free trial)Upsells, cross-sells and merchandising. Build engagement with post-purchase, re-order landing pages, and smart links..
-
Thank You Page UpSell & CrossSell
Get ReConvert (30-day free trial)Custom thank you page with upsells, cross-sells, pop-ups, upsell product recommendations, and urgency timers.
MEASURE FOR SUCCESS
If you aren't measuring the results of your marketing efforts, you are just guessing - which means you are losing money and slowing down your business growth. Here are some tools to help you analyze your marketing so you can do more of what's working.
-
Google Analytics - GA4
Google Analytics (free)The more you track, the better you can understand what's working. Evaluate conversion rates, sales channels, ROI, etc.
-
How-To Set Up Google Analytics
How-To Set Up GA (free)Here's the step-by-step process to setup and connect Google Analytics with your Shopify store.
-
Measure & Monitor Google Search
Google Search Console (free)Tools and reports help you measure your site's Search traffic and performance, fix issues, and do well in Google Search results.
-
Monitor Website User Actions
Get Hotjar (30-day free trial)Very insightful. Understand how users behave on your site, what they need, etc Heatmaps, recordings & more..