Launching a Shopify store is a significant milestone. It marks the beginning of your online business. 

But what happens after the launch?

This is where most Shopify store owners struggle and all the excitement of launching a Shopify store fades away. 

Why?

New stores are prone to attracting poor traffic and achieving low-to-zero sales. And if you’re new to the Shopify game, you’ll be off to a slow start. But attracting website traffic is a simple process if you follow the right tactics. We did all the heavy lifting for you and created this guide on how to drive traffic to your Shopify store. 

Learn the strategies to increase Shopify traffic with this article. 

Why Should Shopify Stores Focus on Audience and Traffic? 

The success of your Shopify store depends on the sales and revenue it generates. Both are related to the audience and traffic. 

If you don’t have a target audience, we suggest you choose one. It will make it easier for the initial promotions. Once your store is earning enough revenue, you can then broaden your reach. 

Let's take Kylie Cosmetics, for example. It is one of the biggest cosmetics brands, focusing on the Millenial and Gen Z population. They are the target audience for the brand. It helped them target their promotional activities easily. 

Customers will not magically land in your eCommerce store. You need to invest efforts and take your Shopify store to them. 

So, how do you take your Shopify store to your audience and drive traffic? 

What are the Traffic Sources for Your Shopify Store? 

You have organic traffic options if you don’t have enough budget. You can choose paid traffic options if you’re up for it. 

Organic Traffic 

• Blogs
• Social media pages and posts 
• Contests and Giveaways 
• Guest Posts 
• Email marketing 

Paid Traffic 

• Google PPC ads 
• Social media ads 
• Referral programs
• Affiliate and Partner programs 

These are some of the sources available to drive traffic to Shopify stores. 

If you want to achieve real success in your online business; leverage some of these channels to attract traffic and skyrocket sales. 

Best Strategies To Drive Traffic To Shopify Store

1. Optimize your store's UI/UX

Before you get started with blogs or ads, you have to optimize your website's interface. If your online store doesn’t deliver the right experience, it’ll impact traffic and conversions. 

Site performance plays a vital role in attracting traffic. Poorly designed sites will increase bounce rate and negative word of mouth.

Here are a few optimization tips, 

• Use a simple and responsive layout. 
• Ensure the layout is compatible with multiple devices. 
• Use attractive CTAs in landing and product pages. 
• Avoid complex navigations. 
• Write user-friendly and SEO-friendly content. 
• Use simple, actionable words to persuade customers. 
• Do not clutter your interface. Make good use of white spaces.
• Enable List/Grid view options.
• Use conversion-friendly Shopify themes.

eCommerce shoppers prefer stores that take them to the desired page in one click. Make it easy for them to navigate your website. 

Use Chatbots to guide customers and answer their queries. Ensure breadcrumb menus and a quick checkout process to increase sales. 

2. Improve website speed 

Site speed is one of the major reasons for bounce rate. A slow site will frustrate the customer. They’ll quit your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. 

Good site speed will increase site dwell time and the chance of purchase. It will also create a positive word of mouth and increase Shopify traffic. Improving site speed is one of the best ways to improving Shopify's conversion rate. 

Here are a few tips for improving site speed, 

• Use optimized images and visual elements.
• Don’t overload your store with Shopify apps.
• Use Accelerated Mobile Pages it increase Mobile speed. It is where you’ll get the most sales. 
• Use a flexible site theme. 
• Install a lazy loader to load pages only when needed. 

Use these tactics to improve your site speed. And drive traffic to the Shopify store. Better site speed also increases the experience, which will reflect in your sales.

3. Leverage the power of blogging 

So, you've optimized your site performance to please the incoming Shopify traffic. Now, let’s focus on attracting traffic using one of the best organic techniques - blogs. 

If your budget isn’t enough to run paid ads, you can start blogging. Business websites use blogs to increase organic traffic. Here’s how blogging can help you out,

• Blogs will attract more backlinks which will increase your site credibility and improve your SERP ranking. 
• You can include user-guides in your blogs and guide customers on how to use the product. 
• Blogs will rank your store better on Google SERP if you use the right KWs relevant to your products. 
• Blogs wll help you foster a unique audience that not only consumes your products but also your content; a smart way to boost organic traffic without spending a dime.

eCommerce stores attract most of their traffic through organic search. So, your goal should be to rank higher during an organic search; for that, you need to optimize your store with specific KWs.

But the problem is, you cannot randomly add KWs to product descriptions and titles. This will impact customer’s buying experience. You need specific content that can be optmized with KWs, and blogging will let you do that. 

Start writing blogs and use KWs to make them search-engine friendly. Now, when a customer searches for a product, your store will have a better chance to rank in the ‘Top 5’ results.

But most eCommerce stores don’t blog anymore, as they find paid ads to be an easier option. This is because ads can sometimes bring traffic faster than blogs. So, this makes blogging more suitable for businesses with low budgets for ads.

But that doesn’t mean that businesses with ad budgets shoudn’t blog; you can still write user guides and other informational content to help your customers, thereby increasing customer loyalty and organic traffic.  

4. Write User guides 

Another way to leverage good content and increase organic traffic is by writing user guides. User guides show customers how to use the products; guides will help deliver the best customer experience and increase customer retention. 

Basically, user guides achieve two goals. 

1. Increases organic traffic with SEO-rich content. 

2. Boosts customer experience and retention by helping them. 

User guides are easier to write than blogs, but only if you know the products inside out. You can include user guides in the product description section. Or create an individual page just for user guides. 

Why stop with text-based user guides? You can also create video guides to help customers. Optimizing video guides will rank higher in Google, thus increasing your organic traffic. 

There aren’t many Shopify stores that use video guides in their stores. This could be a way to seize the opportunity and boost conversions. 

5. Facebook ads 

Now that we’ve covered the organic ways to improve traffic, let’s focus on how to drive traffic to Shopify stores with paid ads. 

Facebook is the epicenter of paid eCommerce marketing. The reason is its longevity in the market and the volume of users present on the social platform. 

It offers limitless chances to reach out to new customers and lead them to your Shopify store. Its advertising platform allows you to target consumers based on interests, geography, etc.

This is what a Facebook ad looks like. You might’ve come across these ads while using the platform. 

Here’s how it can be useful for your Shopify store, 

• Uses third-party data to display ads relevant to customer activity. 
• Allows you to target ads based on various conditions.
• It is easy to get started. 

To make your Facebook ads successful, you need a target audience. Only then can you target the right customers and increase the traffic to your store. 

No other social platforms allow ad features like Facebook. You can run different types of ads, like,

• Single-image ads
• Video ads
• Carousel ads

And you can target users based on,

• Demographics
• Location 
• Gender
• Age
• Interests 

If you have the right budget, then Facebook is the right place to get started with paid ads. 

6. Instagram ads 

The next big thing after Facebook. If you cannot reach your customers through Facebook, then you can surely do it on Instagram ads.

Is Gen Z your primary audience? 

Then you can skyrocket your sales with Instagram ads. 97% of Gen Z say they use social media as a source to get their shopping inspiration and 81% of Gen Z use Instagram as their primary social media platform.

You can display ads through the app – Feeds, Stories, Explore, and Reels. You can cover all the areas  your customers will visit. You can create attractive ads on Instagram and use a CTA button to direct customers to your store. 

Instagram and Facebook are connected. So they pretty much have the same targeting options. But the advantage of Instagram is that people search for products to buy on Instagram. 

They want to see the User-generated content of your product before they purchase it. 

So, you can use various types of ads like, Image-post ad, video ad, reels ad, and stories ad, to increase Shopify traffic. 

7. Pinterest 

One of the most underrated social platforms and a boon for eCommerce stores. Pinterest is a visual search engine. People use it more as an idea generator or to get fashion inspiration.

For example, if a customer wants to purchase winter clothing. They go to Pinterest and look for winter clothing pins. These pins act as a style guide, showing them options on what to choose to buy. 

Unlike eCommerce product images, Pinterest shows what the clothing or a product will look like in real. This makes it easy to compare, and customers head to an eCommerce store to look for the product. 

This is how people use Pinterest. 

Here is a Pin by Society19, a Fashion magazine. You can create a similar pin like this and use real images related to your products. Add a link to your website, and that’s how to drive traffic to your Shopify store. 

It is one of the easiest and often overlooked tactics to increase Shopify traffic. But it is slowly catching up, now is the time for you to leverage it. 

8. Retargeting ads 

Another overlooked traffic-boosting strategy. Attracting new customers is cool. But what about the people who have already visited your store but didn't purchase? 

These people are your potential leads; letting them go is not a smart choice. That is why you can use social platforms for retargeting them with your ads. 

Brands do these to trigger a customer’s interest in your store again. Maybe the customer wasn’t ready to purchase the first time. But nudging them again is a smart way to encourage their return to your store. 

Facebook specializes in Retargeting. But you don’t need to retarget them using products. You can do it using,

• A blog
• User guide
• Customer reviews 
• User-generated content
• Offer

Reports say that retargeting can increase engagement by up to 400%. So, do not leave out this opportunity. Facebook has the right retargeting options. And it can help drive traffic to your Shopify store. 

9. Google ads

One of the most popular paid ads systems leveraged by eCommerce stores worldwide. Unlike other platforms, Googles lets you display ads right where they search for. 

Google is used by virtually every business. And placing a Google ad for your Shopify store is a convenient way to increase traffic.

So, you basically create an ad and display it on Google. But where will Google display it? In the first position of the first page or in the last?

Well, you need to auction your ads, and Google displays them based on two factors, 

Bid Amount - Your bid notifies Google Ads of the maximum amount you are willing to spend each click. Yet, your real bids frequently look to be lower. You can also change your bids at any point.

Quality - Google assesses the quality of your ad. It’ll check its relevancy and the value it brings to customers. 

You can use ad extensions to add more information to the ad. It is also another factor for Google ads. Create the best copy using the right keywords for your google ads to increase their ranking. 

Another type of Google ad is the Product listing ad. It is more of a visual-based ad compared to the traditional text-based ad you saw above. 

Instead of adding KWs in the copy, you can add them product title and description. Google will match it to the relevant search query and display them at the top of the search results. 

Product listing ads work better because, 

• It has better visibility 
• It uses images to persuade, so it has higher conversion rates. 
• It has a wider reach.

And yes, you need to compete in the auction in order to get your ads displayed. 

10. Leverage Email marketing

Email marketing is one of the cost-effective strategies to connect with customers. It has the highest ROI compared to other marketing channels. 

Emails are more personal than social media. Most customers might not use social media, but every eCommerce shopper will have an email. This is why it is one of the successful channels for increasing traffic.

Emails are like Retargeting ads. Because the only way you can reach customers via email is if they’ve given their email in the first place. Yes, every eCommerce stores use popups or signup forms to collect email addresses. 

You can use the email list and reach out to customers and encourage them to visit your store. 

Here are a few ways to utilize email marketing,

• Send Welcome emails to customers and create the best first impression. 
• Add first-order discounts to motivate and increase Shopify traffic. 
• Create personal engagement with customers on their special days.
• Send re-engagement emails to bring back lost customers.

These are some of the ways you can use emails to increase site traffic. But to do this, you need a conclusive email list and an email marketing tool. 

Fortunately, there are many email marketing tools to help you send emails. Emails are the lifeline of an eCommerce store, not just traffic. You can also use them to,

• Engage with customers 
• Increase customer loyalty 
• Send product updates 
• Announce special sales like Black Friday 
• Send Abandoned cart emails
• Post-purchase follow up
• Retain customers 

These are some of the common benefits of email marketing and this is why your Shopify store needs it. 

11. Reach out to influencers 

Why should you do all the heavy lifting? Reaching out to influencers will reduce your burden as they’ll bring more traffic to your store. 

In the beginning, we talked about audience and customers not landing at your store magically. Well, both can happen through influencers. 

Influencers are personalities with a huge audience/fan following. When they offer a shout-out to your store, all their audience will visit and check out your Shopify store. eCommerce stores have been doing this for a long time. 

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Here is David Beckham in a paid partnership with Tudor Watch. You can follow the same tactic. Reach out to influencers or celebrities and ask them to promote your store on their handles.

But remember, you’ll have an invest a considerable expense in this. Influencer marketing is not free. Unless the influencer is someone you know. 

12. Unleash the power of referrals 

This tactic is not for new stores that are yet to build a customer base. A referral program is suitable for stores with an existing customer base. 

Not every day will be a hay day for Shopify stores. Sometimes, your traffic will take a hit; it is part of the process. So, what do you do now?

Will you go looking for new customers? Acquiring new customers is expensive, and this is where referrals can come into play. 

Run a referral program in your store. Ask your existing customers to refer their friends. And offer exclusive discounts to both the referral and referee. 

Referral programs generate positive word of mouth and drive traffic to Shopify stores. All you need is a referral program app, and there are lots in the Shopify app store. 

Rewarding new customers will increase their loyalty. And rewarding existing customers will encourage them to refer more. Let your customers do the work for you while you can focus on running your business. 

13. Affiliate marketing 

If you're wondering how to get customers on Shopify without breaking a sweat (unlike the above), then Affiliate marketing is the way to do it. Almost every business is running an affiliate program on its website. 

It's like a referral program, but your customers won’t be the ones promoting your website. Your Shopify store will be promoted by external entities like an agency or an individual. 

An affiliate program is where a store announces a promotional activity that also has a commission. Now, an individual can join the program, grab the link to a product and promote it on their own. 

For each sale they bring you, they get a certain percentage of commission from the completed sale. It is more like a grounded version of influencer marketing. 

But you don’t need to pay them. Affiliates will promote your product at their expense and bring in new customers to you. For which they earn a commission. 

14. Pull off a PR stunt 

Probably the most unconventional strategy to increase website traffic. A PR stunt is one of the traditional promotional tactics that has been going on for decades. It existed even before the birth of the internet. 

A PR stunt is where a brand does a jaw-dropping activity(legal) to promote its products. 

Remember the PR stunt by Elon Musk to increase the sales of Tesla? It became the first car in Space.

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Likewise, many brands pulled off publicity stunts to attract attention and increase sales. 

If you have the right budget, you can pull a publicity stunt and drive traffic to the Shopify store. 

Conclusion 

Launching a Shopify store is great but your store cannot survive long if it doesn’t attract enough traffic. 

Most owners don't trust promotions; some think customers will magically find their store. Well, in this digital world, your store will not succeed without the right promotion. 

In this article, we learned why traffic is essential and how to drive traffic to your Shopify store. You can start blogging, run social media ads, start referral marketing, reach out to influencers or pull off a PR stunt; the choice is yours. 

Remember, creating a Shopify store is the easiest part; the real challenge begins in attracting significant traffic to your store. Businesses have been using all these tactics to stay relevant in a competitive market. 

Don’t be overwhelmed with this huge list of tactics we mentioned; some of them can be initiated quite easily and before you know it, your store will be attracting traffic and selling products.

So, what do you think about the tactics we listed? We’re certain that you might already be using some of these tactics, how’s that working out for you?