What’s a Value Proposition? It’s What Your Business Does Better Than Anyone Else

Shopify Tutorial

What’s a Value Proposition? It’s What Your Business Does Better Than Anyone Else

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.

Original link：https://www.shopify.com/blog/value-proposition

Why do your customers buy from you? What motivates people to choose you, to choose your products over the hundreds of alternatives? What makes your company, and your products, better than the rest?

The answer: your value proposition.

If you can perfect your value proposition, you can increase your conversion rate and improve your marketing strategies across many channels. Learning to present the value your company and products deliver in a compelling way is one of the most high-value, wide-reaching marketing activities.

What is a value proposition?

A value proposition is the value you promise to deliver to your customers post purchase. It’s ultimately what makes your product attractive to your ideal customer. A compelling value proposition meets three criteria:

  • It’s specific. What are the specific benefits your target customer will receive?
  • It’s pain-focused. How will your product fix the customer’s problem or improve their life?
  • It’s exclusive. How is it both desirable and exclusive? How well does it highlight your competitive advantage and set you apart from competitors?

Don’t confuse brand slogans, catchphrases, or even a positioning statement with a value proposition as they’re different things.

Here’s a visualization that will help you avoid that trap.

Your value proposition should focus on the superpowers that potential customers get, not the product. Rarely is your value proposition the product itself or its features. Instead, it’s the way the brand or product fixes a meaningful pain point, improves the lives of your target audience, and the way it makes them feel (like they have superpowers, for example).

A value proposition should be front and center when a visitor arrives on your site. Although it’s often found above the fold on the homepage, you should be aware of other common entrance points (e.g., a landing page, category pages, blog posts, and product pages).

Even if you manage to create an effective value proposition, it won’t drive sales if it’s tucked away in a dusty corner of your website or absent on high purchase intent pages.

How to write a unique value proposition

So, what goes into a good value proposition, and where should you begin?

1. Gather voice of customer copy

The best value propositions use voice of customer copy. That is, they use the exact words of your current customers to hook your future customers.

For example, if they were interviewed for a case study, how would your target customers describe your product? How does it improve their lives? How do they describe your company? Why do they choose to associate with your brand?

Interview your customers or send out a survey to better understand how they speak about you, both to other people and to themselves. Pay attention to common words and phrases they use. Your visitors should see themselves in your value proposition. The language you use plays a big role in shaping their perspective.

2. Emphasize clarity before creativity

Above all, you must ensure your value proposition is clear. Sounds obvious, right? Your value proposition needs to serve many purposes, so achieving crystalline clarity can be quite difficult.

When evaluating your draft, ensure it answers the following questions:

  • What product are you selling?
  • Who should buy your product?
  • How will buying your product improve the visitor or their life?
  • Why should the visitor buy from you and not your competitors?
  • When will the value be delivered?

Your value proposition should be relatively short—two or three short sentences, maximum. Every word should improve clarity or make your main selling point more compelling, otherwise it needs to be cut.

3. Focus on benefits, not hype

How many “World’s Best Coffee” signs would you see in store windows walking down just one busy New York City street? Dozens. Each sign you encounter would make it a little more difficult to believe the previous one.

Hype, which can come in the form of superlatives (“best”) and exaggerations (“world’s best”), can be dangerous that way. Instead, focus on distinct benefits and the concrete value your product delivers.

If you need to use hype to sell your products, it’s a sign that your value proposition is not well defined. Or, perhaps, even that your product is not as valuable as you think.

Examples of strong value propositions

The best way to get a feel for how value propositions work and how to get them right is to look at some strong examples.

1. BustedTees

BustedTees uses “BustedTees brings you the highest quality graphic tees on the net” as its homepage value proposition.

In this case, it’s betting on the quality of its production materials and designs. The value proposition is small but centered at the top of the page.

The site appears to only display the value proposition to first-time visitors, who are more likely to be unfamiliar.

Note how the value proposition is followed quickly by a relevant call to action. “Hey, we have high quality graphic tees. Want to shop our bestselling graphic tees?” If your value proposition does its job, it motivates and inspires action, so make it easy for visitors to take that action.

2. Novo Watch

Novo Watch promises to deliver “Timepieces handmade in Alberta from repurposed pieces of history.”

Instantly, you know the difference between a watch from Novo Watch and one of its competitors. The value is unique and undeniably different.

When you arrive on the site, the value proposition fills the entire page, but you’ll also find the value proposition reiterated on the product pages.

The continuity from the homepage to the product page is immediately evident. Phrases like “manually wound timepiece” and “132 year old train track” reinforce the value proposition, creating a clear message match.

3. Studio Neat

Studio Neat creates simple products that solve common, everyday problems. That value proposition and brand ethos is communicated throughout, even though it’s not explicitly stated on the homepage.

Simple products that deliver simple but desirable value. “Tripod mount for smartphones,” “Wood docks for Apple stuff,” “Wide-grip stylus,” “Make and store simple syrup,” etc.

The same theme is continued on product pages.

No exaggerations, no complex product details. “On your nightstand or at your desk, it’s nice to have a designated spot to charge your devices.” Tell me that sentence doesn’t read like a customer wrote it himself.

4 important types of value propositions

In ecommerce, your value proposition is more than just the big, bold heading on your homepage. There are four distinct types of value propositions you should know about when optimizing your store.

1. Your company value proposition

Did you know there’s a difference between the value proposition of your company and products?

Take Studio Neat for example. The value proposition for its company would be something like this: “Simple products that solve simple problems.” The value proposition for its Material Dock is: “It’s nice to have a designated spot to charge your devices.” Now, you can see and feel the company value proposition in the product value proposition, but it’s important to see the distinction.

Further, in this article, we’re talking about your external value propositions. It all starts with a strong brand ethos, which is the way you talk about and think about your brand, both internally and externally. For example, Studio Neat’s brand ethos might be something like this: “Subtract until it’s perfect.” You can see how that ethos trickles down through everything, including the company value proposition and the product value propositions.

2. Your homepage value proposition

This is the type of value proposition you’re most familiar with. It’s the big, bold heading on your homepage. Just think back to the Novo Watch value proposition example above.

Your homepage value proposition will depend on the type of store you run. For example, if you have a small number of products, your homepage value proposition might be more product-focused. If you have a wide range of products, your homepage value proposition might be more company- or brand-focused.

Novo Watch’s homepage value proposition is product-focused, for example:

Timepieces handmade in Alberta from repurposed pieces of history.

Novo has a relatively small number of products and is specifically focused on watches. If it were to introduce a line of handcrafted pens made from pieces of history and a line of handcrafted wallets made from pieces of history, how might their homepage value proposition need to change?

3. Your category value propositions

Don’t overlook the need for a value proposition on your category pages. Why? Just look at the search engine results page (SERP) for “women’s jeans.”

First, you’ll notice that all of these pages are category pages.

Second, many of the page descriptions are value propositions in disguise. Abercrombie & Fitch has variety, the perfect fit for everyone. Bootlegger’s black jeans won’t fade. Old Navy jeans will make you look polished, even on a casual day.

When you click through to Abercrombie & Fitch, for example, you’ll see the value proposition reiterated in the on-site copy.

High rise, low rise, a variety of washes, “Fit for your story.” All of these triggers help reinforce the value proposition. As you can see, though, it’s still quite uncommon to find a clear and succinct value proposition on a category page.

With so much competition among category pages, especially on SERPs, that’s a huge missed opportunity that you can step up and capitalize on. Ask yourself what each category of products on your site promises that’s specific, pain-focused, and exclusive.

4. Your product value propositions

A product value proposition goes, you guessed it, on your product page. Each product within each category needs a specific value proposition. Think back to the Neat Studio Material Dock example above.

Here’s another great product value proposition example from Studio Neat.

Anyone who has an Apple TV knows that losing that tiny remote is a common occurrence. Instead of having to tear the couch apart a couple times a day, buy Studio Neat’s Apple TV Remote Stand. “You know you’re going to lose it. You won’t if you buy this.”

Simple, right? Perfect, because that’s Studio Neat’s company value proposition.

By now, you’re starting to see how the value propositions trickle into and influence one another. Start with the company value proposition, then the homepage value proposition, then category value propositions, then product value propositions.

A two-step template for creating a value proposition

Now it’s a matter of combining everything you’ve learned about value propositions to craft one of your own. There’s no reason to complicate the matter; the process can be broken down into just two steps:

  • Identifying your value proposition.
  • Communicating your value proposition.

The question becomes, how do you get both steps right?

Step 1: Identifying your value proposition

Before you dig into identifying your value proposition, it’s important to frame your thinking properly.

All great value propositions start with one question:

  • What do I do better than anyone else?

Maybe it’s your customer service, maybe it’s your product design, maybe it’s material quality, maybe it’s price. It can be anything customers find valuable.

A word of caution, though: your company and products are more comparable than you think. Your visitors will certainly be comparing you to your competitors, so beat them to the punch. See how your value proposition stacks up against the promises of your top competitors. What will set you apart in the minds of your visitors?

Note that small values like free shipping, money-back guarantees and same-day delivery can be useful conversion tools, but are secondary to your unique selling proposition.

If your answer to “What do I do better than anyone else?” is “free shipping,” you’re not digging deep enough. That’s something any store can copy and paste, meaning it’s not a defensible value proposition. Often, identifying your value proposition requires quite a bit of thought and research (customer interviews, for example).

Please, promote those free post-purchase gifts and shipping guarantees alongside your value proposition. You will likely capture people on the fence. But that’s just a bandage if the core value proposition isn’t unique or compelling.

Step 2: Communicating your value proposition

Distill what you do better than anyone else into a single sentence and display it prominently. You want to ensure this is what grabs attention first.

Just like an article headline, many people will read the single sentence value proposition and move on. If they like it, they might read a brief elaboration or just continue on to the next step. If they don’t like it, they’ll often just go ahead and leave.

That’s a lot of pressure on just one sentence, so you want to make sure you’re getting it right. That is, you want to make sure it’s clear and relevant.

It’s a useful exercise to spend the time coming up with 10–15 variations of your initial value proposition.

Now, you want to know which one is the most unquestionably clear. A simple five-second test can help you with that. In a five-second test, people see your site (with your value proposition) for five seconds and then answer questions about what they saw. What do they remember? What do they think your site does? What do they think your product does?

If you find people can’t answer the questions correctly, you have a clarity issue. A common clarity problem? Hiding the value. Here’s an example from Best Buy:

“TV & Home Theatre” is prioritized visually here, but the value proposition is hidden below.

Here’s the same problem on Tiffany & Co.:

And on Topshop:

You get the idea. Make sure your value proposition is as clear as possible. The first step? Visually prioritizing your value proposition.

The five-second test is just one way to test your value proposition. You can also run on-site A/B tests to figure out which of your 10–15 variations is most effective. Short of that, running paid Facebook ads to test the persuasion power of each of the variations is another option, especially if you have a low traffic site.

Value propositions help you perfect your promise

Your value proposition is a promise to your future customers. If that promise is specific, pain-focused and exclusive, you will turn future customers into paying customers.

Every entrepreneur believes their company and products are valuable. That’s why it’s so easy to overlook the way that value is communicated to strangers.

Spend the time to perfect your promise. It’s not just a branding exercise, it’s a marketing exercise that will pay off over and over and over again.

Shopify Tutorial

How to Start Your Own Brand From Scratch in 7 Steps

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.

Original link：https://www.shopify.com/blog/how-to-build-a-brand

Building a brand from the ground up that stands out is no easy task. What should it look like? How should it make people feel? Will it resonate with my target audience?

These are questions that inevitably come up when you start thinking about how to connect the dots between what you’re selling and who you’re trying to reach. You can check our guide on how to start a business to get started.

Whether you’ve got nothing but a business idea or want to pivot your existing brand, here’s what you need to know about building a strong brand identity for your business.

What exactly is a brand?

A brand isn’t just a recognizable name and logo that distinguishes you in a crowded market.

Your brand is how people perceive you wherever they interact with your business—both the impressions you can control and the ones you can’t.

When you think about it, people have personal brands, too. We each have a name, a face, a style, a way of communicating, and with these traits, we make different impressions on different people.

Likewise, businesses have names, products, logos, colors, fonts, voices, and reputations that make up what they are and affect how they’re perceived.

You can’t build a brand without being consistent and maintaining that consistency as you extend your brand to every part of your business. But it all starts with establishing what that consistency is going to look like and the feeling you want it to evoke.

How to build a brand

Building your own brand essentially boils down to seven steps:

  • Research your target audience and your competitors.
  • Pick your focus and personality.
  • Choose your business name.
  • Write your slogan.
  • Choose the look of your brand (colors and font).
  • Design your logo.
  • Apply your branding across your business.

While you might revisit some steps as you pivot your brand, it’s important that you consider each aspect as you shape your brand identity. 

Let’s start by laying the groundwork to inform the way you go about building your brand.

How do you create a successful brand?

In this video, you’ll learn the six steps to building a meaningful, recognizable brand for your online business.

1. Research your target audience and your competitors

Before you start making any decisions about your brand, you need to understand the current market, i.e., who your potential customers and current competitors are.

There are many ways to do this:

  • Google your product or service category and analyze the direct and indirect competitors that come up.
  • Check subreddits that relate to your customers and eavesdrop on their conversations and product recommendations.
  • Talk to people who are part of your target market and ask them what brands they buy from in your space.
  • Look at the relevant social media accounts or pages your target audience follows and are receptive to.
  • Go shopping online or offline and get a feel for how your customers would browse and buy products.

As you go about your research, make a note of:

  • Who your “lowest hanging fruit” customers are—the ones you could most easily sell to.
  • Who your top-of-mind competitors are—the brands that are established and known in the market.
  • How your customers speak and what they talk about—the interests they have and the language they express them in.

It’s important to have a handle on this before moving forward, as it will inform what your brand should focus on and how it can position itself apart from competitors.

2. Pick your focus and personality

Your brand can’t be everything to everyone, especially at the start.

It’s important to find your focus and let that inform all the other parts of your brand as you build it.

Here are some questions and branding exercises to get you thinking about the focus and tone of your brand.

What’s your positioning statement?

A positioning statement is one or two lines that stake your claim in the market. This isn’t necessarily something you put on your website or business card—it’s just to help you answer the right questions about your brand and aids in creating your brand’s tagline.

Your positioning statement should go something like…

We offer [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [TARGET MARKET] to [VALUE PROPOSITION].

Unlike [THE ALTERNATIVE], we [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

For example: We offer water bottles for hikers to stay hydrated, while reducing their carbon footprint. Unlike other water bottle brands, we plant a tree for every bottle you buy.

Your unique value proposition is the one thing you’re competing on. Find it, go in on it, and make it a part of your brand’s messaging.

Alternatively, if the company you want to start has a cause at its core (e.g., if you’re starting a social enterprise), you can also write this out as a mission statement that makes a clear promise to your customers or to the world.

What words would you associate with your brand?

One way to look at brand building is to imagine your brand as a person. What would he or she be like? What kind of personality would your customers be attracted to?

This will help inform your voice on social media and the tone of all your creative, both visual and written.

A fun and useful branding exercise is pitching three to five adjectives that describe the type of brand that might resonate with your audience. I compiled this list of traits to help you get started.

What metaphors or concepts describe your brand?

Thinking about your brand as a metaphor, or personifying it, can help you identify the individual qualities you want it to have.

This can be a vehicle, an animal, a celebrity, a sports team, anything—as long as it has a prominent reputation in your mind that summons the sort of vibe you want your brand to give off.

For example, if I wanted to create a brand targeting entrepreneurs, I might choose to use the raccoon as a starting point: They’re scrappy survivors who will do anything to thrive.

If your brand was an animal, what animal would it be and why is it like that animal to you?

3. Choose your business name

“A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. But Nike by another name would be seen on fewer feet.”

Shakespeare (sort of)

What’s in a name? Depending on the kind of business you want to start, you can make the case that your name matters very little or it matters a lot.

As we’ve said before, a brand is so much more than a name. The personality, actions, and reputation of your brand are really what give the name meaning in the market.

But as a small business owner, your company’s name is probably one of the first big commitments you have to make. It’ll impact your logo, your domain, your marketing, and your trademark registration, if you decide to go that route (it’s harder to trademark generic brand names that literally describe what you sell).

Ideally, you want a store name that’s hard to imitate and even harder to confuse with existing players in the market. If you have any plans to expand the product lines you offer down the road, consider keeping your business name broad so that it’s easier to pivot, rather than choosing a brand name based on your product category.

You can use our business name generator to brainstorm some names, or try one (or a combination) of the following approaches:

  • Make up a word, like Pepsi.
  • Reframe an unrelated word,likeApple for computers.
  • Use a suggestive word or metaphor, likeBuffer.
  • Describe it literally (caution: easy to imitate),like The Shoe Company.
  • Alter a word by removing letters, adding letters, or using Latin endings, likeTumblr (Tumbler) or Activia.
  • Create an acronym from a longer name,like HBO (Home Box Office).
  • Combine two words: Pinterest (pin + interest) or Snapple (snappy + apple)

Since your brand name will also affect the domain/URL of your website, be sure to shop around to see what’s available before deciding on a domain name. Check out our guide to choosing a good business name or use our tools to get some domain name ideas.

It’s also a good idea to run your name by a focus group of close people, if for no other reason than to make sure it doesn’t have an unintended meaning or is too similar to something else that you might’ve missed.

4. Write a slogan

A catchy slogan is a nice-to-have asset—something brief and descriptive you can use as a tagline in your social media bios, website header, custom business cards, and anywhere else where you’ve got very few words to make a big impact.

Keep in mind that you can always change your slogan as you find new angles for marketing—Pepsi has gone through over 30 slogans in the past few decades. 

A good slogan is short, catchy, and makes a strong impression. Here are some ways to approach writing a slogan of your own:

  • Stake your claim. Death Wish Coffee: “The World’s Strongest Coffee”
  • Make it a Metaphor. Redbull: “Redbull gives you wings.” 
  • Adopt your customers’ attitude. Nike: “Just do it.”
  • Leverage labels. Cards Against Humanity: “A party game for horrible people.”
  • Write a rhyme. Folgers Coffee: “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.”
  • Describe it literally. Aritzia: “Women’s fashion boutique.”

Try our Slogan Maker to brainstorm some ideas, or play off of your positioning statement to generate potential one-liners to describe your business. 

5. Choose the look of your brand (colors and font)

Once you’ve got a name down, you’ll need to think about how you’ll visually represent your brand, namely your colors and typography. This will come in handy when you start to make your own website.

Choosing your colors

Colors don’t just define the look of your brand, they also convey the feeling you want to communicate and help you make it consistent across everything you do. You’ll want to choose colors that differentiate you from direct competitors to avoid confusing consumers.

Color psychology isn’t an exact science, but it does help to inform the choices you make, especially when it comes to the color you pick for your logo.

This infographic offers a nice overview of the emotions and associations that different colors generally evoke.

Source: The Logo Company

It’s important to consider how legible white and black text will be over your color palette and how colored text might look over white and black backgrounds. Try using a tool like Coolors to brainstorm colors that work together. Grab the hex codes to keep handy, and sift through different shades to find the ones you like. 

Choosing your fonts

At this point, it’s also good to look at fonts you might want to use on your website.

Pick two fonts at most to avoid confusing visitors: one for headings and one for body text (this doesn’t include the font you might use in your logo). 

You can use Font Pair to browse from a wide selection of fonts that go well together.

For inspiration, use Stylify.me on your favorite websites to see their visual style at a glance.

6. Design your logo

A company logo design is probably one of the first things that comes to mind when you think about building a brand. And for good reason: it’s the face of your company after all and could potentially be everywhere that your brand exists.

Ideally, you’ll want a logo that’s unique, identifiable, and scalable to work at all sizes (something often overlooked).

Consider all the places where your brand’s logo needs to exist, from your website to your Facebook page’s profile picture to even the little “favicons” you see in your current browser tab.

If you have a text logo as your Instagram avatar, for example, it’ll be almost impossible to read. To make your life easier, create a square version of your logo with has an icon element that remains recognizable even at smaller sizes.

Notice how the Walmart logo has both the “sparks” icon and the wordmark, which can be used separately.

Invest in a logo that can appear anywhere around the web and in physical print. Source: History of the Walmart brand development and logo design, Turbologo.

The following are some of the different logo types you can choose to help you communicate with designers and find a style that makes sense for your brand. Keep the colors and fonts you chose in mind to make sure they work together with your logo to convey your brand. 

Abstract: Google Chrome

An abstract logo has some meaning, but really, it’s just a shape and colors that you can’t easily tie back to anything in the real world. 

The benefit of an abstract logo is that it has no innate meaning—you can make this up yourself and bring it to life in your customers’ minds.

Mascot: Wendy’s

Mascot logos are often represented by the face of a character. They may humanize your business by creating a brand personality, but be aware that they are an antiquated style now and only recommended in certain contexts (e.g., you’re deliberately going for a retro look).

Emblem: Starbucks

Emblem logos are often circular and combine text with an emblem for a bold and regal look. If the design is too complicated, however, they can lose their impact when you shrink them down. But done right, they can play a big influence on brand building and make for a memorable style of logo.

Lettermark: IBM

Lettermark logos turn the initials of your full business name into a logo. If you have a business name idea with 3 or more words, this might be a style you’d want to consider, especially if the initialism is catchy. 

Icon: Twitter

An icon logo is your brand represented as a visual metaphor. Unlike an abstract logo, an icon logo suggests something about the product (Twitter’s bird is suggestive of the frequent short “tweets” on the platform). 

As an unestablished brand, you should stay away from using an icon logo by itself. However, if you’re not sure about the kind of logo you want, pairing an icon logo with a wordmark is usually a safe bet. 

Wordmark: Facebook

Wordmark logos turn your brand name, colors, and font into a visual identity. The problem with wordmarks is that they’re often hard to create in a scalable square design and easily lose their legibility when shrunk.

However, you can fix this problem by simply getting an accompanying icon logo or turning the first letter of the wordmark into a separate-but-connected logo, like what Facebook does with its F.

Combination: McDonald’s

Because of the limitations that exist for each logo type, many logos are a combination of styles.

As a new small business experimenting with a logo, you don’t need to choose an icon over a wordmark when you feel they’re both essential to represent your brand as a combination logo let’s you get the best of both. This makes it easier to satisfy the condition of creating a scalable logo while still putting your brand name front and center. McDonald’s, for example, can use its iconic golden arches wherever its full wordmark doesn’t fit. 

Unless you’ve got design chops of your own, you’ll probably be delegating the creation of your logo. You can outsource it for a low cost on Fiverr or run a logo contest on 99Designs.

Check out Seek Logo for even more logo inspiration, or use our Hatchful logo maker to start generating some ideas. There’s also our comprehensive guide on how to design a logo, where we walk you through the process step by step.

7. Apply your branding across your business

Applying your branding across your business gives it a cohesive brand story. A brand story represents who your business is and what it stands for. It sets the stage for every interaction customers have with your brand, in-store and online.

In Shopify’s research on what wins buyer and customer trust, we found that buyers shopping on an online store for the first time often look for a business’s mission and purpose to see if they share any values with the business (e.g., sustainability). They will turn to its About Us page to learn more about who they’re buying from and, for more socially conscious customers, how the business is run. If your business has a brand story, share it, because it can help the shopper feel reassured yours is a legitimate business. 

Your positioning statement can get you started, but to craft a brand story ask yourself a few questions:

  • What motivated me to start my business? 
  • Why does the company exist? 
  • How do we contribute to the world?
  • What is the story behind my business the customer should know?

Not every business is mission driven, but if yours has a mission or values, share your brand story and tell customers why the business was started. Look at the businesses TOMS and Coca-Cola, the first a mission-driven brand, the second not so much.

TOMS, a footwear and accessories company, is “in business to improve lives.” TOMS first charitable program, One for One, where it donates shoes to children in need, and more recently is making donations to the COVID-19 Global Giving Fund, among other charitable initiatives. When a shopper purchases a product from TOMS, they can come away feeling good because they believe in the cause their purchase is contributing toward. 

Coca-Cola, a globally recognized soft drink business, isn’t grounded in a strong social good or environmental mission, but it appeals to its target market through branding that focuses on bringing together friends to experience fun, happiness, and connection. A customer of a Coca-Cola product can walk away feeling as if they are more socially connected with friends or loved ones if they enjoy the product with those friends.

For new business owners, there’s a lot to learn from Coca-Cola. It offers up excellent examples of brand marketing through timeless designs, fonts, images, and colors that are instantly recognizable.

Whether you choose to build a brand story around a mission or not, the important thing is giving the customer a story that they tell themselves about your brand.

Evolve your brand as you grow

Building a brand doesn’t stop with creating a logo or slogan, or even with your brand launch. Your brand needs to exist and remain consistent wherever your customers interact with you, from the theme you choose for your website, the marketing materials you produce, all the way to how you package and ship your products.

You’ll continue to shape and evolve your brand as you expose more customers to it and learn more about who your customers are and how to speak to them.

It’s important to appreciate that you will never have 100% control over how people perceive your brand.

You can tug customers in the right direction, make a great first impression, and manage your reputation, but you can’t control the individual perceptions that exist in each person’s mind (say, if they had a bad customer service experience).

All you can do is put your best foot forward at every turn and try to resonate with your core audience. But hopefully, at this point, you have the tools, knowledge, and resources to start.

Illustration by Pete Ryan

Frequently asked questions about building a brand

How do you develop a brand?

Developing a brand involves identifying your business strategy, target customers and their needs, your competition, and your brand positioning and messaging. Once you know your core brand identity, you can create a logo and tagline and develop a branding and marketing strategy alongside. After that, bring your brand to life through your website.

How do you define brand identity?

Brand identity is the core of your brand and what it stands for. Brand identity includes your values, brand personality, and visual aesthetic. Your brand identity is communicated through every single part of your company—from your logo to your colors to your copy to your in-store experiences.

What is in a brand kit?

A brand kit contains all the information someone would need to get to know your brand, as well as promote your brand. Almost every brand kit includes the company name and logo, color palette, and other approved imagery. Some brand kits also include information about the company’s founders and team, goals, and products. A brand kit is helpful for press and PR teams, brand ambassadors, affiliates, and influencers.

How much should I pay for a logo?

You should pay what you’re comfortable paying for a logo. You can get a logo for free or you can pay as much as tens of thousands of dollars to outsourced your branding and logo design. When first starting out, it’s okay to use a free logo maker like Hatchful. When you get more established, you’ll likely want to invest in a professionally designed logo.

Shopify Tutorial

What a Unique Selling Proposition Is (And Isn’t) Plus 10 Examples to Inspire You

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.

Original link：https://www.shopify.com/blog/unique-selling-proposition

Competition is the natural order in business, especially for ecommerce brands where it’s not just your local competitors that you need to worry about.

Customers are overwhelmed with options, and they want to quickly understand what makes one product or brand different than another. Knowing the right way to position yourself and your products can mean the difference between standing out and blending in.

That’s why it’s crucial for all entrepreneurs to understand how to identify a unique selling proposition (USP) to help guide your branding and marketing decisions.

What is a unique selling proposition?

A unique selling proposition, more commonly referred to as a USP, is the one thing that makes your business better than the competition. It’s a specific benefit that makes your business stand out when compared to other businesses in your market.

Forming an opinionated and deliberate USP helps focus your marketing strategy and influences messaging, branding, copywriting, and other marketing decisions. At its core, a USP should quickly answer a potential customer’s most immediate question when they encounter your brand:

“What makes you different from the competition?”

Your USP plays to your strengths and should be based on what makes your brand or product uniquely valuable to your customers. Being “unique” is rarely a strong USP in itself. You have to differentiate around some aspect your target audience cares about, otherwise your messaging won’t be nearly as effective.

A compelling USP should be:

  • Assertive, but defensible: A specific position that forces you to make a case against competing products is more memorable than a generic stance, like “we sell high-quality products.”
  • Focused on what your customers value: “Unique” won’t count for much if it’s not something your target customers truly care about.
  • More than a slogan: While a slogan is one way your USP can be communicated, it’s also something that you can embody in other areas of your business, from your return policy to your supply chain. You should be able to talk the talk and walk the walk.

It’s not necessarily what you sell that has to be unique, but the message you choose to focus on that your competition doesn’t.

What a unique selling proposition isn’t

Specific marketing offers—like 10% off, free shipping, 24/7 customer service, or a strong return policy—are not USPs. Convincing and effective though they may be, they’re not unique on their own, nor are they positions that are easy to defend as any of your competitors can copy them.

A unique selling proposition is a statement you choose to embody that differentiates your products and your brand from your competitors.

A USP is also not just the header copy on your homepage. It’s a position your small business takes as a whole that can be incorporated into your products, your brand, the experience you provide, and any other touch point your customers have with your business.

The best way to understand what makes a powerful USP is through examples. So here are ten examples of unique selling propositions that get it right and what you can learn from each.

10 examples of unique selling propositions done right

1. Saddleback Leather

One of the first things that you notice about Saddleback Leather’s site is their famous tagline: “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”

It’s a sentence that immediately conveys the unique value of Saddleback’s products in their signature irreverent tone: this product is built so well it will outlive its owner. The messaging also refers directly to their 100-year warranty, which backs the promise with a guarantee that the products will last you a lifetime and then some.

Longevity, especially for high-priced, everyday carry products is definitely a unique selling point, especially when so many competitors are focused on positioning their products as status symbols, the stylish trends that you’ll want to replace next year, or a cheap solution to an expensive look.

In fact, when cheap knockoffs of their products started appearing in the market, Saddleback Leather took it as an opportunity to create a clever “how it’s made” video that reinforces the quality of their own craftsmanship.

2. Pipcorn

You can buy pre-popped popcorn at your local dollar store, so “mini-popcorn” on its own isn’t much of a USP.

Instead, Pipcorn is a great case of a brand using specificity to carve out their own unique place in the market, choosing instead to focus on what makes their product a smart choice for the health-conscious or vegan consumer.

Phrases like “all natural,” “whole grain,” and “small batches” are seen on the bag, and their site highlights other health benefits like gluten free, non-GMO, and antioxidants. Pipcorn also gets specific about how their snack food is healthy instead of just saying that it is, listing points of difference that their customers will care about.

By positioning their product around current health-conscious trends, they’re able to create a USP that would not only actively help them attract new customers, but also retail their popcorn as a premium product.

3. Death Wish Coffee

A lot of coffee shops and roasters lay claim to having the “smoothest” or “richest” cup of coffee out there. Death Wish Coffee, however, chose to cater to those who need an extra kick in their cup of joe by instead selling the “world’s strongest coffee”.

Death Wish Coffee is an excellent example of developing a product based on a unique selling proposition that was largely left untouched in the crowded coffee market. It’s not a position that will immediately attract every kind of coffee drinker, but the product firmly appeals to a certain segment of consumers and it’s hard to imitate.

Death Wish Coffee backs it up too. In addition to boldly declaring it on their site and packaging, and breaking down how it’s made, they also offer full refunds for anyone who says that the coffee wasn’t the boldest cup they’d ever had.

4. Muse

Muse is a noteworthy example of why you need a USP even when your products are truly unique. Muse is the first consumer tool out there that can provide real-time feedback about your brain’s activity as you meditate.

They are the first company to offer what they do, but having no direct competitors doesn’t mean they don’t have any competition at all. People have been doing just fine for centuries without their product, after all.

In this case, Muse’s biggest competitor is the status quo: unaided meditation. So their USP, naturally, is around enhancing your existing practice to “get the most out of meditation.”

You can see how a lot of their copy, while focusing on different selling points, comes together under this single idea.

Throughout their content and their marketing messages, they build a case for both mediation in general and for meditation aided by their product. This is a smart example of acknowledging the norm to position yourself as a truly different solution.

5. Taylor Stitch

Taylor Stitch is a clothing company that relies on crowdfunding in order to develop new products. While some consumers may frown upon established brands that leverage crowdfunding, that isn’t the case here because of how they make it a part of their USP.

Taylor Stitch successfully turns crowdfunding into a competitive edge: “We design new products. You crowd fund them.”

They immediately let customers know why crowdfunding new products offers advantages to traditional self-funded or investor-funded business models. Customers are assured that:

  • They’ll save 20% by preordering.
  • It’s better for the environment.
  • They get these products in your hands when you’d actually use them.

These are staples of crowdfunding that have been brought to the surface and translated into value for the customer—it’s hard to argue with saving money and being more environmentally friendly, and supporting a business you believe in is a nice bonus, too.

By positioning their unconventional business model this way, they turn a potentially risky pre-order process into a compelling marketing angle.

6. Tattly Tattoos

Many temporary tattoo products are intended for kids and feature simple and silly designs. Tattly Tattoos takes a different approach, offering gorgeous, intricate art for people of all ages.

These temporary tattoos are meant to be beautiful like traditional tattoos, allowing customers to express themselves without the commitment or high cost of real tattoos.

Tattly doesn’t have many direct competitors that sell similarly bold designs made from safe materials. This makes it easier for them to develop their USP, in theory, but they still need to differentiate themselves from the inevitable comparisons between their products and their more familiar counterparts.

By focusing on the art, they’re able to do that with their USP, which they express as: Fake tattoos by real artists.

Many design-centric brands source designs from real artists, but Tattly surfaces this fact about their business. The artists behind their designs are as much a part of what they sell as the tattoos themselves, getting prominent profiles on their site organized under a section dedicated to Artists and their works.

They could have left it as a mere line of copy on their site, but instead they chose to incorporate the artists behind their products into the design of their online store, reinforcing the idea that tattoos are a form of wearable art.

7. Third Love

Women’s lingerie is a billion dollar industry, so newcomer Third Love had to find a way to make sure they were able to compete with the legacy brands.

ThirdLove has made their “we have the right fit” USP an integral part of their branding. It’s not just a key part of the messaging in their ads and the copy on their site—they even have a Fit Finder quiz that allows first-time customers to find the right fit for them.

To go even deeper on their promise, they also offer half-sizes and a “try before you buy” guarantee.

Third Love’s USP is a powerful promise. And while other brands might offer a sizing chart to help shoppers, Third Love prioritizes getting you the the right fit based on your individual needs.

Of all the messages they could have focused on, around style or quality, they honed in on a pain point that many women experience when shopping for bras, and they chose to double down.

8. Beardbrand

A lot of cosmetics companies—for both men and women—try to offer quick fixes at cheap prices, addressing symptoms instead of the root cause. Beardbrand’s USP takes the form of a product ethos that immediately sets them apart from the industry standard.

They want to create products that “work with your body’s natural chemistry, rather than to disguise or change it.”

They let users know that they don’t have harsh, drying, artificial products and instead use natural oils that work with the customer’s body chemistry.

This product ethos means that they only sell products that live up to this standard and pit themselves against a rampant problem in their industry.

Casting the industry norm as an antagonist is a positioning strategy often used by brands that are confident about their solution to the customer’s problems.

10. Twelve Saturdays

College students can get school spirit attire pretty much anywhere. They have local options right on campus, and most big-box stores even carry local college gear. So how does Twelve Saturdays compete?

Instead of just highlighting that they have college apparel, they remind students that there are twelve Saturdays in a football season and their products can help you look good for each one. Football games are big social events for college students, and many want to show up with a fresh look week after week. They don’t want to wear the same outfit multiple times, or arrive in the same attire as someone else.

Twelve Saturdays bet on the idea of offering students fashionable, school spirit attire that guarantees they look good and feel good all season. They even own the fact that their products aren’t plastered with mascots and logos, focusing on style instead, which allows them to carry fewer products and target more schools.

“Looking good” may not sound unique as far as apparel is concerned. In fact, it probably seems obvious. But pairing it with a cultural phenomenon for a specific audience’s needs makes it fresh, compelling, and different.

This is a good reminder that a USP shouldn’t be a half-measure, but a whole-hearted effort to define your brand to your customers.

How to write your own unique selling proposition

Now that we’ve looked at ten examples of strong USPs from other businesses, you might be wondering how you can go about creating, uncovering, or refining your own unique selling proposition.

Every USP is going to be, well, unique but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a process you can follow to put yourself on the right track. Here’s how you can write yours:

  • Make a list of all the potential differentiators of your brand and what you sell. And get specific. Breakout products and compelling marketing messages rely on precision: they solve the exact right problem and communicate that benefit to customers in their own words.
    • Research the competition. Who are your competitors and what are their USPs? Look for gaps where you can potentially introduce your brand differently. Products in the same category can be positioned in wildly different ways—footwear, for example, can emphasize style, comfort, or durability.
    • Compare your most unique angles against your audience’s needs. Are there any customer needs that haven’t been filled? Do you see any pain points that you can appeal to that your competitors haven’t?
    • Compile the data. Take the information that you’ve learned, and sift through it to single out your strongest USP.
    • Think about viable ways to apply it across your business. Applied properly, a USP can be woven into different areas of your business, from your brand name to your return policy to reinforce the idea to your customers.

Once you have a vague idea of what your USP is, it might help to express it as a positioning statement so you can get it down on paper:

[YOUR BRAND] offers [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [TARGET MARKET] to [VALUE PROPOSITION].

Unlike [THE ALTERNATIVE], we [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

This won’t be exactly what you advertise on your website, but it should help you clarify your USP, its audience, and any specific differentiators that might be worth highlighting.

Unique selling propositions: Defining your competitive edge

A USP isn’t just a persuasive line of copy on your home page. It’s ultimately how you position your products or even your entire business to the rest of the world.

Your products don’t need to be wholly unique in and of themselves for you to have a strong unique selling proposition. Instead, look for a spot in the market where you can plant your flag that is relatively untouched by the competition.

There may be a dozen ways you could sell your products, but your USP is the big idea that best positions your brand according to what your customers care about and what your competitors aren’t.

Shopify Tutorial

Need a Catchy Business Name? Find Ideas With These Tips and Free Name Generators

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.

Original link：https://www.shopify.com/blog/4660242-what-should-i-name-my-online-store

Choosing the best brand name can have a major impact on your small business.

A snappy, memorable brand name gives you an immediate advantage when starting an ecommerce business. It makes it easy for potential customers to remember both you and your product and can set you up for long-term success.

Odds are you’ve got a lot on your plate right now. Between determining your target audience, what products you’ll sell, and how much startup funding you need, things can easily add up. 

So if you’re having trouble coming up with the perfect business name, it’s normal. This guide will walk you through how to brainstorm your business name, with name generators and examples to help you find the best one for your business. 

Find your business name

  • How to choose the perfect business name
  • Free business name generators to help find company name ideas
  • Tips for choosing a catchy brand name
  • A list of good business names for inspiration
  • What’s in a brand name? 
  • Business name ideas FAQ

How to choose the perfect business name

Business name generator tools are great to use as a starting point if you don’t have any ideas or if you’ve hit a creative block. Remember, these aren’t the only places to find ideas—there are other ways to get inspiration in your everyday life. 

Before we begin, here are some brainstorming tips to find your business name: 

  • Research what’s already out there. Not only will this help you understand what’s not available, but you can also list the business names that you like to see if that sparks any of your own ideas. Check out your competition and browse marketplaces like Exchange. 
  • Think outside the box. One of the most important rules in brainstorming is that there are no bad ideas. It’s OK to come up with some wacky names, because you never know what feasible ideas may come out of them. If you start big, you’ll have more to work with when you narrow your focus later.
  • Ask for help. Brainstorming is a creative process that can be done both independently and with other people. Maybe you already have a team of employees you can tap into for your next venture, or you can ask friends and family to donate their time and ideas in a fun brainstorming session. 
  • Organize and review your ideas. Once you’ve come up with a list of ideas, you’ll need to go back and sort through them to find the top contenders. Consider organizing your list using word banks or categorizing them based on theme. This could also help spark some fresh ideas post-brainstorm. 
  • Test your name. Tap into a focus group that’s representative of your target market, ask friends and family (ideally ones who didn’t help you brainstorm), and survey local shoppers to see which name ideas resonate the most.

Free business name generators to help find company name ideas

Coming up with catchy, meaningful ideas can be challenging, and it often feels like all the good names are already taken.

To help you find that perfect moniker, we’ve put together this list of business name generator tools to make sure your brand gets off on the right foot, plus five brainstorming strategies to get your creative juices flowing.

  • Shopify
  • Oberlo
  • Freshbooks
  • Anadea
  • Name Mesh
  • Hipster Business Names
  • Getsocio
  • Businessnamegenerator.com
  • Namesmith
  • Namelix

1. Shopify

Shopify’s business name generator helps you come up with potential business names in 10 seconds or less. Simply enter a keyword, click “Generate names, then browse thousands of auto-generated name ideas for your company domain. You can find all types of brand names that range from clever to modern, pragmatic to classic to help you build a brand. Or browse names based on industries such as clothing, fashion, jewelry, crafts, and flowers.

It’s the perfect tool if you’re looking for a little bit of creative inspiration. Plus, if you find a unique business name you like, you can jump from naming your brand to securing a domain in just a few clicks. New business owners can register a domain name and start an online store in minutes, so they can start selling online faster. 

2. Oberlo

Oberlo’s business name generator is a free resource you can use to find potential names for your business. Enter a word you want to include in your business name and the tool will give you hundreds of creative options to explore. You can browse and choose one you like, then register its .com domain. The business name generator can check for domain availability to make it easier to start your new company. 

3. Freshbooks

Freshbooks’ business name generator is a fun and interactive way to find a new company name. Once you click “Let’s Get Started,” the tool then asks you to select your industry: creatives and marketing, legal services and business consulting, trades and home services, or information technology. You’re then prompted to include any keywords you want to include in your business name. 

The tool will give you a batch of names according to your input. If you’re not a fan of any of them, you can click “Show me more names” to see more options, or “Go back and change keyword.” 

4. Anadea

Anadea’s business name maker is a free tool that combines a topic or keyword with other words and modifiers to generate a list of business name suggestions. Start by thinking of a catchy word that describes your business, then enter it into the name generator field. Click “Generate names” and the tool will provide you with 24 unique business name ideas. 

You can scroll through pages of relevant brand names in its database or change your keyword to discover other ideas. Once you find a good one, you can get a quote for registering the domain and building your website. 

5. Name Mesh

Name Mesh gives you ideas for choosing a domain name depending on the specific keywords you input. It recommends relevant domains based on your choices, then divides them into name suggestions based on categories like common, new, short, similar, fun, extra, and SEO. You can browse thousands of different suggestions to inspire your business name and register a domain if you find the perfect one. 

6. Hipster Business Name

Hipster Business Name is one of the more creative business name generators on the list, offering random cool name ideas that are fun, catchy, and clever—think as if you were starting a business in Brooklyn. To see more names, simply click “Refresh.” If you’re looking for a unique name, this is the best business name generator for you. 

7. Getsocio

Getsocio’s free business name generator lets you type in a keyword you want in your company name, then gives you thousands of intriguing suggestions with domain availability. You can click through tons of name ideas to get inspiration or choose one to register. 

The only drawback is that you’ll receive a .getsocio.com domain rather than the standard .com. 

8. Businessnamegenerator.com

If you’re looking for a bunch of different name generators, you’ll want to check out Businessnamegenerator.com. You can use the standard generator once you land on the page, or scroll down to find trending and popular generators to play around with. Some examples include a startup name generator, creative business generator, podcast name generator, and photography company name generator. 

Choose the generator you want to use, then type in your keywords and it’ll provide you with catchy brand names to pick from. If you find a name you like, you can register it with GoDaddy and start using it immediately. 

9. Namesmith

Namesmith’s creative business name generator lets you add up to five keywords you’d like in your business name. After you click ”Search,” the algorithm will provide business names (and domains) with exact keywords, blends, rhymes, prefixes/suffixes, and modifications. The tool constructs a blend of words based on your keywords, messes with them in cool ways, and creates unique business names. 

If you’re completely stuck, you can explore random names by clicking “Just Generate Some Random Names Please!”

10. Namelix

Namelix uses artificial intelligence to provide you with catchy names and logo design ideas. Enter a keyword or multiple keywords and Namelix will use similar words to generate a list of ideas. It’ll also tell you if there is an available domain for sale. 

In the example above, I chose to search for catchy business name ideas related to “jewelry,” “gems,” “stones,” and “diamonds.” If you were to start a jewelry company, this would be a great starting point to choose a name and purchase a done-for-you logo. 

Tips for choosing a catchy brand name

Having a great business name is crucial to your success as an online entrepreneur. As Marty Neumeier writes in The Brand Gap, “The right name can be a brand’s most valuable asset, driving differentiation and speeding acceptance. The wrong name can cost millions…in workarounds and lost income over the lifetime of the brand.”

It’s incredibly important to find the right name when setting up your online store to help it stand out from the crowd—both from a branding perspective and from a search engine perspective. Here are a few pointers on how to find a memorable name.

1. Keep it short and simple

Having a short, snappy name is great for several reasons: it’s memorable, it’s easy to pronounce, and it effortlessly fits in the header of your online store’s homepage. 

Finding a good name can be challenging, however. Brands are launched every day, and names that are appealing to you will undoubtedly appeal to someone else, too. Fortunately, it’s a big world and there’s plenty of room for creative, compelling brand names.

Here are a few strategies you can try to get your gears turning:

  • Try different combinations of short words. Two short words that rhyme or that are alliterative (e.g., “Snack Shack”) can be more memorable.
  • Make up a word or tweak an existing one. Tech brands like Google, eBay, and Skype have instantly recognizable names, even though they aren’t real words.
  • Use a word with personal meaning. It might be a nickname you have for your significant other, your pet’s name (a smart idea if your store relates to furry friends), or even your own name. Using a personal name makes your store easier to identify with—though note that stores built on personal brands can be more difficult to sell.

2. Be different

Conduct market research to discover which names are taken by your direct competitors and try to come up with something completely different.

The challenge here is to come up with a name that reflects your niche and the type of products you’re selling without your business name mirroring your competitors. By definition, if you want to be different you have to “zig” when others “zag.”

For instance, if you’re selling electronics and technology products, you might have competitors who use words like “electronics,” “technology,” and “future” in their names. Avoid using similar words. Instead, think differently and stand out.

3. Consider your online presence

Once you have a list of options for your store name, find out if your chosen domain—preferably a .com—is available to be registered. This might be a bit difficult, given that .com is the most popular top-level domain (TLD) and has been for a long time.

Having a custom domain name for your store is mission critical, though you shouldn’t let your search for the mythical “perfect” domain name cause you to procrastinate—everything is open to change, including your domain name. However, there is value in picking a solid domain name that properly represents your brand from the start, so it’s a decision that warrants some thought.

You might also consider selling on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or another third-party marketplace in addition to your own online store. Even if that’s not in the plan, it’s a good idea to check your business name idea on popular ecommerce sites to make sure the name is available to you and so customers don’t confuse you with another existing business.

4. Get creative with your domain name

If the .com for your chosen name isn’t available, don’t fret—you still have the option of using a different top-level domain. The reason .com is the gold standard is that everyone recognizes it, but that doesn’t rule out other TLDs, which are becoming more commonplace as great .com options continue to dwindle. 

When it first launched, Shopify store Tattly decided to go with a .ly domain: tatt.ly. More recently, it was able to purchase tattly.com, which is where its site currently lives.

While some search engine experts believe Google isn’t as friendly to lesser-known domains, you should still be able to rank just as high as a .com if you have a high-quality site with a good user experience. Plus, going with a snazzy domain is far more unique. Give our domain name generator a spin if you’re looking for inspiration.

Modifiers to consider:

  • [YourBrand][Main Product].com (e.g., helmboots.com)
  • Shop[YourBrand].com (e.g., shopsandytoesshop.com
  • Get[YourProduct].com (e.g., getflow.com)
  • [YourBrand]co.com (e.g., shopmeekco.com)
  • [YourBrand][Industry].com (e.g., lifeinspirithome.com)
  • [Verb][YourBrand].com (e.g., wearpepper.com)
  • [My/Your][YourBrand].com (e.g., mybillie.com)

TLDs to consider:

  • .store
  • .shop
  • Based on the product you sell (.shoes, .art)
  • Continuation of your brand name (e.g., muvo.health for “Muvo Health Supplements,” or fuego.clothing for “Fuego Clothing Co.”)

5. Be original

Make sure you’re legally allowed to use the business name you’ve come up with. For store owners in the US, start by checking the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It has a free database that’s a pain in the butt to search, but it’s well worth the effort.

Also note, the US doesn’t have a centralized national register, so trademarks can be made in another country or just in a single state. In Canada, you can search through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office website, which is also pretty confusing. 

Once you’ve determined your name is available, go to Google or Bing and see if the names on your list show up. Could you potentially make it to the top of the first page? If you choose a generic name, you’ll have a tough time ranking very well.

It’s also important to check Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites you’ll want to use for name availability.

6. Find new inspiration

If you’re short on small-business name ideas, you might want to give yourself themes to think about. Maybe you look for a business name that has nostalgia or speaks to a trend. Other languages can provide plenty of ideas, too. 

Inspiration can strike anywhere. Listen to conversations around you, survey your surroundings, and even consider your usual expressions and mannerisms.

A list of good business names for inspiration

The best ecommerce sites all have one thing in common: a cool business name. Browse the following list of business names to get inspiration for yours.  

  • Death Wish Coffee
  • Super Ink Clothing
  • Sock Market
  • Cotopaxi
  • Coffee Joulies
  • Fuego Box
  • Conquest Maps
  • Star Cadet
  • Storq
  • United By Blue

1. Death Wish Coffee

A name like Death Wish Coffee can only mean one thing: this is some of the strongest coffee you can buy. The name sets the tone for the brand experience, as does the copy on its website and other marketing channels, encouraging customers to try it and find out if it lives up to its promise.

2. Super Ink Clothing

Super Ink Clothing sells printed clothing and accessories to a very specific demographic. “Our paradise lifestyle was made for creative individuals who constantly live in a state of wanderlust!” its About page states. 

To create its compound name, the brand combined the word “super,” which is associated with positivity and quality, and “ink,” which brings in the idea of the ink printed on the clothing. If you’re stuck between two ideas or words for your store name, you might not have to choose one over the other. 

3. Sock Market 

Sock Market has taken a more literal approach to its brand name. The online store sells socks for people of all ages, from babies to adults. Built on the philosophy of bringing high fashion to the sock industry, the name for the online store indicates that it is “the” place to go for all your sock needs. 

4. Cotopaxi 

There are two meanings for the word “Cotopaxi.” One is a sacred and active volcano in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. The other is an online store that sells outdoor gear. Rather than inventing a word or coming up with a name from scratch, Cotopaxi borrowed the name from a famous landmark that’s relevant and interesting to its customer base. It even shares the story behind the name on its site.

5. Coffee Joulies 

Coffee Joulies are stainless steel thermodynamic coffee beans that help regulate your cup of coffee to the perfect temperature. So where did the word “joulies” come from? “Joule is the SI unit of energy; Joule…Joulie…Joulies!” the founders explained in a 2011 article. They found a word that embodied the science they put into the product and tweaked it to make it their own—and make it more memorable to customers.

6. Fuego Box 

The subscription box industry continues to thrive, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 53% of subscription box companies claiming they didn’t see a significant drop in acquisition rates in 2020.

Many of the most popular brands in this category have “box” in their name: BarkBox, Birchbox, and NatureBox, to name a few. Fuego Box plays on the familiarity of the word “box” and a commonly used Spanish-language word for fire, “fuego.”

7. Conquest Maps 

Conquest Maps sells beautiful and unique maps, its core product being a pin board map popular among people who love to travel. Keeping the name of the product (maps) in the store name, it added a descriptor in front to convey brand identity and the journey the product represents. A conquest is a trip, and customers are reliving their trips through Conquest Maps products.

8. Star Cadet 

Star Cadet is the result of a series of media, retail, and ecommerce business ventures dating back to 2010. Star Cadet’s brand story is quite long and eventful, with a history of several failed and successful businesses along the way. Formerly called Olan Rogers Supply, derived from the founders’ names, the online brand changed its name to Star Cadet, which also works for the business’ future production aspirations. 

9. Storq 

Storq sells products for pregnant women and new moms. Pronounced like “stork,” it’s a unique take on spelling the word. Storks are associated with childbirth, which makes for a fitting and memorable brand name. Plus, the letter Q lends itself to fun branding and design treatments. 

10. United By Blue

United By Blue is more than just a brand; the company has created a movement around sustainability and protecting the earth’s oceans and waterways. It sells products designed for enjoying the outdoors. Its customers are quite literally united with the brand through their passion for the ocean, rivers, lakes, and streams. It establishes a sense of community and reiterates the brand’s philosophies.

What’s in a brand name?

Finding the right business name can feel like a daunting task. But it’s absolutely crucial to put time and thought into naming your online store. That’s how customers will come to know, recognize, and talk about you—and if the name’s too difficult to remember, you’re missing out on loads of word-of-mouth marketing that doesn’t cost you a single penny.

Illustration by Eugenia Mello

FAQ: Finding business name ideas

How do I name my small business?

  • Consider what you want to convey to customers.
  • Research what brand names are available.
  • Brainstorm with friends or family to get company name suggestions.
  • Focus on the uniqueness of your brand.
  • Keep your business name short and simple.
  • Organize and review your business name ideas. 
  • Test your business name ideas.

What’s a catchy name?

A catchy name is designed to be memorable for your target audience. It doesn’t matter how many other brand names they see, they’ll remember yours because it’s unforgettable. Often these names become everyday terms, such as Band-Aid or Popsicle

How do I come up with a catchy business name?

  • Mash up different words.
  • Create acronyms.
  • Brainstorm name ideas from everyday things, like an apple or a dog.
  • Draw inspiration from history, literature, or mythology.
  • Include foreign words.
  • Use your name.
  • Try a business name generator.
  • Be original.

Where can I find out if a business name is taken?

You can check your state’s business filing website name check tool to search business names and see if they are taken by another business or not. If a name is taken, you can always search for business names for sale on sites such as SquadHelp.

Shopify Tutorial

The Best Free Stock Photo Websites For Finding Creative Images in 2021

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.

Original link：https://www.shopify.com/blog/17156388-22-awesome-websites-with-stunning-free-stock-images

I know your pain.

You’re looking for the right images for your online store, website, or social media feed. You don’t have time for product photography, so you’ve searched far and wide for free images to use but keep running into cheesy stock photos of people high-fiving in boardrooms or laughing into their salads.

The good news: there’s a huge variety of excellent free and paid stock photography websites for commercial use available online. You just have to know where to look.

We’ve compiled an exhaustive (and freshly updated) list of stock photo resources you can use to find free images to build your brand. Whether you need first-rate stock images for commercial use or a blog post hero, you’ll find what you’re looking for right here.

Find your stock photos

  • Free image license types
  • 23 best free stock photo sites for commercial use
  • Using free images for your website
  • Free stock photos FAQ

Free image license types

Before we get into our list of top stock photo sites, let’s look at the different terms and licenses that stock photography websites use:

  • Royalty free means you can use the asset without paying royalties or licensing fees.
  • A Creative Commons license gives you the right to share, use, and build upon a copyrighted image.
  • Attribution refers to giving appropriate credit to a creator’s work. It’s either required or not required when downloading a stock photo.
  • Commercial use describes any activity in which you use assets for financial gain. Stock image sites may permit licensed photos for commercial purposes (like ads or editorial) or may not.
  • Membership means you must register an account with the website to use its images. Some require a membership fee, while others are free.

 It’s always best to double check the licensing terms for the stock photo resources listed below. We did our research when putting this list together, but licensing is subject to change and may differ depending on which stock photographers or stock libraries you purchase from. Some may require approval for commercial use, while others may be totally free to download and use.

23 best free stock photo sites for commercial use

  • Burst by Shopify
  • Pixabay
  • Unsplash
  • Pexels
  • Shutterstock
  • Getty Images
  • Canva
  • iStock
  • Freepik
  • Picjumbo
  • Life of Pix
  • Depositphoto
  • ISO Republic
  • FreeImages
  • Gratisography
  • New Old Stock
  • Kaboompics
  • Freerange
  • Adobe Stock
  • StockSnap.io
  • Stockvault
  • Foodiesfeed
  • FOCA stock

Burst by Shopify

Burst is a free stock photo site powered by Shopify. Our image library includes thousands of high-resolution images taken by a global community of photographers. New high-definition photos are added every week. These public domain images are free to use for commercial or personal use.

The site has a search feature where you can find images by keyword or popular category. Another neat feature of Burst is its “business ideas” section. Here you can find free stock photos to download and business tips broken down by niche, including women’s fashion, art supplies, socks, and more.

Pixabay

Pixabay is a free stock website with over 2.2 million stock images, videos, and music clips available for download by the Pixabay community. It offers royalty-free photos from contributors, which anyone can manipulate and use without permission or any attribution to the artist.

Stock images on Pixabay have been described as “mediocre for the most part” and cover a wide range of topics. All photos are released under the Pixabay license, which is similar to the Creative Commons CC0, but slightly more restrictive.

Unsplash

Unsplash is home to over 2.5 million free beautiful stock photos shot by a global community of photographers. All images are free for whatever use you wish, and Unsplash adds new images to download everyday. When you create a free account with this stock photography site you can collect photos and access them from your iPhone, iPad, or computer.

Pexels

Pexels is a free stock image and video library licensed under the Pexels license, which is similar to the CC0 license. You can download, copy, distribute, and modify images licensed by Pexels. This stock image site has hundreds of thousands of images hand-picked from photos uploaded by the Pexels community. All photos are tagged, searchable, and can easily be found on the site’s discovery pages.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock is a leading provider of licensed stock images, vectors, illustrations, and music for businesses and consumers around the world. It has a growing community of over one million creators and adds hundreds of thousands of creative assets every day.

To date, over one billion images, video clips, and music tracks have been downloaded on Shutterstock. It has a library of over 300 million free stock images, and customers in 150+ countries.

Getty Images

Getty Images supplies stock images, editorial photography, video, and music from a library of over 200 million assets. Getty Images gears more toward corporations and creative professionals in advertising and media.

Most images are not free—you’ll have to pay for a license to use them. However, you can use some images for free with Getty’s Embed feature, which is only for non-commercial use. The kicker? The free images have the Getty Images watermark at the bottom and you can’t get rid of it.

Canva

The acclaimed graphic design tool Canva also offers free stock images on its site. The Canva library is home to millions of paid and free stock photos to download or use in the platform’s design editor. You can switch between images and colors without navigating between tabs.

iStock

iStock by Getty Images is another leading stock photography website. It offers millions of popular photos, illustrations, clip art, videos, and audio clips. It’s also known for paying contributors well for their contributions. While you’ll have to pay a licensing fee for most assets, iStock does offer weekly free stock photos to download.

Freepik

Freepik is a great free stock image site for creators seeking professional Photoshop (PSD) templates and beautiful stock images. The site has over four million assets, from vectors to illustrations, also available for download. Attribution is required to use Freepik’s stock for commercial or personal use.

Picjumbo

Born in 2013, picjumbo is a free stock photo website created in 2013 by designer and photographer Viktor Hanacek. It started because all other photo sites rejected his photos for “lack of quality.”

Today, picjumbo offers thousands of high-resolution images, plus social media elements and other design freebies. Images are easy to find and displayed as collections, so you can see the same image from different views and find the best free images for your project.

Life of Pix

Built by LEEROY Creative Agency, Life of Pix offers true-to-life high-resolution stock images for download. It has thousands of stock photos, including everything from food and people to architecture and textures. The site adds 10 new photos weekly from a handpicked Photographer of the Week. All copyright-free images are available for commercial use, but some restrictions apply for distributors.

Depositphoto

Depositphoto is a global marketplace for stock images, with over 202 million assets available for download. You can browse through thematic collections of free stock photography and media trusted by corporations including TripAdvisor, Forbes, and Subaru. Many photos are available for purchase, but the site offers over 69,000 high-quality images you can download for free.

ISO Republic

ISO Republic is an independent website that curates high-resolution, Creative Commons CC0 photos and videos. It has an ever-expanding library with over 6,000 creative photos, all free for personal and commercial use, no attribution required.

FreeImages

FreeImages provides over 380,000 royalty-free stock photos ready to share. You can license them to use for social media, ads, printed materials, websites, or any other project you’re working on. You can find photos for concepts like fashion, fitness, business, family, travel, and more, all free to download.

Gratisography

Gratisography is a free stock image website different from any other on this list, created by photographer Ryan McGuire. It offers humorous and whimsical images (think: bigfoot in the forest with a mask on) you can use entirely for free, without any copyright restrictions. If you want to express your brand and make an impact on your viewers, photos from Gratisography are the way to go.

New Old Stock

Looking for free vintage photos for your project? Look no further than New Old Stock. While the stock photography site doesn’t actively add new images anymore, you can still browse and download old photos from Flickr Commons–listed institutions and public archives. You’ll find photos taken of everything from gold mining in New England to NASA in the ’70s and so much more.

Kaboompics

Kaboompics is another popular free stock image site, with over 20,000 photos. It’s owned by one photographer/entrepreneur and has a stock photo license that covers both personal and commercial purposes without attribution (although it’s appreciated). The site search helps you find photos in over 1,500 collections, with advanced sorting options to find the best match. Kaboompics blog is also full of expert advice on marketing and design.

Freerange

Freerange is a standard free stock image site with a big library of images ready to download. Photos are shot both in house and submitted by contributors. The collections span topics like backgrounds and textures, animals and insects, technology, and vintage photos. New photos are added daily.

Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is known for its premium stock photos and high price tag. But did you know it also offers a selection of free pics and videos, too? Browse curated photo collections of trending themes like Springtime and Nature and Landscapes. Or check out its collection of free illustrations, templates, and 3D assets to use in your next personal or commercial project.

StockSnap.io

StockSnap.io is a free stock image site created by the same team behind graphic design tool Snappa. It offers hundreds of high-resolution photos, with more added every week. The search function is user friendly and lets you sort by popularity, views, download, favorites, and more. The library is built by user submissions and reflects a trendy, modern style you can use for your projects, free from any copyright restrictions.

Stockvault

Stockvault showcases a big collection of over 138,000 photos on varied topics. It crowdsources photos from creators around the world for you to download and use for free. The overall quality of photos are excellent. The only drawback is that Stockvault has three different licenses, so make sure to check that you can use a specific photo for your intended purposes.

Foodiesfeed

Foodiesfeed is the best free food photography stock photo site on the web. Search through more than 1,700 photos, with intuitive search functionality and tags that are incredibly easy to use. Foodiesfeed is perfect for any food-related website looking for trendy, high-quality photos, free for commercial use.

FOCA stock

Formerly known as MMT, FOCA stock offers a full archive of free for commercial use stock photos, with new photos added every single week. It has a big focus on nature stock photography and macro stock photography. The site is also incredibly easy to navigate and lets you sort by category, tags, color, and orientation, so you can find what you’re looking for.

Using free images for your website

Now that you’ve taken a look at the best places online to get free high-quality images, it’s time to build the best ecommerce website for your business. With all of these stunning stock photos at your fingertips, your creative juices are no doubt flowing.

So, whether you’re using the images for a blog post, a website, your store, a Facebook ad, a presentation, or whatever else life throws at you, you’re all set.

Illustration by Till Lauer

Free stock photos FAQ

Is Burst free?

Burst is a free stock photo site powered by Shopify. All photos are free for commercial use, with no attribution required.

Where can I get stock photos for free?

  • Burst by Shopify
  • Pixabay
  • Unsplash
  • Pexels
  • Shutterstock
  • Getty Images
  • Canva
  • iStock
  • Freepik
  • Picjumbo

Is it illegal to use stock photos?

Stock photos are not illegal to use if you have legally licensed the image. The photographer of a stock image must make their work available for licensing, then you can obtain it by paying to use it or through a Creative Commons license.

What can I use instead of stock photos?

There are two options for getting creative images instead of using stock photos. You can take your own photos or hire a photographer to take photos for your business or project.

Shopify Tutorial

Homepage Design 101: What to Include on the Front Page of Your Website

May 5, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.
Original linkh：ttps://www.shopify.com/blog/homepage-design

Your homepage serves as both an introduction to your brand and a set of coded instructions meant to help both new and existing customers navigate your business to find what they need.

Much like a landing page, every detail should build toward making a strong first impression and encouraging an intended action, whether the goal of your homepage is to sell your products or capture email subscribers.

There’s no one way to design a homepage. However, here are some tips to keep in mind as you plan your homepage from top to bottom, whether you’re building your first store, or revisiting this crucial part of your website.

Questions to ask when designing your homepage

A homepage that works perfectly for one business could fall flat for another.

If you’re looking at design options and are unsure of which direction to go in, here are a few questions to help guide your decision:

  • How easy was it for them to get to your homepage and do you have a branded domain? We have free tools to help with finding a domain name.
  • What do you want the visitor to do? (e.g. make a purchase, join your email list, etc.)
  • How simple are you making it for them to do this?
  • How many steps are there to complete your goal?
  • How much information do they need to proceed to the next step?
  • Are there any steps you can eliminate?

Visitors sometimes land on homepages knowing what they want, and other times they don’t. You have to design your homepage with both in mind while ensuring that your decisions align with your primary goals.

A good homepage should accommodate visitors looking for a specific outcome, while directing the attention of the ones who aren’t.

What outcomes should your homepage design support?

On average, visitors will spend 10-20 seconds on your homepage. What this means from a design perspective is that you need to make the navigational flow clear so visitors can quickly choose the best path for themselves (and for your business).

Adding to this urgency is a psychological phenomenon called “decision avoidance,” which is the tendency of humans to avert a decision that takes too long to make.

On a homepage, decision avoidance means “bouncing” by exiting the page or hitting the back button. To prevent this, the first task of your homepage should be to convince potential customers to stick around.

To do that, you need to understand the role of your website’s most valuable real estate.

1. “Above-the-fold” content that inspires action

When web designers talk about an area of the homepage as “above the fold,” they’re referring to what visitors see before they decide to scroll.

When considering what lies above the fold and how that accompanies the rest of your homepage, focus on the actions you want the visitor to take when they first land on your site, the information they need first, and how you can help facilitate their decision.

Take Morning Recovery’s homepage, for example. Morning Recovery sells a hangover remedy as their sole product. Since the goal is to direct potential customers to purchase their flagship product, brightly-colored and product-focused images adorn the section above-the-fold with a clear call to action that leads visitors to make a purchase.

On this homepage, there are two quick decisions that a user can make:

  • Proceed to make a purchase
  • Or scroll down for more information below the fold—reviews, a video, and information about the product’s ingredients. 

Most of the best ecommerce website designs use headers that are a combination of an attention-grabbing headline, persuasive subtitle, and captivating visual above the fold to keep new visitors on-site and familiarize them with the brand.

However, there are many other ways you can capture a customer’s interest from the very beginning, such as featuring a promotional banner above your navigation to advertise a special offer or free shipping.

2. Clear navigation

The navigational strength of a web page rests on its simplicity. This may seem contradictory when you want to accommodate different types of visitors, but it makes sense when you consider how quickly people move from page to page on the internet.

Header navigation should be as straightforward as possible, prioritizing the paths that matter most to most visitors. Andy Crestodina, strategic director of Orbit Media Studios, recommends no more than seven navigation links on your homepage.

Humans use an organizational memorization method called “chunking” wherein information is broken down into smaller mental units called “chunks”.

The fewer “chunks” there are, the easier memory retention becomes. In an influential paper published in 1956, psychology professor George Miller concluded that our short-term memory is generally only able to hold seven items at a time.

Sites with too many navigation options can feel cluttered and overwhelming, increasing the likeliness that visitors will drop off or take the wrong path. A good practice is to prioritize your navigation links from left to right with the most important pages at the left.

If you have a lot of products and collections, focus on your main top-level collections in your homepage navigation and use a “mega menu” or a drop-down menu to create sub-navigation.

Sub-navigation is an excellent way to organize your products and pages for easy exploration without overwhelming customers with too many options from the get-go.

UNCONDITIONAL’s homepage, for example, balances minimal navigation and extensive inventory with a well-organized dropdown menu.

Some websites also have links to their about us page, contact us page, FAQ page, or other pages in their header navigation because they support their primary goals.

But if you find that visitors to these pages aren’t converting according to your goals, it’s likely these links are taking them off the path to conversion. If this is the case, it’s best to add these links to the footer instead.

3. Eye-catching imagery

Decision avoidance applies not only to your navigation but all other elements on your homepage. Appreciating the limits of user attention will help you emphasize what matters most when designing your homepage.

Whether you’re promoting a product or collection or trying to capture leads, the purpose of your visuals is to draw in the user’s attention immediately as they arrive on your website.

Here are a few ways to incorporate visuals into the above-the-fold section of your homepage:

Image with text overlay

This style of above-the-fold imagery often blends together a single, powerful image, direct copy, and a call to action. It works best for merchants that want to focus on a leading offer above the fold, such as a limited time sale, a flagship product, or a seasonal collection.

Slideshows

You may choose to include a slideshow with each of the slides advertising a specific sale, group of products, or high-quality product photo.

Store owners who sell a wide selection of products across a few categories often opt for this approach when there’s a few collections or pages they want to promote to visitors.

You’ll want to order the slides based on priority, with the highest priority slide first. It’s best to limit yourself to roughly three slides since users won’t be looking at a single slide for long before moving to the next step.

Video

Certain brands stand to benefit from a homepage visual that tells their story. For some products, especially innovative or complex ones, it may be necessary to illustrate how to use the product before you can get visitors interested.

Take the homepage of Bottle Cutting Inc for example. Many visitors likely won’t know they need the product just yet, so the homepage creates excitement around it through a video demonstration—a natural first step in the conversion process.

Since images have such an immediate and significant impact, it’s important to make sure they’re high quality and truly representative of your brand.

If you’re not a photographer, you can use the image picker in the Shopify theme editor to select from our collection of free stock photos.

4. A direct call to action

Think of a call to action as an exit sign on a highway; it should be short, hard to miss, and point the right drivers down the path they need to take.

Your calls to action and what they link to should align with the next steps a customer can take toward the main goals of your homepage. That might mean linking to your latest collection or getting users to watch an explainer video to learn more.

The user should understand immediately where to click because your call to action button should stand out from the surrounding design. The longer it takes a user to find the call to action, the more likely they are to become confused or click away.

The PopSockets homepage, featured above, does an excellent job of moving the user down their ideal conversion path. Brilliant product imagery is used to catch the user’s attention, while the call to action is front and center in black and white (in contrast with the colorful background).

Nothing above the fold distracts from the main goal of the homepage: to direct the user to browse their latest product line. As you scroll down, you’ll see more CTAs to purchase other products.

5. An easy-to-access shopping cart

The shopping cart is an integral part of the homepage for most ecommerce websites.

Part of making navigation intuitive for your customers is ensuring their shopping cart is easy to find. A “sticky” shopping cart (sometimes called a “slide-out” cart, which is available in certain Shopify themes) is a cart that is present and available on the screen throughout the entire browsing experience, usually in the top-right corner.

Even better, you can display the number of items currently in the customer’s cart as well. A bold, eye-catching notification by the cart, indicating the number of items currently added, reminds customers their purchase is still in progress and encourages them to complete their checkout.

Bottom line: Make it clear to customers when items are in their cart and how to access it.

The Chubbies homepage features a red notification highlighting the number of items in the user’s cart, as well as a slide-out cart that lets users easily continue shopping or proceed to checkout.

6. A search bar (for large collections of products)

Alongside minimal navigation and a sticky cart, many online stores include a search bar to help visitors who know exactly what they are looking for—especially if they have many different products or lots of content to explore.

Morphe, for example, has an extensive collection of different makeup products. To make it easier for their customers to find what they’re looking for, Morphe has added a smart search bar that auto-completes a visitor’s search query with suggested products, collections, and pages. This creates a direct path to the page that the user is looking for from the homepage.

Generally, users who complete a search are more likely to convert. If your brand is selling a lot of products, an easy-to-find search bar offers an alternative to complex navigation that’s likely to turn customers away.

Beyond the fold: Other homepage elements to consider

Elements that you feature below the fold (i.e. after users scroll) aren’t necessarily less important—they often reinforce and expand on the information you’ve already introduced, provide other paths to the same conversion goal, and make other pages available to the customers who need them.

Here’s a short list of elements you can include as part of your homepage design or your footer, depending on how important they are to your goals.

1. Blogs, videos, and other content

Blog and video content can be great for SEO, but content above the fold has the potential to distract customers and draw them away from your products. You generally want your content to lead users to your products, not the other way around.

Consider placing links to your content below the fold or even in the footer, especially if the content isn’t a core aspect of your business, and allow users who’ve chosen to explore your site to find it.

If you want to promote your content, you could add a link in your top navigation, but it’s often best to do this on social media, through email, and third party sites so that it can drive external traffic to your own website.

BioLite Energy, for example, sells sustainable, portable cooking and lighting appliances. Their informative, homepage video content is tucked below the fold and above the footer to avoid distracting users from their core value proposition. Everything else—from their blog to their YouTube channel—is available below if visitors are looking for it.

2. Social proof: Customer reviews, endorsements, and press

Social proof is an endorsement of your brand that leverages existing trust from customers/experts to earn the trust of new visitors. This can include press mentions, reviews, social media posts, Instagram galleries, or endorsements from influencers or experts.

If you have persuasive social proof that you can leverage, your homepage may be a good place for it.

The ErgoDox homepage below provides quotes pulled from social media and shoutouts from employees at well-known companies as a testament to the quality of their product. However, this is introduced towards the bottom after establishing what their product does.

3. Low priority and add-on products

Older products and add-on products like watch straps may be worth shifting towards the bottom of your homepage. You want to lead with your flagship products or draw attention to your newest product lines, after all.

Less expensive products that compliment your main products act best as impulse buys used as an upsell at checkout, but they can also be included on the homepage below the fold to make visitors aware of them—if you’re selling a product that requires replacement parts or refills.

LIV Watches, for example, naturally focuses on watches, but advertise their premium add-on products like straps towards the bottom of their homepage.

4. Lower priority pages

Pages that you consider low priority can differ depending on your business model.

Generally, pages such as your Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, or Return Policy work best in the footer. Since links to these pages are so often kept in the footer, many visitors should intuitively look there if they need to get to these pages.

Others, like your about us page template, contact info, store locations, or order tracking pages can also be added to your footer. But if they truly help prospective customers buy from you, or help you accomplish another key goal, then you can consider prioritizing them in your top navigation or even your homepage design.

For example, a merchant selling a subscription service might be able to significantly curb their support tickets by adding a prominent FAQ link in their homepage navigation. Or, like in the case of Bellroy where their products are often purchased in-person, you can help visitors discover the nearest physical retail location via a more prominent Store Locator link.

In trying to decide if a page is low-priority, ask yourself how much you stand to benefit if you direct visitors to that page right away and whether it serves to distract them away from or draw them towards your intended outcomes.

Keeping mobile homepage design in mind

Mobile web-traffic has consistently continued to grow over the last couple of years. Since a good portion of your traffic is likely to come from mobile sources, every decision you make about the design of your homepage should take mobile users into account.

Simplifying your homepage to direct users toward a specific set of actions becomes even more important for mobile users.

If you’re a Shopify store owner, the elements of any theme in the Shopify theme store will adjust based on screen size. However, keep in mind that images that look stunning on a wide desktop screen could be cut off or cropped in unusual ways on a mobile screen. Calls to action can be harder to find or moved in a way that makes it more likely for visitors to click away.

You can easily preview your homepage design on different devices in the Shopify theme editor by using the view toggle options at the top of your preview.

Improving your homepage design over time

As you’re probably aware by now, there’s no single best way to design your homepage. Factors like user demographics, branding, number of products, marketing channels, and more can influence your user’s behavior in a medley of ways.

That’s why it’s so important to always view your homepage as a work in progress, using the traffic and sales you generate to measure the impact of your homepage and make adjustments over time.

Shopify Tutorial

The Top 10 Paid and Free Logo Makers Online in 2021

May 4, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.
Original link:https://www.shopify.com/blog/online-logo-makers

Your logo is more than just a group of symbols, letters, and colors. It’s the most recognizable brand identifier of your business, followed only by visual style and brand colors, and can be the driving force behind the success of your business. 

In fact, 60% of consumers avoid brands that have an unattractive logo. So even if you have a great product or service, you can hinder your marketing and sales efforts without a good logo.

As a new business owner, it can be hard to cough up the money to pay for a professional logo designer. If you have little design experience, how can you possibly make a logo by yourself?

If this sounds like you, don’t sweat it. This article will walk you through the best free online logo makers, plus a few affordable options if you have a little extra room in your budget. 

Design your logo today

  • Why a professional logo is important to your brand
  • Best free logo maker apps and generators
  • Best paid logo makers online
  • Free logo design templates
  • Logo design tips
  • Design your logo today
  • Free logo maker FAQ

Why a professional logo is important to your brand

Your logo says everything about your business. If it looks good, it leaves a lasting impression on potential customers. A bad logo, on the other hand, can leave customers with a bad taste in their mouth. It can also hinder your brand across different channels—like social media, web, and print—if the colors or layout are done poorly. 

A well-designed business logo can:

  • Grab potential customers’ attention. People have short attention spans. A great logo can attract the eye and communicate your brand values quickly.
  • Make you recognizable. Logos are the foundation of your brand identity. It can differentiate you from competitors and help people remember your business across any channel. 
  • Build customer loyalty. A professional logo can build trust with people before they even interact with your brand. If they have a great experience, they’ll likely return and continue to buy from your business. 

As you can see, a small business won’t get far without a good logo. It can make you memorable, express your unique selling proposition, and connect with your audience, which can lead to better retention and sales over time. 

Let’s look at some of the best paid and free logo makers to start designing your logo now. 

Best free logo maker apps and generators

Coming up with a well-designed, unique logo can be challenging. It can feel like you don’t know where to start and you’ll have to hire a professional designer to get the job done. 

To help you find the perfect logo (without breaking the bank), we’ve put together a list of the best free logo makers online to make sure your brand is memorable and differentiates you from the competition.

  • Hatchful by Shopify
  • Canva
  • Logo Maker by Ucraft

1. Hatchful by Shopify

If you’re looking for the best free logo maker online, Shopify has got you covered. Hatchful is a mobile app for iOS and Android that helps you build a brand from scratch, right from the palm of your hand. It’s also trusted by 140,000+ business owners.

Just answer a few questions about your business and Hatchful will suggest logos from hundreds of available templates. From there, you can take advantage of the following benefits:

  • Save time and money. The logo maker is free to use, so anyone can create incredible branded logos in minutes. 
  • Hundreds of templates. Choose from hundreds of distinct logo templates designed by professionals—all for free.
  • Full brand packages. You don’t have to stop at your logo. Download brand assets for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to grow your brand on social media.
  • Intuitive design studio. Customize colors, add icons, edit layouts, and more to build a unique brand. 
  • Tailored for your industry. Discover logos specifically for your industry. Provide Hatchful with your brand values and the tool will take care of the rest. 

Hatchful is free to use, whether you’re a Shopify merchant or not. There are premium logo templates you can buy within the app. You’ll only be charged if you decide to download them. Overall, it’s a handy tool if you’re looking for a free, unforgettable logo that represents your brand. 

2. Canva 

Canva is probably the most hands-on logo maker on the list. You can click through from the homepage into Canva’s logo editor. You won’t be asked any questions about your business, but will have access to hundreds of templates. The templates are broken down by niches such as badges, art/design, fashion, sports, food and drink, automotive, and more. 

Some of the logos in this creator are clever and fun, but you’ll have to do the editing on your own. Canva’s design tool makes it really simple, plus, it has a ton of support articles to help if you get stuck on anything. Once you finish your design, you can download for free and use it as you please.

3. Logo Maker by Ucraft

Logo Maker by Ucraft is a free logo generator that helps you create a professional logo in just a few clicks. You’ll find a selection of icons, fonts, and shapes to use for designing a logo from scratch. Then you’re free to export your new logo in PNG format for free or in SVG or EPS format for $7. 

The result? You’ll get a transparent, high-resolution PNG file, so you can reuse it everywhere—and it’s completely free.

Best paid logo makers online

The following online makers are free to try. Some of them will allow you to download a low-resolution JPEG of your logo, but you’ll have to pay to download the vector files.

  • Looka
  • Tailor Brands Logo Maker
  • Logomaker
  • Designhill
  • BrandCrowd
  • GraphicSprings Logo Creator
  • Placeit

1. Looka 

Looka is an interactive, AI-powered online logo maker. When you visit Looka’s website, you enter your company name and click Get Started. You’re then prompted to type in your industry, be it consulting, restaurant, beauty, etc. 

Once you input your industry, you’ll choose five or more logos for Looka to use as inspiration for your own. You can then pick your favorite color palette and give a little more information about your company. Lastly, you’ll select symbols for your logo, or you can have Looka pick the best symbols for you. 

The tool suggests 12 logos at first, but you can click Load More Logo! to get more ideas. Once you choose a logo you like, Looka will take you to an editor where you can make any last minute changes before downloading it. You can download the logo for a small fee or pay for an entire brand kit (with letterheads, social media icons, invoices, etc.) for $7.99 per month. 

2. Tailor Brands Logo Maker 

Tailor Brands Logo Maker offers a great free online logo maker. It asks you to enter a logo name (or any business name idea) and a tagline that describes your brand. You’re then prompted to answer questions about your business including:

  • What you’re offering
  • Your industry
  • A business description

It then asks you a few questions about your style preferences. You’ll be asked to choose which logo types and font styles you prefer. By answering these questions, you’ll have a more targeted list of logos to choose from. It’ll also display your logo on business cards, social media profiles, t-shirts, and other branded assets. One thing to note: you’ll have to sign up for Tailor Brands’ email list to see your logo options. 

3. Logomaker 

Logomaker allows you to make a logo online in minutes. Simply select your industry and add your brand name on the first screen. Then click Make A Logo, and you’ll be prompted to choose three logo types, font styles, and layouts. Then you’ll see a list of logo design ideas you can edit and save to make it your own.

If you want to own the copyright and download the vector files, you’ll have to pay a minimum of $40.

4. Designhill

If you’re looking for premium logos, this online logo maker will give you dozens of high-quality options to choose from. Designhill asks you a series of questions about your brand, then provides tailored options based on your answers. You can tweak colors, slogans, symbols, and other customization options to determine which style best fits your brand. 

Designhill offers different payment options for your company logo, too. You can buy the logo file for $20, or you can buy logo files for your website, social media, print, packaging, and branding for a $65 one-time payment. 

5. BrandCrowd 

BrandCrowd is another logo creation site for business owners. This one gives you logo ideas once you enter your business name and click Make Logos Now. You can also browse BrandCrowd has designed for inspiration before giving away any information. Once you find the perfect logo, you can personalize it in BrandCrowd’s editing tool. You’ll be able to tailor the layout, colors, text, shadows, and other design elements to fit your brand. 

When you’re happy with your design, you can buy it for $45 and get high-resolution files and multiple logo variations.

6. GraphicSprings Logo Creator

If you’re looking for a powerful do-it-yourself logo design software, GraphicSprings is a good choice for you. You just have to enter your business name and tagline (optional) and an editor will appear. You’ll have access to a library of logos to start from, then you can customize any part to make it your own.

One of the great features it has is the ability to break down logo types depending on your business. Here are some examples:

  • Food and drink
  • Abstract
  • Letter-based

You can also hire someone from the GraphicSprings team to create a totally custom logo for you, if you aren’t satisfied with its logo creator. The logo generator is free to use, but you’ll need to pay $19.99 to save the design files.

7. Placeit 

Placeit offers over 13,000 different logo designs for you to choose from. All you need to do is enter your business name and industry into the generator and a list of cool logos will appear. Each logo has its own color scheme and aesthetic. 

They’re also fully customizable. Simply click the logo you want and you’ll end up in Placeit’s editing tool. You can change text, symbols, color schemes, and more to create the best logo for your brand. Once you’re finished with the design, you can buy your logo for a one-time fee of $39.95.

Free logo design templates

A free logo design template can help build a memorable logo in minutes. Hatchful’s pre-design templates include all the color schemes and design elements you need to create a professional looking logo in minutes. 

Hatchful offers hundreds of templates and designs that fit any brand. You can access all of them for free, letting you create beautiful logos that stand out and connect with potential customers. Even if you don’t have design experience, you can still build a business logo you can be proud of—Hatchful makes it super easy.

Logo design tips

DesignBuddy analyzed the world’s top brands and what their logos have in common. Here are some key insights from the research, which you might want to consider when designing your logo with one of the above logo design tools:

  • 95% of the world’s top brands logos use one or two colors.
  • 41% of those brands use stylized type as their logo.
  • 93% are simple enough to be recognized at much smaller sizes.

When thinking about which colors to use for your logo, read this article from Buffer, which explores why Facebook is blue as well as the science of colors in marketing.

There are also a few important design rules to remember before diving into these logo makers. These tips are taken from the design pros at Creative Bloq:

  • Keep it simple. A simple logo design allows for easy recognition and allows the logo to be versatile and memorable. Effective logos feature something unexpected or unique without being overdrawn.
  • Make it memorable. Following closely behind the principle of simplicity is that of memorability. An effective logo design should be memorable and this is achieved by having a simple yet appropriate logo.
  • Design for the long-term. An effective logo should endure the test of time. The logo should be future proof, meaning that it should still represent your value proposition in five to ten years.
  • Make it versatile. An effective logo should be able to work across a variety of mediums and applications.

Common mistakes to avoid when designing a logo

Here are some common mistakes that we’ve come across when digging through thousands of ecommerce logos. Be sure to avoid these critical design errors when using one of the above online logo makers:

  • Avoid using unattractive clip art.
  • Don’t make your logo overly complex.
  • Make sure it looks good in black and white.

If you’re ever in doubt when creating your logo, you can always hire a graphic designer to help. Head to the Shopify Experts to find one and make your business stand out.

Design your own logo today

Now you have a great idea of where to get started with your startup’s logo. So get inspired and get creative! With all of the logo design tools and resources above, you’re well on your way. If you have any tools or resources we may have missed, let us know in the comments below.

Illustration by Rose Wong

Free online logo maker FAQ

How can I create my own logo?

  • Create your brand identity.
  • Look for design inspiration.
  • Generate a logo with a free online app.
  • Pick colors that represent your brand.
  • Choose a font.
  • Create a few rough versions of your logo.
  • Get feedback.
  • Refine your best design.

How can I make a logo for free?

  • Find a free logo maker app online.
  • Enter the requested information, like business name, visual style, fonts, and colors.
  • Let the logo builder display options according to your input.
  • Choose a logo and customize it.
  • Download your logo for free.

What are the best free logo makers?

  • Hatchful by Shopify
  • Looka
  • Tailor Brands Logo Maker
  • Canva
  • Ucraft
  • GraphicSprings Logo Creator
  • Logomaker
  • Placeit
  • Designhill
  • BrandCrowd
Shopify Tutorial

Browse the Best Shopify Themes for Your Online Store (No Matter What Industry You’re In)

May 4, 2021 , by 露露

This article is from Shopify, and was republished and shared through Elksourcing with the permission of Shopify.
Original link:https://www.shopify.com/blog/shopify-themes

Shopify’s mission is to make commerce better for everyone, and to date, we’ve helped over 1 million independent businesses turn what they’re into, into a business. Part of fulfilling that promise means ensuring our platform has beautiful, mobile-friendly themes available so you can build and customize your online store to your liking.

Thanks to Shopify’s team of designers and developers, along with our many talented Partners, there is a wide selection of Shopify themes available to fit any budget and any industry. Below, we’ll first list the free Shopify themes you can use if you’re a cash-strapped upstart looking to get started, followed by a few premium Shopify themes available from our Partners.

All premium themes are organized by industry—including fashion and apparel, jewelry and accessories, home, electronics, toys and games, and more—so you can find the perfect fit for your selection of products.

Free Shopify themes to start your online store

When you’re starting a new business, money may be a bit tight until you make your few first sales. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make one of the best ecommerce websites with a fast, high-converting Shopify theme. Below are the eight free Shopify themes developed in-house by our expert team. Each offers industry-leading performance and deep levels of customization, all for the right price: free!

1. Narrative

Price: Free

Theme styles: Warm, Light, Cold

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Featuring a bold hero video (or slideshow), Narrative is perfect for visual storytelling and serves as the perfect complement for a single product business, or a store with a small catalog of items.

2. Simple

Price: Free

Theme styles: Light, Beauty, Toy

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Simple lets your products do the talking. Featuring built-in product recommendations and image zoom for every product, Simple’s takes a backseat so customers can appreciate the finer details of your catalog.

3. Minimal

Price: Free

Theme styles: Vintage, Fashion, Modern

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Neatly organize your products with this clean, simple design that also features an optional section for a home page video or slideshow, along with built-in product filtering so customers can find what they’re looking for.

4. Debut

Price: Free

Theme styles: Default, Light

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Debut your brand with the ideal Shopify theme for a carefully curated selection of products. Don’t let the simple design fool you, as there’s a ton of power under the hood, including built-in customer testimonials, predictive search, and an optional promotional banner.

5. Supply

Price: Free

Theme styles: Blue, Light

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Have a lot of products to sell? Supply can help you smartly organize your products by collections and encourage customers to purchase more. With featured collections available on your homepage along with collection filtering in the sidebar, the products your customers are searching for will only be a click or two away.

6. Brooklyn

Price: Free

Theme styles: Classic, Playful

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Modern apparel businesses should find the perfect fit with Brooklyn. With turn-key features like a slide-out cart, so customers can easily add items without having to leave the page, Brooklyn will ensure your store looks as good as your clothes⁠—and converts, too.

7. Venture

Price: Free

Theme styles: Snowboards, Outdoor, Boxing

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Another one of our free Shopify themes that’s tailor-made for large product catalogs. Venture includes a multi-column menu so you can showcase granular details in a drop-down menu. You’ll also be able to highlight a single flagship product should you so choose.

8. Boundless

Price: Free

Theme styles: Black & White, Vibrant

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Put your product photography in full focus with Boundless, a theme that lets your photos speak a thousand words. Showcase high-resolution product imagery with a dedicated product gallery or through a full-width grid layout for your collection images.

Shopify themes for fashion and apparel businesses

Fashion and apparel businesses are consistently some of the most popular on Shopify. When choosing the best Shopify theme for this vertical, look for an eye-catching design that includes enough functionality to let your customers see the finer details of your products. Photography, especially lifestyle photography, tends to run the show for fashion and apparel.

9. Streamline

Price: $180

Theme styles: Core, Luxe, Hype

Theme developer: Archetype Themes

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Style and substance: Streamline features a handy sticky checkout, so customers’ carts are always in reach. You’ll also find built-in advanced product filtering, so customers can sort by brand, type, color, or size on the collection page.

10. Context

Price: $180

Theme styles: Chic, Modern, Essential

Theme developer: Fluorescent Design Inc.

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

If you’re not a single product business but don’t sell a massive catalog of products, Context may offer the perfect sweet spot. Context includes a nice balance of features, including advanced product filtering and search for discovery, but also bold, story-focused product pages so you can highlight flagship items.

11. Handy

Price: $180

Theme styles: Light, Cool, Fresh

Theme developer: Pixel Union

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Handy’s mobile-first design was built from the ground up for smaller devices and mobile commerce. Featuring custom promotion tiles and continuous product scroll functionality, customers will find it easy to browse and buy your products on mobile.

12. Venue

Price: $180

Theme styles: Morning, Evening, Weekend

Theme developer: Safe As Milk

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Venue is a great choice for businesses who sell online and in-person, with a dates and events section that’s perfect for getting customers to visit your brick and mortar location. There are also unique features like a built-in age-checker popup for businesses selling age-restricted products.

13. Galleria

Price: $180

Theme styles: Empire, Boutique, Showroom

Theme developer: Mile High Themes

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Is your store selling an entire wardrobe? Galleria blends the perfect mix of features to encourage discoverability and fine-tooth inspection, with collection filtering in the sidebar along with quick views for individual products and bold, image-focused product pages.

Shopify themes for jewelry and accessory businesses

14. Modular

Price: $160

Theme styles: Chelsea, Mayfair, Hoxton

Theme developer: Presidio Creative

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Modular’s grid-focused design is built with branding and conversion in mind. The product grid lets you showcase collections, products, or brand imager, while the quick buy feature and built-in testimonials can help drive more sales.

15. District

Price: $160

Theme styles: District, Energy, Coast

Theme developer: Style Hatch

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Have a featured product or collection you’d like to highlight? District can help you put the limelight on a recent release or flagship product with a prominent home page video or slideshow. You can also catch customers’ attention with a built-in banner or pop-up modal.

16. Kagami

Price: $180

Theme styles: Kyoto, Baptiste, Geneve

Theme developer: Maestrooo

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Mix and max lifestyle photography with more detailed product photos with Kagami’s dynamic grid layout. And with two distinct menu styles, featured homepage product videos, and built-in product recommendations, you’re sure to find a design that fits your style.

17. Prestige

Price: $180

Theme styles: Allure, Couture, Vogue

Theme developer: Maestrooo

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Built for sellers of premium products, this Shopify theme supports high-resolution product imagery that’s perfect for visual storytelling. You’ll also find image hotspot linking so you can share the finer details of your products, along with a built-in timeline tool to tell your brand’s story.

18. Impulse

Price: $180

Theme styles: Modern, Vintage, Bold

Theme developer: Archetype Themes

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Put the right offer and product in front of your customers with Impulse, which features custom promotion tiles, collection sidebar filters, sub-listings in collections, and the ability to create custom promotional content on collection pages.

Shopify themes for houseware and home/garden businesses

When you sell products that fit your customers’ personal spaces, your job is to help them envision life after their purchase. A sunroom might get the perfect accessory, and a garden may find a theme the customer enjoys—in most cases, your product will become a way the customer shapes the space they live in.

19. Cascade

Price: $180

Theme styles: Classic, Bright, Modern

Theme developer: Switch

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Let your customers envision your products in their space with Cascade’s unique narrative-focused design. You’ll also find a masonry-style grid and built-in product feature highlights, so your products are easy to find and understand.

20. Artisan

Price: $180

Theme styles: Barcelona, Phoenix, Victoria

Theme developer: Out of the Sandbox

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Does your business blend products and complementary services? Artisan lets you create a tailored contact form that should perfectly suit your business needs. This Shopify theme also includes elegantly designed tables so you can feature products, services, or both side-by-side.

21. Story

Price: $180

Theme styles: Chronicle, Quest, Heritage

Theme developer: Groupthought

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Every business has a story that makes its presence in the space unique. Story is, unsurprisingly, built to help you tell it. There’s the familiar timeline tool, story-focused product pages, and even a team showcase so customers know your “why” before they buy.

22. Responsive

Price: $180

Theme styles: London, Paris, New York, San Francisco

Theme developer: Out of the Sandbox

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

For certain home and houseware products, customers have to imagine it alongside other aesthetic choices they’ve made. Responsive plays nicely with this need, by having color swatches available by default, along with full-width photography and FAQ pages to let customers see all of the details, anyway they’d like to.

23. Mr. Parker

Price: $160

Theme styles: Wardrobe, Sunset, Apothecary, Desk

Theme developer: We Are Underground

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Looking for the ideal sweet spot for a medium-sized catalog? Mr. Parker may be the best Shopify theme for you. With native product filtering and a sidebar to curate collection pages, customers looking to outfit their whole space will be sure to find what they need.

Shopify themes for health and beauty businesses

When you’re looking for a best-fit Shopify theme for your health, beauty, or fitness business, remember that you’re often selling the outcome rather than the product itself. Customers often want to visualize either how the product will make them look, or how they’ll use it to improve their appearance, energy levels, etc. Look for Shopify themes that let your design showcase a nice interplay between the products you sell, and the people who use them.

24. Blockshop

Price: $160

Theme styles: Beauty, Moto, Summer, Deli

Theme developer: Troop Themes

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Blockshop’s front-and-center header slideshow (with optional video) lets you put one of your key products, or categories, front and center. The grid layout, meanwhile, makes it easy for customers to discover new arrivals, sales, and other popular collections.

25. Testament

Price: $140

Theme styles: Genesis Exodus Revelation Deliverance

Theme developer: We Are Underground

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Sell premium beauty products with Testament’s lustrous design and colorways. With the product quick view—so customers won’t have to leave their current page when viewing product details—and the available sticky navigation, you’ll be able to blend stylish chic with high conversions.

26. Envy

Price: $180

Theme styles: Copenhagen, Oslo, Gothenburg, Stockholm

Theme developer: WeTheme

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Envy’s clean aesthetic has the perfect layout for differentiating flagship products (or products on sale) from your other collections. And, you can capture emails with the built-in marketing popup or point your customers in the right direction with a banner.

27. Vantage

Price: $160

Theme styles: Clean, Mono, Reclaimed, Black

Theme developer: We Are Underground

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

With Vantage’s bold style, you’re sure to turn heads—but you’ll also turn visitors into customers. Since finding the right colorway is often crucial for beauty products, Vantage lets you display color swatches on all of your product pages.

28. Atlantic

Price: $180

Theme styles: Organic, Light, Modern, Chic

Theme developer: Pixel Union

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Does your business exist to fill customer’s vanity tables? Atlantic is a great Shopify theme for beauty business with large catalogs that need a clean, accessible way to surface products and let customers effortlessly add items to their cart.

Shopify themes for art and photography businesses

No surprise, art and photography stores require a Shopify theme that lets them put each work on display, while still lets customers find the right print, style, or aesthetic for them. The right balance between uncompromising photography quality and careful curation can be tricky, but these Shopify themes will help you find the sweet spot.

29. Editorial

Price: $160

Theme styles: Agency, Armour, Adventure

Theme developer: Switch

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Perfect for print! While Editorial features a number of great features to power your written content, such as its ability to support multiple blogs, it’s also an ideal match for high-resolution photography. Best of all, it includes image zoom functionality for all products so customers can see every detail.

30. California

Price: $180

Theme styles: California, Cartomaps, Sundays, Kentia

Theme developer: Small Victories

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

A Shopify theme for the prolific artists (or just the organized ones). California sports a lean, simple design with advanced product filtering and a home page collection grid, so you can feature products from multiple collections for easy browsing.

31. Icon

Price: $160

Theme styles: Dolce, Christian, Yves, Vera

Theme developer: We Are Underground

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Your prints, designs, or paintings leave an impression; your online store should, too. With a design that accommodates large photographs and images, native slideshow functionality, and a quick view for product details, Icon may offer the perfect design to house your designs.

32. Symmetry

Price: $180

Theme styles: Beatnik, Salt Yard, Chantilly, Duke

Theme developer: Clean Canvas

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

For larger catalogs, Symmetry features a bevy of tools to help you find the right layout and design. With reorderable home page rows, multi-column and multi-level menus, and a long-form design available on the homepage, your store will be able to help customers find the piece that speaks to them.

33. Label

Price: $160

Theme styles: Record, Publish, Create

Theme developer: Switch

Theme demo: Desktop , Mobile

Prefer to use your unique aesthetic for a small, hand-picked sample of products? The Label theme for Shopify is built for the contemporary designer and seller with a small catalog. The full-width imagery and front-and-center layout will make your flagship product impossible to miss.