What is a Shopify Partner?

Choosing the right Shopify Partner

When investing in a new Shopify website, it’s important to ensure that the Shopify web designer or developer you trust with the project has the skills and experience necessary to build a high-performance website.

Rather than resorting to eeny meeny miney mo, you should look out for signs that indicate that the individual or company is trustworthy and experienced at what they do.

One such sign to look for is whether they are a Shopify Partner. Never heard of Shopify Partners? Here at Create8, we are proud to have been a Shopify Partner since 2019. We’ve put together a quick guide to the Shopify Partner Program and the benefits of working with a Shopify Partner when building an eCommerce store.

Why choose Shopify?

If you’re thinking about opening a new eCommerce store or migrating your existing store to Shopify, then you’re in good company. Over 4.5 million live websites are built using Shopify, including over 200,000 UK websites. Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the world for good reason. This user-friendly, all-in-one, hosted platform revolutionised eCommerce by making building and managing an online store simple and accessible. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it possible to build a simple and attractive online store quickly without even touching the code. What’s more, it gives small and medium-sized businesses more autonomy over updating and managing their online store once it’s up and running, helping them to save time and resources in the long run. With a wealth of polished themes, built-in features, and apps to extend the platform’s functionality, Shopify has everything that most small and medium-sized businesses require to set up and start selling online. 

What is the Shopify Partner Program?

While Shopify allows anyone to sign up and build an online store, most eCommerce businesses partner up with an expert to give their new website the best chance at success. After all, there’s a big difference between a functional website and one that is optimised to attract organic traffic and convert visitors into paying customers. Building a high-performance website usually requires input from various experts, including web designers, developers, SEO experts, content writers, and more.

The Shopify Partner Program is a network of skilled designers, developers, marketers, and affiliates who use the Shopify platform to build eCommerce websites, themes, and apps. It helps individuals identify agencies and freelancers who specialise in Shopify and have in-depth knowledge of its features and functionality.

What is a Shopify Partner?

A Shopify Partner is a Shopify expert with extensive knowledge of the Shopify platform who has signed up for the Shopify Partner Program. Shopify Partners can be agencies or individuals working as freelancers.

What is the Shopify Partner Directory?

The Shopify Partner Directory is a curated list of Shopify-approved Shopify Partners. If you’re looking for a Shopify expert to help you build, migrate, manage, or enhance a Shopify store, the directory is a good place to begin your search. 

The directory lists Shopify Partners and the services they offer. You can search for a Shopify Partner by name, keyword, service, or location.

After performing a search, you can then review partner profiles, experience, and ratings. Once you’ve found the perfect partner to work with, you can contact them through the directory or using the contact details on their listing.

What types of services do Shopify Partners provide?

Shopify Partners are a diverse bunch – there are freelancers and agencies, web designers and content writers, SEO experts and branding specialists, and more. The beauty of this diversity is that there are Shopify Partner services to meet every requirement.

To give you an idea of the breadth of services available, let’s look at the six service categories that make up the Shopify Partner Directory.

• Marketing and sales

Email marketing, SEO (search engine optimisation), social media marketing, content marketing, sales channel setup, conversion rate optimisation, and analytics and tracking.

• Store setup and management

Store build or redesign, store migration, product and collection setup, theme customisation, store settings configuration, POS setup and migration, headless commerce, website audit and optimisation strategy, ongoing website management, and checkout upgrade.

• Development and troubleshooting

Custom apps and integrations, custom domain setup, troubleshooting, and systems integration.

• Visual content and branding

Logo and visual branding, banner ads, video and illustrations, product photography, and 3D modelling.

• Content writing

Product descriptions, website content, and marketing content.

• Expert guidance

Business strategy guidance, product sourcing guidance, site performance and speed guidance, sales tax guidance, wholesale/B2B, international expansion, and product development.

What are the benefits of working with a Shopify Partner?

So, why should you choose to work with a Shopify Partner over a person or business that is not part of the Shopify Partner network? Let’s look at the top four ways that working with a Shopify Partner can improve the outcome of your project.

Expertise and experience

First and foremost, when choosing to work with a Shopify Partner, you can be confident that the individual or agency has extensive experience and knowledge of the Shopify platform. Working with someone who knows the platform inside out can help speed up the process and improve the outcome, providing you with better value for money.

Advanced customisation

When you work with an expert who knows the Shopify platform and its features inside out, you can achieve a higher level of customisation. Shopify Partners can deliver tailored services and customise your eCommerce store to reflect your business’s brand identity, enhance user experience, and achieve your business objectives. A high level of customisation and a unique design can also help your online store stand out in the marketplace and give it a competitive edge.

Scalability

As your business grows, a Shopify Partner will have the knowledge and expertise required to advise you on how to adapt and scale your Shopify store to handle increased traffic and sales without compromising performance. 

Peace of mind

And finally, one of the most valuable benefits offered by Shopify Partners is peace of mind. When Shopify platform experts are managing your store, you can have confidence that the platform’s features and functionalities are being utilised to their full potential and that you are receiving good value for money. 

Why do agencies and freelancers join the Shopify Partner Program?

The Shopify Partner Program benefits not only those seeking Shopify eCommerce services but also the agencies and freelancers who join the network.

Some of the benefits that Shopify Partners receive include:

• Free Shopify Partner Academy online training and certification program
• In-depth documentation and exclusive resources for Shopify Partners
• Early access to and information about new Shopify products and features
• Ongoing revenue opportunities for Shopify Partners
• A collaborative community of Shopify Partners
• Shopify business growth support

It is free to join the Shopify Partner community program.

Partner with Shopify Partner Create8 to build your online store

Are you ready to work with a Shopify Partner to build your eCommerce empire?

At Create8, we are proud to have been a Shopify Partner since 2019. You can find our listing and details about our services on our Shopify Directory listing page.

Our skilled team of Shopify web designers and developers have helped countless businesses leverage the platform’s vast selection of features and apps to enhance their website’s user experience, optimise their store for conversions, and drive business growth.

Whether you’re launching a brand new store, rebranding an existing Shopify website, or looking for a Shopify support package, contact our team of experts for help and support.