Launching a new website involves a lot of tasks to fill and customize it. At the very beginning, the amount of work to be done can be frightening and put you in procrastination mode.
The most effective tactic to combat this is to "eat the elephant one bite at a time". We offer our optimal scenario of consecutive small actions, which will allow you to get involved in the work on the site and go through it in the most efficient way.
Setting up site access
Access is managed in the Settings → Users section.
To simplify admin panel authorization and get rid of the need to remember your password and enter it at every login, you can specify your gmail account in your account properties. This will allow you to authorize using Log in with Google.
If the site will be managed by several people, create separate accounts for your employees or partners.
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Getting to know the admin panel
The online store is managed in the admin panel.
Tip: before you start, spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with all the items in the main menu to master the basic admin panel navigation.
General site settings: name, logo, contacts
Fill in a few fields in Settings → General Settings → Info about store:
Site title in properties:
Website title meta tag — used as part of the title for all pages.
Store title — displayed in the mobile version if no logo is loaded.
Language versions
It's worth deciding right away:
Which language versions you will use (turn off unnecessary languages);
Which language version will be the main language version on the site;
If necessary, hide non-main language versions from users and/or from indexing while you finalize their content.
You can customize the available languages and add new ones in Settings → Languages.
Design customization
Design customization is done by our designers. There are two scenarios:
You choose a ready-made template from the gallery and enable it in the admin panel section Website → Design → Themes gallery. After that, using the Design editor you can make certain changes — tweak the color scheme, change the type of some icons, the order of blocks and the like. This is a basic free option.
We prepare an advanced design setup based on your wishes on color scheme, style, assortment, etc. To get started on this scenario, write to us in the chat and we will ask clarifying questions. For this option, you can find out the price from your manager.
Setting up preliminary catalog structure: characteristics, modifications, filters
If you are launching a new site, at the first stage there is no need to think in detail and develop the final structure of the catalog. It is enough to start with a preliminary, draft version, which you can easily adjust in the process of filling the site.
If you are updating your old site, you can start by setting up a similar structure, transfer the goods, and then make edits to it.
Why it's possible:
Products can be easily moved between categories;
Category and product page links are independent of the category structure and do not change with category changes (with the standard link format setting, which can be modified).
Customizing the catalog consists of several tasks:
Filling the product catalog
Once the draft category structure is set up, you can move on to populating the categories with products.
Depending on the number of products you need to add and the initial format in which you have the product information, you can choose one of the filling options:
Manual filling;
Import from Excel;
Import from XML;
Migration from the accounting system using API.
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Information pages
Activate and fill the pages About Us, Payment and Delivery, Returns & Exchanges, Blog with content. Disable the pages you do not need. You can also add new information pages.
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Customizing payment and shipping options
To customize shipping options, you need to:
Leave only the shipping options that you will use.
Customize the terms and costs for them.
To set up payments, you need to:
Define available payment methods for each delivery option.
Discounts and promotions
Explore possible promotions and discount programs, keep the ones you will use and customize them.
Connecting external services
At this stage you need to connect a number of external services:
Google Analytics (or GTM) to collect website analytics
Facebook Pixel
Google Search Console
Online Consultant (if necessary)
We have simplified the process of connecting these services as much as possible, but your participation will still be required.
Additional settings
The operation of such a complex mechanism as an online store involves a large number of functions, many of which have different settings for the logic of operation or appearance.
So that you don't have to spend a lot of time on these settings, we have initially customized them in a certain way, so that they work even if you don't pay attention to them.
Below is a list of different settings that you can check and change to make the site work better according to your requirements:
Installing external js-scripts
Social networks
Watermark on product photos
“Do not call to confirm the order” option
Google Invisible reCAPTCHA
Connecting a working domain
The final step before launching the site. Immediately after connecting a working domain, the site is opened for indexing by search engines. You can perform this step yourself or with our help.
Questions at launch
If you have questions during the launch process or something does not work, you can ask questions to our support team through the chat, which is permanently located in the lower right corner of the admin panel.