Do you know that following a Shopify theme review checklist can ease your theme purchasing journey? It may sound like an effortless task, but most people struggle to find a suitable theme for their online store. Trust me, the process of choosing a Shopify theme that fulfills your requirements is very confusing.
Many people take the thing easily and purchase a theme without much thinking. As a result, they end up regretting their decision and go for another theme. So, when you have a checklist and follow it properly, you will be able to choose the most suitable theme for your Shopify store.
Shopify Theme Review Checklist
1. Mobile responsiveness
At present, people tend to use mobile to browse websites and shop online more than ever. So, it is a must that your online store should be mobile-friendly. No matter how beautiful and attractive an online store you have on your desktop, if you fail to make your store mobile responsive, you will lose your potential customers.
2. Theme speed
How fast your website can significantly impact your business. If you choose a theme that takes more time to load, you will definitely lose visitors. Nowadays, nobody has the patience to browse a slow-loading site. Therefore, you should consider the page speed score for both desktop and mobile of a theme before making the purchase decision.
A theme makes a huge difference when it comes to the speed of your site. Do not just choose a slow theme because it looks beautiful. It would be foolish to prefer looks over the performance of the website.
3. Product page layout
The product page is one of the most important pages of any eCommerce store as well as of your Shopify theme review checklist. As you are creating an eCommerce store, you should emphasize the layout of the product page of the Shopify theme. Are you satisfied with the layout of the product page? Does the page allow product descriptions, info tabs, reviews, and ratings the way you want?
Do not just choose a theme, thinking that you will change the layout later. You should consider the fact that making changes in the page layout is a very complex task. You are using a different theme to avoid those significant changes. So, why shouldn’t you choose a theme with the product page layout you want.
4. Blog page
Having a blog helps bring organic traffic to your site. If you have not considered the fact, you should be. You will miss more opportunities if you do not emphasize blogging on your site. So, consider the main blog page single blog page layouts of a theme before making your purchasing decisions.
There is no better way to get organic traffic from search engines without having a blog on your website. In addition, you can publish blog posts to share helpful content so that your potential customers will find your store and become your actual customers.
5. Homepage sections
Generally, the homepage is the most crucial page to create a good impression on the visitors. However, if a theme has already built sections for advanced features such as newsletter signup, customer testimonials, contact form, Google map, FAQs, and many more, then it will be helpful for you. So, it will be wise to list the sections you need for your homepage and then find the sections in the themes.
6. Layouts of other pages
A good website must contain some essential pages such as the contact page, FAQ page, etc. Many themes include the templates of non-homepages that use for different purposes. If the theme has ready templates for other pages, it is a bonus for you. You will not need to create any page from scratch. Besides that, you will get the necessary sections ready to fulfill your requirements.
We include this task in our Shopify theme review checklist because most people forget to consider the factor. They need to create those basic pages if they want to operate a professional eCommerce store. So, check the other page layouts of the theme and compare them with your requirements.
7. Banner, slider, video & other elements
You will need to use banners, sliders, carousels,s, and even videos in your store to attract your visitors. So, it is a must to identify how these banners and sliders display on mobile devices. Maybe you will create an eye-catching slider with 300+ free templates on Slider Revolution, but it may look bad on mobile devices as the theme has no optimization system for sliders and banners. The theme should ensure that your sliders and banners are displayed accurately based on the smaller screen size.
8. Advanced Features
You need a lot of advanced features such as upsell, cross-sell, personalization, wishlists, personalization, and more to run an e-commerce store properly. Some themes have advanced features included in them so that you can save a lot of time and money to get these essential features in your store. Otherwise, you may have to use third-party apps to enjoy these advanced features in your Shopify store. So, buying a theme with advanced features will significantly save you time and money. In addition, you will enjoy a better integration as a bonus. So, follow the task of this Shopify theme review checklist carefully one by one.
9. Shopify online store 2.0 compatibility
Shopify launched the 2.0 online store version with more features than the previous one for a while. So, when shopping for a Shopify theme, you need to consider the new version of Shopify and pick a theme that is Shopify online store 2.0 compatible. Even if you are using a theme right now, that is not 2.0 compatible. I suggest you change it and choose a new theme. You will not like to miss the new features of Shopify 2.0 in your store.
10. Checkout page & cart
Shopify checkout page is one of the most effective pages that significantly impact your revenues. Your visitors must have been through the checkout page to become your actual customers. In addition, your customers can be motivated or demotivated to complete the purchase based on your checkout page and cart functionality. So, emphasize the checkout page & cart system of the theme.
Following this simple Shopify theme review checklist, all the Shopify store owners outside can significantly ease their task of choosing the best suitable theme for their Shopify online stores.
You may also read: The Essential Shopify Store Launch Checklist In 2021
I’m a digital marketing expert and mobile app developer with a deep understanding of Shopify App Store optimization. I contribute insightful articles on Shopify to help businesses thrive online.
