Search engine optimization can sometimes feel mysterious. Results are slower to appear than those from other channels, such as social media, and SEO doesn’t offer the guaranteed traffic of pay-per-click advertising. So how do you create some sort of prediction for what results to expect and when?

SEO forecasting helps you model this, so you can make decisions about what efforts—for example, technical optimization or creating new pages—to prioritize.

Learn more about what SEO forecasting is, which SEO metrics matter when forecasting, and how to forecast like a pro.

Table of contents

What is SEO forecasting?

Search engine optimization (SEO) forecasting is the process of using current and historical data to predict how your organic search efforts will perform over time.

Typically, forecasting includes organic traffic, conversion rate, and revenue metrics. In ecommerce, this means understanding how much traffic to expect for key product and category pages, when traffic might spike, which keywords will attract qualified website traffic, and how much revenue all of this could translate to.

A strong forecast includes multiple metrics, generally projected over a 12-month window to account for seasonal changes and time delays between publishing content and capturing keyword rankings. At its simplest, an SEO forecast should include:

\nKeyword search volume. The average number of times a keyword is searched every month.
\nOrganic click-through rate. The percentage of users who click on your link after seeing it in search results.
\nOrganic traffic. The number of visitors who land on your website from unpaid search results.
\nOrganic conversion rate. The percentage of users who arrive on a page via organic search and complete a desired action, like making a purchase or submitting a form.
\nAverage order value. The average amount a customer who finds your site via organic search spends per transaction.

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First-party vs. third-party data for SEO forecasting

Shopify senior SEO specialist Arthur Camberlein recommends combining first-party and third-party data when forecasting. “First-party gives you insights into where you are currently appearing or ranking. Third-party data will enrich these data with opportunities,” he says.

First-party data is your own business data, collected from tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Search Console (GSC), a customer relationship management system (CRM), and Shopify Analytics. This data includes:

Page sessions
Click paths
Conversions
Revenue per visitor

Third-party data is collected by tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google Trends, all of which crawl the web and aggregate user behavior. This includes:

Industry trends
Search volume
\nSearch engine results page (SERP) behavior
Competitor performance

Although you can get granular with statistical forecasting models and other analyses, Arthur advises keeping it simple, especially if you aren’t a data scientist. “Data from analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Shopify Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Google Search Console, or Bing Webmasters is enough to start with.”

How to forecast 4 essential SEO metrics

Here’s how to forecast four essential SEO metrics:

1. Keyword search volume

You can measure search volume using keyword research tools like Ahrefs or Semrush—but bear in mind, search volume can change over time. In fact, some keywords have major seasonal fluctuations in volume, like “Black Friday shoe deals,” which jumps from 428 searches in October to more than 26,000 in November.

To forecast keyword search volume, enter your target keyword into a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or Semrush and export the past 12 months of search volume data. Look for patterns: Is volume increasing, decreasing, or flat? Calculate month-over-month increases or decreases for each keyword.

You can also look at Google Trends for more context. Plug in the keyword and adjust the time frame to two to five years to spot seasonal demand, such as holiday spikes or summer slumps.

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Use this free SEO checklist to optimize your website and content. Learn how to rank for relevant search terms so more shoppers discover your store first.

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2. Organic click-through rate

CTR is influenced by your search results ranking position, metadata (title tag, meta description), and search engine results page (SERP) features like featured snippets, ads, and image packs.

Use industry benchmarks to estimate CTR for your target keywords based on ranking position:

Position 1: ~28%
Position 2: ~16%
Position 3: ~11%
Positions 4–5: ~6%–8%
Positions 6–10: ~2%–5%

For example, if your target keyword has 10,000 monthly searches and you rank in the top spot, you can forecast roughly 2,800 visitors per month. To assign the top spot in search results, Google considers a combination of relevance, authority, and usability. Pages that answer the query comprehensively, generate natural backlinks, and are easy to navigate tend to be more successful. To estimate your ranking chances, analyze the current top results. If they’re weak in content or authority, you have an opening. If they're dominated by legacy brands with hundreds of backlinks (visible in tools like the Ahrefs backlink checker), focus on lower-searched keywords instead.

You also need to drill down into the layout of specific SERPs for the keywords you’re targeting. SERP features like ads, images, or a featured snippet could push search results down the page, decreasing the CTR of high-ranking organic results. AI Overviews can also decrease CTR by up to 35% even if you’re in the number one position, as they quickly answer most users’ queries without requiring a click, reducing the potential traffic to your site.

3. Organic conversion rate

To forecast conversion rate (CVR), pull historical data from Google Analytics (GA4) or Shopify Analytics, filtering by organic traffic. Look at the past six months of conversion data across key pages (e.g., product pages, high-intent landing pages). Calculate a baseline CVR using this formula:

CVR = (Conversions from organic traffic / Total organic sessions) × 100

For example, if you had 2,000 organic sessions and 50 conversions, your organic CVR would be 2.5%.

However, not all pages will have this conversion rate, as CVR varies by conversion funnel stage. For example, blog pages usually have lower conversions than product pages. With that in mind, segment the URLs in your traffic forecast by page type or intent. For the group of pages with a similar level of intent as those in your CVR calculation, apply the CVR to the forecasted traffic for those pages. If you’re projecting 5,000 organic visitors to those pages next month with a conversion rate of 2.5%, you can estimate 125 conversions.

4. SEO-generated revenue

To forecast how much revenue SEO brings in, filter your traffic source for organic only. Then find your total revenue and total number of orders for the past six months in Shopify Analytics. Calculate your average order value with this formula:

AOV = (Total revenue from organic transactions / Number of organic transactions)

For example, if you made $50,000 from 1,000 organic purchases, your AOV would be $50.

Then, combine AOV with your traffic and conversion forecast. This lets you translate SEO growth into dollar value and project revenue impact. If you’re predicting 5,000 organic visitors with a 4% conversion rate (200 sales), and your AOV is $50, you can expect $10,000 in organic revenue.

Here is an example of 12 months of estimated traffic used to project revenue via the method above, assuming you’re able to rank in the top spot for the target keyword (with a CTR of 28%).

In January, for instance, the keyword has a monthly search volume of 5,000. Assuming your page ranks in the top spot with an industry-standard CTR of 28% and a conversion rate (based on hypothetical prior performance for your site) of 4%, the result is 56 purchases. If each purchase has an average order value of $100, you can anticipate $5,600 in revenue from this keyword.

Suppose your SEO efforts are just starting and you don’t have organic conversions yet. In that case, you can use industry conversion benchmarks from Shopify reports or a proxy AOV, such as overall site AOV, rather than organic only. However, this becomes a directional growth model rather than an accurate forecast. Once you have gathered a minimum of 20 conversions, update the model with real numbers.

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SEO forecasting tips

Here are four tips to keep in mind when forecasting:

1. Combine first- and third-party data

Use first-party data from sources like Google Analytics and Shopify reports as a baseline to see which pages and keywords are already driving SEO performance, then layer on third-party data from SEO forecasting tools like Ahrefs and Google Trends to identify opportunities beyond your current footprint. According to Arthur, first-party data serves as your reality check, while third-party data serves as your opportunity map.

Consider a hypothetical example for an ecommerce shoe brand:

\nFirst-party data. Google Search Console shows you have minimal impressions and traffic for the keyword “hiking shoes,” despite the fact that your shoes double as both walking and hiking shoes.
\nThird-party data. Ahrefs indicates that the keyword “hiking shoes” receives 57,000 monthly searches, with a seasonal peak in June and July, and a lull from October to December.
\nInsight. You have an opportunity to create a targeted product page or collection ahead of peak season. You can forecast potential traffic and sales, anticipating a surge in traffic from June to July and slower sales in the winter. You recognize that the top-ranking sites have high authority, but you anticipate you can win the No. 5 position on the SERP for a conversion rate of 6% to 8%, based on industry averages.

2. Use an appropriate sample size

Two key challenges of gathering SEO data are volume and time frame. “If the sample is too small, it could point you in the wrong direction,” Arthur explains. For example, pulling data for only a few months (rather than a year) could show results skewed by a short-lived trend.

Arthur also advises accounting for outlier years like 2020, when nearly every industry was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A single anomalous year (whether good or bad) can skew your projections. Sometimes it’s best to omit anomalous years from your projections if not accounted for properly.

3. Apply seasonal fluctuations

A common mistake made when forecasting is assuming SEO growth is linear. In reality, SEO is shaped by various moving parts, so your forecast needs to be flexible. Seasonal fluctuations can significantly impact your SEO forecast as certain keywords and product pages may perform exceptionally well during specific times of the year, such as back-to-school landing pages.

Arthur says the easiest way to apply seasonality to your forecast is to think in annual terms. Forecast your total organic traffic or revenue for the year, then divide by 12 to get a monthly baseline. “If you want to go further, check any seasonality you may have from external tools such as Google Trends,” he explains. “That way, you will be able to add more weight to the month you are planning to release the page.”

For example, a summer-focused category page might have a traffic spike in July that’s twice the average, so you would apply a seasonal weight of 200% to that month.

4. Revisit your forecast every month

Traditionally, businesses would review and update their forecasts annually; however, the SEO world is constantly evolving, most recently with the adoption of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and AI integration. For this reason, Arthur suggests reviewing your forecast every month. “Pivoting to adapt was always the case in the SEO world, but the pace has multiplied over the last two years or so,” he notes.

SEO forecasting FAQ

Why is SEO forecasting difficult?

Uncontrollable variables make it difficult to forecast SEO growth. For example, Google’s algorithms are constantly updating, and user behavior can change based on cultural trends and seasonality. Forecasting also relies on data estimations, so there’s no such thing as a perfect forecast.

Is SEO becoming irrelevant?

SEO is not becoming irrelevant; however, it is constantly evolving. AI Overviews and featured snippets are leading to zero-click SERPs. This means marketers need to think strategically beyond simply ranking on Google to maximize visibility across platforms.

How do you forecast SEO ROI?

To forecast return on investment (ROI), you need to connect organic traffic, conversion rate (CVR), and average order value (AOV), using this formula: Forecasted ROI = (Organic traffic × CVR × AOV) – Cost of SEO.

What does SEO look like in 2025?

With platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and ChatGPT, SEO isn’t just about ranking No. 1 on Google, but showing up where your audience looks for information. While the fundamentals, like producing great content and improving user experience, still matter, SEO strategy is now platform-agnostic.

","excerpt","SEO forecasting allows you to estimate the potential traffic—and revenue—you could generate by targeting relevant keywords with appealing content.","excerptHtml","

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SEO forecasting allows you to estimate the potential traffic—and revenue—you could generate by targeting relevant keywords with appealing content.

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Adding new pages to your online store is like placing new books in a library. Until they’re cataloged, visitors can’t find them. Google works the same way. It needs to index your store’s pages before they appear in search results.

If your store isn’t showing up in search engines yet, don’t panic. Learn more about why your website may not be showing up on Google, what can slow the indexing process down, and six tips to help your store’s pages get ranked in search results faster.

Why is my website not showing up on Google?

Before you can rank for user searches, Google first has to crawl your site using automated bots called web crawlers and index your site’s pages. Because of this delay, most brand new websites and pages are invisible for a couple of days. If your store is brand new, Google may simply need time to index it.

If you’ve been selling for a while and your pages suddenly disappear, it could be a setting on your site. This could be something that’s discouraging search engines from indexing or displaying them, like a “noindex” tag or a blocked crawler.

Even after SEO work, a website might not appear in Google search results due to technical issues such as:

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Crawling blocked by robots.txt
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Noindex meta tags
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Missing sitemaps
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Linking issues (e.g., broken links, poor internal linking)
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Manual Google penalties for violations such as keyword stuffing or duplicate content
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These issues make it difficult for search engine crawlers to understand the content of the page. As a result, they might not be able to rank the page for relevant queries.

How to improve your website’s visibility in Google search

First, determine if there’s a technical reason preventing a website page from being displayed. Then, focus your efforts on improving website visibility and rankings. Here are six ways to get your store showing up in Google faster:

1. Check for indexing issues

First, confirm Google has indeed indexed your website using Google Search Console’s (GSC) URL Inspection tool. Another common way to check if your website has been indexed if you don’t have access to GSC is to type “site:” followed directly by your site’s URL or domain name into Google’s search bar.

For example, “site:allbirds.com.” If your website is already in Google’s index, the search results will return a list of all the pages from your domain. If this search delivers no results, it means Google hasn’t indexed your site yet.

If your website once showed in the search results but no longer appears, it could be that Google penalized your website by deindexing it. This is unlikely, but double-check Google Search Console for a notice of a manual penalty, which will also include the reason for the penalty, so you can fix the problem.

Another possible reason your website is invisible could be that it’s accidentally blocked in your robots.txt file, a small file telling search engines which pages to crawl or skip. The page may also be set to noindex, which is a directive telling search engines to exclude it from search results. To rule this out, use Google’s URL inspection tool.

2. Submit your sitemap to Google

Submitting your sitemap can help Google discover your site sooner, but it doesn’t guarantee immediate results.

To do this, create a Google Search Console account (previously called Google Webmaster Tools) and verify your website’s ownership. There are various verification models that you can use, such as:

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Uploading an HTML file and publishing it on your site
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Editing your homepage’s HTML source code
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Using your Google Analytics tracking code, a small snippet of JavaScript added to your website’s HTML
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Then, create a sitemap. You can let your content management system (CMS) or website building platform create it for you. For instance, Shopify stores automatically generate a sitemap.xml file. Here, you’ll have all the links to your:

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Products
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Primary product image
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Pages
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Collections
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Blog posts
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In this document, you can specify which canonical URL (the preferred version of a page) you want the search engines to index. This way, you can avoid Google crawling similar pages. Once you have your sitemap, you can use the Sitemaps report in Search Console to submit it.

3. Create unique, valuable content

The quality of your content also plays a key role in where your website appears in the search results. Google searches its index for content that matches a search query and displays the webpage it thinks has the highest quality content on the topics related to the search.

While keywords play a role in making your content discoverable, there are other elements to consider as well. Arthur Camberlein, senior SEO specialist at Shopify, advises new businesses to focus on building a strong foundation of content first.

“Focus on your niche and slowly grow the website, the content, the product—if needed—and rely on good structure,” says Arthur.

This includes well-optimized product and collection pages, as well as five to 10 educational, evergreen blog posts related to your topic focus. Once your foundation is in place, you can add seasonal or trend-driven blog content to expand your visibility and capture timely search interest.

4. Make your website faster

Site load speed is considered a cornerstone of technical SEO, and if your site is too slow, Google takes notice. Websites appearing on the first page load in only 1.65 seconds, on average. A slow website creates a bad experience for search engines and internet users, resulting in fewer pages indexed and lower search rankings.

Check PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals for suggestions on how to improve your loading speed. Each tool shares performance scores, helping you prioritize which pages need intervention first.

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See how speed affects the entire customer journey in our ultimate guide. Learn how to increase site speed, performance, and sales.

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5. Create internal links

An internal link is a hyperlink on your website linking to another page within your site. This helps search engines understand how your content is structured and how different pages relate to each other, which signals topical relevance.

Arthur emphasizes that internal links can speed up visibility because when a new page is linked from an existing, high-authority page, Google is more likely to find and index it quickly.

Link building strategies also distribute authority across your site by passing link equity from strong pages to newer ones. And, when related pages are linked to each other, they clarify their contextual relationship. For example, if you link a product page to a use-case page, you increase the likelihood of both pages ranking. It also improves the user experience by helping shoppers explore your products more deeply.

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6. Build backlinks

While internal links give context to the relationship between pages, Arthur says backlinks (also called inbound links) are seen as recommendations from other sites.

“When Google created its algorithm,” he says, “they thought of backlinks as peer reviews.”

For instance, if your store partners with a local blogger to review your new product line, the backlink from their blog can signal to Google that your store is trustworthy and relevant.

That said, not all backlinks are good for business and visibility. Spam links are typically low-quality and irrelevant links placed to manipulate search engine rankings. For example, if a pet food site pays a sports apparel website to link back to them, it may be considered a spam link since there’s no relationship between the content of the two sites.

This is a black hat SEO method that can lead to Google demoting your webpage or, worse, removing it. While black hat SEO is fast and easy, relying on white hat SEO methods focusing on the overall content quality will always be better for your site.

If you rely on affiliate marketing, you can avoid being found guilty of link spam by using the proper tags. Whenever you send a customer or influencer a product in exchange for a link, you need to qualify the link with a rel=“nofollow” or rel=“sponsored.”

Why is my website not showing up on Google FAQ

Why is Google not finding my website?

It may not be indexed yet, or settings like robots.txt or noindex tags could be blocking search engines from crawling it. Check Google Search Console for any technical issues, and make sure your content is relevant and unique.

How do I get my website to show up on Google?

First, make sure that Google knows about your website’s existence and that it’s allowed to crawl all of the webpages. Submit your sitemap via Google Search Console to speed up this process and request indexing. Keep publishing helpful content that answers your audience’s questions and includes relevant keywords naturally.

How do I get my website to show up higher on Google?

Focus on the entire search engine optimization process, which includes technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and delivers high-quality content that matches search intent. Earn quality backlinks by creating shareable resources that other sites want to reference.

","If your site has been live for more than a few days and it’s not showing up in Google search results, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot.","

$\"A$

If your site has been live for more than a few days and it’s not showing up in Google search results, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot.

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Imagine this: You pause your Facebook ads for a week. Overnight, website traffic dries up, sales dip, and you’re scrambling to turn the faucet back on. Now, picture another channel where the opposite happens. The work you did last month keeps sending customers today, and the content you publish this year continues attracting traffic next year. That’s why businesses choose to invest in search engine optimization (SEO).

The flip side is that SEO takes longer than paid channels and requires upfront investment, which can be significant. This guide will walk you through what makes SEO worthwhile, when it may not be, and how to forecast return on investment so you can turn it into a sustainable growth channel for your business.

Table of contents

Is SEO worth it?

SEO is a long game, but for ecommerce businesses willing to invest the time and effort, the impact can be meaningful. With SEO, you’re building an actual asset, Kyle Risley, Shopify senior SEO lead, explains. “Once you rank, that page can bring you traffic for years, and your cost to get a customer goes way down.” That’s because you don’t have to pay for the traffic you get through organic search results. As long as your page ranks, the traffic—and conversions—you get from it is free.

Once some of your pages start ranking for search queries, it can also help your other pages rank faster. Each successful content piece builds your brand’s topical authority. Over time, Google begins to recognize your site as a trusted source, helping new content rank faster.

But SEO can take a meaningful investment of time and money upfront, as you may need to audit and improve your site’s technical fundamentals and hire experts to conduct keyword research and develop SEO-optimized content. From there, results don’t happen overnight. It can take three to six months for you to start seeing significant traffic and revenue from SEO, so it may not be worth the effort for businesses that need quick wins. In this case, using paid channels like Google Ads or social media marketing may bring faster results.

An additional consideration is where your target audience primarily shops: If they primarily shop online and use Google to discover products, then SEO can be very impactful. If your potential customers primarily shop in physical stores, at events, or on social media platforms like TikTok, optimizing your website for Google search may have a limited impact.

How to determine if SEO is worth the investment

1. Start with demand

Without real search demand, even the best-optimized website won’t drive results. For example, a product might be too new or too niche, and people simply aren’t searching for it, such as a new biohacking wearable that no one has ever heard of.

“It ultimately comes down to the opportunity size of your niche,” Kyle explains. “First, you need to determine if people are actually searching for what you sell and how realistically you can rank for those terms.”

Look at search volume using keyword research tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. If the volume is big enough to drive meaningful traffic, look at the search engine results pages (SERPs) to assess the competition. If the SERP is full of websites with high-authority domains and large content catalogs, you might not be able to rank. But if the SERP has websites similar in scope to yours, you could have a better chance.

Assessing demand isn’t just about keyword visibility, but buying intent as well. Sometimes, high-volume, broad keywords might have more searches, but low-volume, targeted keywords have higher purchase intent.

“Instead of a broad page for ’baby blankets,’ a store might target ’organic cotton baby blankets’ or ’handmade baby blankets,’” Kyle says. “These terms have less search volume, but they’re easier to rank for and the traffic translates directly into revenue.”

Similarly, local SEO can signal customer demand in specific areas and uncover regional opportunities. “For businesses with storefronts, ranking in Google’s local packs and map results can be night and day for driving in-store sales. I’ve seen it completely change revenue trajectories,” Kyle says.

A local pack is the boxed section that appears above organic results on Google, which includes a map with store links, ratings, and other key business details, especially beneficial for storefront businesses.

That’s how mattress brand Polysleep approached its SEO strategy. Even though it didn’t have a retail footprint, the brand wanted to compete with product-related, localized keywords. It built pages around keywords tied to geographic intent, such as “best mattress store in Laval,” promoting local Polysleep retailers within the page.

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Use this free SEO checklist to optimize your website and content. Learn how to rank for relevant search terms so more shoppers discover your store first.

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2. Estimate potential revenue

Once you confirm demand, calculate how many sales those searches could realistically generate for your store. Kyle recommends a simple formula to create a forecast for potential monthly revenue:

(Search volume) × (Click-through rate) × (Conversion rate) × (Average order value) = Potential revenue

While it won’t predict exact sales, it will give you an idea of whether the opportunity is big enough to pursue. “If you see you could potentially make X amount more per month, you can then decide how much time and resources you’re willing to invest to capture that,” he explains.

For example, if you run a Shopify store that sells eco-friendly yoga mats, the phrase “non-toxic yoga mat” receives 1,200 monthly searches. If you rank on the first page, you might expect:

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15% click-through rate (CTR) depending on position
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2% conversion rate (CVR)
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$50 average order value (AOV)
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(1,200) × (0.15) × (0.02) × (50) = $180 in monthly revenue

That’s $2,160 per year from a single page. Multiply that across five to 10 similar opportunities, and SEO quickly turns into a meaningful channel.

3. Choose an approach

Ultimately, success depends on your ability to execute an effective SEO strategy. This includes the time, budget, and skills you’re able to allocate to it. There are three main paths most ecommerce businesses take:

DIY SEO

Implementing SEO strategies yourself is the most cost-effective option, but it requires time and consistency, and ideally an in-house SEO specialist. If no one on your team fits that bill and you can’t afford to hire one, you can develop the expertise yourself by reading SEO industry blogs and newsletters.

Expect to spend five to 20 hours per week on research, content, and site updates, depending on your experience. If you aren’t familiar with SEO, web development, or content writing, budget closer to 20 hours per week.

Keyword tools like Ahrefs or Semrush start at around $120 per month, and Shopify includes SEO essentials such as customizable title tags, auto-generated sitemaps, and blog optimization apps, eliminating the need for technical know-how and making SEO edits part of your regular workflow.

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For new brands, Kyle recommends keeping it simple in the first year. “Focus on the fundamentals,” he says. “Make sure your site is technically sound, build five to 10 great product or collection pages targeting very specific, long-tail keywords, and do things that earn authority, like getting mentioned on podcasts or industry blogs.”

Hire a consultant

A consultant is a middle-ground option. Costs vary, but freelance SEO experts typically charge between $150 and $250 per hour. A consultant can run a technical SEO audit, help define your keyword strategy, and coach you on execution.

Work with an SEO company

SEO agencies can cost $2,000 to $10,000 or more per month, but they usually offer end-to-end SEO services, including keyword strategy, technical fixes, SEO content development, link building, and reporting. Just note that agency pricing models vary wildly depending on their activities and where their staff is located.

These agencies are suitable for online stores with a budget and larger goals, such as entering new markets or competing for high-volume keywords. However, the investment should match the opportunity. For example, if your SEO revenue projection shows potential for tens of thousands in monthly revenue, a $5,000 monthly retainer is a justified option.

4. Factor in time frames

SEO results compound over time. Slowly at first, then more meaningfully as time goes on. Kyle says even if you’ve chosen the right keywords and invested in content, search engines need time to crawl, index, and evaluate your pages.

“Generally, you should start to see some traction within three months, noticeable traffic improvement in three to six months, and more significant results in six to 12 months,” Kyle says. However, that timeline varies based on competition and your site’s starting point. If a domain has no existing brand recognition or backlinks, the timeline depends on how long it takes to develop them.

This means your SEO efforts will require an upfront investment of time and money, and the return may not be evident for several months. Think of SEO like a real estate asset. You’re investing now for payback later. SEO also requires that you stick with it for at least a year. If you stop investing too early, you may not break even. If you have the luxury of time, SEO is a good option. If not, you may want to look at other, more immediate avenues like paid ads.

When is SEO not worth the investment?

SEO is a powerful growth engine, but there are some cases when it may not be the best use of your time or budget:

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You have limited product depth. If you sell only one or two well-known products, there may be limited content opportunities to expand your reach. In this case, other channels, such as PR, influencer partnerships, or retail distribution, may be a more effective investment to drive word-of-mouth referrals and boost brand awareness.
\n
\n
Your audience doesn’t shop through Google. If your store relies on trend-driven items or your audience skews young, paid social and influencer campaigns may deliver faster results than SEO.
\n
\n
You need results immediately. SEO can take as long as a year to have impact. If you need revenue sooner than that, consider paid channels like Google Ads, social media marketing, and display advertising for faster results.
\n
\n
You rely on offline or event-based sales. If your sales primarily come from events or in-store retail, the time it takes to optimize for SEO may not be worthwhile.
\n

Is SEO worth it FAQ

Is it worth paying for SEO services?

It’s worth paying for SEO if there’s clear search demand and revenue potential. A consultant or agency can help optimize your website for better visibility, but if there’s not enough search volume for your products or brand-relevant topics, or you need quick results, it may not be worth the cost.

What is the 80/20 rule of SEO?

The 80/20 rule means 80% of your efforts yield 20% of your results. This is also known as the Pareto Principle. For ecommerce, that usually means a handful of well-optimized product and collection pages drive the majority of organic traffic and sales.

Is SEO still relevant in 2025?

Absolutely. Even with the rise of AI search, search engines still dominate discovery. They’re the primary way people find products and information online. And it’s more cost-effective than paid ads, so it’s one of the best long-term investments for traffic to your site.

","When weighing SEO costs against the potential benefits, consider your budget, time frame for results, and audience’s shopping behaviors.","

$\"A$

When weighing SEO costs against the potential benefits, consider your budget, time frame for results, and audience’s shopping behaviors.

",{"_2128":2144,"_1871":-5,"_1481":2188},{"_2128":2147,"_2148":2149,"_2150":2151,"_2152":1683},[-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5],"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/seo_20content_20marketing.png?v=1696573792","A magnifying glass with a white paper icon on a light pink background: is seo worth it.",{"_2128":2129,"_1765":2196,"_1846":2197,"_1871":2198,"_2133":2199,"_2135":-5,"_2136":2200,"_2032":2202,"_2139":2203,"_2141":2204,"_1949":2205,"_2145":2206,"_2153":2207,"_2155":2208,"_2157":2209,"_2159":-7,"_2160":-7,"_2161":-7,"_2162":2210,"_2164":2199},"gid://shopify/Article/562691833890","website-checklist","Website Checklist: 19 Steps To Get You Launched and Running","2025-07-21T15:24:45Z",[2201,1880],"author:azra-kassam","

Whether you're building a new website from scratch or giving your existing one a makeover, a website launch can feel daunting. Months of planning, designing, and optimization go into creating a site people will love to spend time (and shop!) on.

Creating a website launch checklist can help you prevent small details from slipping through the cracks. Here are 19 essential tasks to review before, during, and after your website launch to deliver a smooth user experience.

Table of contents

Prelaunch website checklist

A comprehensive prelaunch checklist sets the foundation for a successful website launch. Without one, you may find yourself scrambling to fix overlooked issues once your new website is live:

1. Choose a CMS and configure Google Analytics

The first step in building out a new website is to find the right content management system (CMS). Platforms like Shopify let you manage customer information and track orders and inventory. If you're new to Shopify, you can learn to navigate the Shopify admin through a free video course that covers store setup fundamentals.

Set up your Google Analytics and ensure you're properly tracking key events, like conversions. Google's latest analytics property, GA4, tracks standard events like purchases, but you may also want to tag custom events, like specific button clicks, through Google Tag Manager.

Master your Shopify store setup

Skip the learning curve with this free video course that shows you how to set up products, customize your store, configure shipping, and set up payments—with help from Sidekick, Shopify's AI assistant.

\nStart learning now\n

2. Review metadata

Metadata helps search engines understand your website content to accurately rank your pages. This includes:

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Title tags
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Meta descriptions
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Alt text
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Structured data
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Canonical tags
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3. Tease the launch to generate buzz

Use social media, email teasers, and prelaunch incentives to build anticipation. Since SEO can take months to gain traction, early promotion ensures you have an audience eager to check out your website on day one. Share product sneak peeks or behind-the-scenes content to generate excitement.

4. Develop an SEO strategy

Having a strong on-page search engine optimization (SEO) strategy helps you gain more visibility in search engine rankings, driving organic traffic to your website without ad spend. Target the right keywords—words that drive search traffic—by doing keyword research and creating content plans for new product pages, landing pages, and blog posts.

Build your dream online store today

Join the ranks of the world's best online stores with Shopify's powerful tools and features. With the highest-converting checkout, Shopify stores sell more products, lower your costs, and save you time.

\nLearn more\n

At-launch website checklist

Congrats—you're live! But before popping the champagne, there are a few more tasks to complete:

5. Run a site audit

A site audit helps you to spot any technical errors you may have missed during the staging process (broken links, duplicate content, site security issues, or poor responsiveness). Run a site audit with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs and gather technical performance data in Google Search Console (GSC) to catch errors, identify areas for optimizations, and benchmark against competitors.

6. Generate an XML sitemap

An XML sitemap lists all indexable pages on your website in a text file format. Google's crawlers use this file to crawl and index your site more efficiently.

Shopify stores automatically generate sitemaps, accessible at [yourdomain.com]/sitemap.xml. You can also create the sitemap before launching, but you can't submit it for indexing until your site is live.

Submit your sitemap to GSC by navigating to Indexing > Add a new sitemap, and entering your sitemap's filename.

Free website wireframe cheat sheet

Use this free template to make your website easy to navigate and read. Create captivating pages that instantly give visitors the information they need.

\nDownload template\n

7. Check third-party integrations

You may have integrated third-party tools like an email marketing service, customer relationship management (CRM) software, or ecommerce analytics tool. Check your integrations to make sure data is transferring and mapping correctly.

8. Create back-ups

Make a copy of your website, then plan to back it up monthly to avoid data loss. If you regularly update your website—like adding new products weekly—plan for a weekly backup schedule. Test that backups are running correctly and store them in multiple locations, like an external hard drive and the cloud.

9. Check for compliance

Although the internet has no borders, your ecommerce business must still comply with local laws and regulations. This includes:

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General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance if you're collecting data from users in the European Union
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California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance if you're targeting users in California
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A cookie consent banner with a clear opt-out (if applicable)
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Accessibility standards according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
\n

10. Check redirects

If you're migrating or redesigning your website, you're likely removing or consolidating pages—maybe to improve the user experience (UX), search engine optimizations (SEO), or simplify content. When old pages are removed or merged, these changes could result in URL changes or links to pages that don't exist anymore. Redirect old pages to their new counterparts to guide users to the correct destination.

11. Check your robots.txt file

A robots.txt file helps search engines understand which parts of your new site to crawl, ensuring only valuable pages are indexed and avoiding duplicates or low-value content. Before launching, make sure your robots.txt file is up to date with instructions to allow and disallow specific pages.

12. Check for responsiveness

A responsive website adjusts to the user's device and screen size across laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Review your entire site experience on different devices and flag anything that's out of place, like misaligned text. If you don't have access to various devices, you can check for responsive web design on Google Chrome by right-clicking, selecting Inspect, and toggling the device icon in the toolbar.

13. Review accessibility

The American Disabilities Act requires websites to be accessible to those with disabilities. There are various ways users with disabilities interact with websites, including screen readers, video captioning, keyboard navigation, or voice recognition. Ensure your website follows web accessibility guidelines before launch.

14. Review copy, links, and branding

Chances are you've spent a lot of time iterating on your web copy and design. After all that work, launching with typos, broken links, or a wrong version of your logo would be a shame. Thoroughly review your copy and test internal and external links to ensure they're error-free. Audit brand identity elements, like images, logos, fonts, and colors, to ensure compliance.

Keep your website looking sharp

Display images in the correct size and ratio for your website and social profiles with this free online image resizer.

\nResize image\n

Post-launch website checklist

Once your website is launched, make sure it's set up for growth. Your website post-launch checklist could include the following:

15. Test the user experience (again)

Review your entire site again and consider making a test order to verify all conversion paths. Are purchases flowing through to Shopify correctly? Are notifications being sent to the correct email addresses? Check that data is piping through the back end properly, too.

Most ecommerce websites have multiple conversion points, like purchases, email submissions, or quiz completions. Test every form and button—a single broken element can make the difference between a sale and losing a frustrated customer.

16. Secure your site

Make sure your website isn't vulnerable to data breaches. Protect shared logins and passwords with a password manager like Dashlane or LastPass, and update passwords quarterly. Double-check that your website has an SSL certificate—which encrypts data transferred between your web server and the user's browser—by ensuring your URL starts with \"https://\".

Shopify provides free SSL certificates to all domains.

17. Announce your launch

Send out an announcement on all your marketing channels. Consider offering promotions or discounts to incentivize new customers, or hosting a launch party—real or virtual—with demonstrations, showcases, and influential trendsetters in your industry.

18. Map out a maintenance plan

Create a plan with routine tasks to keep your website up to date, covering performance, content, and security checks. These may include:

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Monthly technical audits
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Regular content optimization
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Usability testing
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Monthly key performance indicator (KPI) reporting
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Biannual keyword reviews
\n

19. Build out your blog

SEO is an ongoing effort to ensure your website is consistently growing, and a blog is a powerful way to target keywords in your niche. It also helps establish your authority as an expert and gives you a channel for answering user queries.

Website checklist FAQ

What are the most important things to do before launching a new website?

Before launching a new website, the most important things to do are:

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Check user experience
\n
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Test conversion paths
\n
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Check site security
\n
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Check legal compliance
\n

\n\n

How do I test a website before launching?

You can manually test your website by using it on different devices, making purchases using different devices to see whether they go through, and signing up for email. You can also run the website through a tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to find broken links and other performance issues.

How should I structure my website?

Organize your site into logical categories and prioritize important pages like the homepage and product pages. Make sure every page is linked to others to prevent orphan pages that can't easily be found.

","This website checklist helps you test for conversions, security, responsiveness, and UI, so you’re ready when customers come through the door.","

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This website checklist helps you test for conversions, security, responsiveness, and UI, so you’re ready when customers come through the door.

",{"_2128":2144,"_1871":-5,"_1481":2203},{"_2128":2147,"_2148":2149,"_2150":2151,"_2152":1683},[-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5],"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/quality_20assurance_1848x970.png?v=1718137669","A 3D check mark on a green background representing a website checklist.","21 July 2025",{"_2128":2129,"_1765":2212,"_1846":2213,"_1871":2214,"_2133":2215,"_2135":-5,"_2136":2216,"_2032":2217,"_2139":2218,"_2141":2219,"_1949":2220,"_2145":2221,"_2153":2222,"_2155":2223,"_2157":2224,"_2159":-7,"_2160":-7,"_2161":-7,"_2162":2225,"_2164":2215},"gid://shopify/Article/563055329314","landing-page-conversion-rate","Landing Page Conversion Rate: Benchmarks and How To Improve","2025-05-28T18:04:19Z",[2201,729],"

A landing page without conversions means your visitors are just window shopping. They’re curious enough to have a look but aren’t compelled to make a purchase.

Improving the rate at which people who visit your landing pages convert is a big lever for maximizing your marketing and advertising budget. Social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid search get people to your page, but the conversion rate (CVR) shows you how effective your digital marketing efforts are at driving tangible business results.

Even minor improvements can have a significant impact. For example, a CVR of 2% with 100,000 monthly sessions is 2,000 sessions per month. Increasing your CVR to 2.2% would result in 200 additional purchases. At an average order value (AOV) of $50, that’s $10,000 in revenue every month and $120,000 per year.

Are you ready to create landing pages that drive profit? Learn more about how to calculate your landing page conversion rate and five best practices to improve it.

Table of contents

What is landing page conversion rate?

Landing page conversion rate (CVR) is the percentage of users who visit a specific landing page and take a desired action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

Several factors impact your landing page CVR, which can change depending on what you measure. For example, if you’re measuring purchases, your landing page CVR will reflect the effectiveness of both the landing page and your checkout experience. If you choose to measure only add-to-cart clicks, your CVR will reflect only the performance of your landing page content and user experience. In this case, you’ll measure your checkout CVR separately.

In Google Analytics 4, you can define the specific goal you want to track. In Shopify Analytics, you can simply track conversion to purchase rate, which is called “online store conversion rate.” On other platforms, you might also see CVR called “transaction rate” or “order rate.”

Individual landing pages usually have a better CVR than your overall site because they’re designed as a first entry point with a focused conversion goal. Your website's CVR considers all pages, including non-conversion-focused pages like blogs.

What is a good landing page conversion rate?

There are a few factors that influence landing page CVR. Price is one of them. For example, lower ticket items will have higher conversion rates, while high ticket items will have lower conversion rates. Industry also impacts CVR. For example, the average landing page conversion rate for ecommerce is 4.2%, while events and entertainment convert at an average of 12.6%.

That said, here are some general guidelines on what constitutes a good average conversion rate for ecommerce landing pages:

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Low ticket items ($150 or less): 3%–5%
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Medium ticket items ($150 up to $999): 2%–3%
\n
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High ticket items ($1,000 and above): 1%
\n

CVR and bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave without interacting with the page) are also related. Generally, a higher bounce rate leads to fewer conversions (and, consequently, a lower conversion rate) because fewer visitors stay and engage long enough to take action. Some factors that affect bounce rate include:

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Traffic quality. Warm traffic, like that from retargeting ads or email, will be more engaged than cold traffic. You should expect to see a better conversion rate from these audiences than a cold-targeting ad.
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Content relevance. If visitors land on a page that doesn’t align with their expectations, they could leave without taking action. For example, if a user clicks on an ad for women’s shoes and lands on a children’s shoes page, they’re more likely to bounce.
\n
\n
User experience. Annoying pop-ups or slow page speed can make visitors leave fast.
\n

How to calculate and track landing page conversion rate

The formula to calculate landing page conversion rate is:

Conversion rate = (# of conversions / # of visitors) x 100

For example, if 100,000 people visit your landing page and 2,000 of them make a purchase:

(2,000 / 100,000) x 100 = 2% CVR

To track your landing page conversion rate in GA4, first, set up your conversion events. Then, go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens. Find your landing page in the list.

Then, to calculate your landing page’s conversion rate, divide the number of conversions by users or sessions, or build a custom exploration to display the conversion rate automatically.

To see your CVR in Shopify, go to Analytics > Reports. Under Sales, click Online store conversion rate. Here, you’ll see your whole store’s CVR by default. To check for a specific landing page, filter the analytics by the page’s URL.

How to improve your landing page conversion rate

Create high-converting landing pages with the following best practices.

Develop a strong value proposition

A value proposition answers the following questions:

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What is this product?
\n
\n
Why should I care?
\n
\n
Why should I choose you over other competitors?
\n

Your landing page should clearly communicate the value proposition of the action you want your target audience to take. If it’s a product page, focus on the benefits of purchasing the product, prioritizing outcomes over features. If you want visitors to sign up for a newsletter, emphasize the value they’ll get from your emails.

For example, a feature-driven value proposition would be “USB-rechargeable 6-blade portable blender,” while an outcome-driven value proposition would be “Healthy smoothies anytime, anywhere, without the kitchen mess.” The second example highlights the real-life benefit and why it should matter to the customer.

Optimize for mobile devices

Mobile users are five times more likely to leave if a website isn’t mobile-friendly, tanking your CVR. When optimizing landing pages for mobile, consider the following:

Is it easy to navigate? Keep forms simple with large input fields and incorporate pinching, swiping, and tapping for interactivity. Use mobile navigation elements like hamburger menus and responsive design, which self-adjust according to the user’s screen size.

Is it easy to take action? Wherever possible, reduce friction, which is anything that makes potential customers slow down or second-guess their choice. For example, requiring customers to create an account before purchasing can slow them down. Consider adding a guest checkout option, and better yet, incorporate Shop Pay into your checkout flow, which is proven to lift conversion rates by up to 50%.

Run A/B tests

Operating on a hunch sometimes pays off in marketing, but testing your ideas gives you hard data to draw conclusions from. User preferences can vary across industries and audiences, so it’s a good idea to establish an A/B testing practice to validate hypotheses according to how your visitors behave.

For example, are they price-conscious? Do they care about product quality? Test messages that speak to different consumer priorities and see which converts the best.

Start by defining your goal, such as increasing add-to-cart clicks. Choose an element to test, such as the call-to-action (CTA) copy, and create two versions: a control (A) and a variant (B). Run the test for at least one week to gather meaningful data, then see how the conversion rates differ to determine which variation outperformed the other. Continue testing different elements to improve landing page performance over time.

Here are some additional test ideas:

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Lifestyle product images vs. studio images. While lifestyle imagery can help emotionally connect with your audience, studio images convey product details. Test both to see which works for your brand.
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Button placements, colors, and size. CTAs above the fold usually perform better, and you can also test repeating CTAs throughout the page. Contrasting button colors perform better than non-contrasting colors, and button sizes should be at least 44 by 44 pixels for mobile users. Test different button styles while still adhering to your brand guidelines.
\n
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Value proposition copy. Your landing page copy should present a clear value proposition. Test various outcome-driven headlines to see what resonates with the majority of your audience.
\n

Streamline the checkout process

Once a customer has reached the checkout page, they’re at the homestretch. A glitchy checkout or convoluted process can kill conversions. That’s why it’s so important to give customers a seamless experience at checkout. Here are some ways to do that:

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Use a single-page checkout and reduce form fields to only the most important information required for a purchase.
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Offer a guest checkout option so customers aren’t forced to create an account.
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Offer various payment options, including Google and Apple Pay for mobile, and buy now, pay later options like Shopify Pay Installments.
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Add a one-tap accelerated checkout like Shop Pay.
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Use trust signals like security badges, SSL certificates, and guarantees.
\n
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Be transparent with costs, such as taxes and shipping.
\n
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Allow easy cart edits without having to leave the checkout page.
\n

Improve page speed

How long are you willing to wait for a web page to load? Chances are, you move on if kept waiting for more than a few seconds.

Improving your site speed reduces user frustration, decreasing the likelihood of them bouncing off your site if it is too slow to load. An ideal site load speed is within zero to three seconds. The faster, the better. Even a one-second improvement in load times can increase mobile CVR by 27%.

You can check your site speed using Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals or PageSpeed Insights.

Landing page conversion rate FAQ

What is a good conversion rate for landing pages?

A good landing page conversion rate depends on your industry and price point. Here are some general guidelines on what a good conversion rate is for landing pages on ecommerce sites:

Low ticket items ($150 or less): 3%–5%
Medium ticket items ($150+): 2%–3%
High ticket items ($1000+): 1%

How do you calculate your landing page conversion rate?

To calculate your landing page conversion rate, divide the total number of purchases from the page by the total number of page visitors. Here is a formula:

Conversion rate = (# of conversions / # of visitors) x 100

How do you improve your landing page conversion rate?

You can improve your own landing pages by developing a clear value proposition and incorporating strong storytelling throughout the page, optimizing the page for mobile devices, and consistently running A/B tests to improve CVR performance over time. Improving your page load speed also results in fewer bounces, keeping customers engaged for longer.

","Landing page conversion rate (CVR) is the percentage of users who visit a specific landing page and take a desired action, like making a purchase.","

$\"a$

Landing page conversion rate (CVR) is the percentage of users who visit a specific landing page and take a desired action, like making a purchase.

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In the digital age, your website is your prime piece of real estate. For ecommerce businesses, it’s the ultimate storefront—the chance to make a lasting impact from the very first click. Don’t let that opportunity slip away.

How long it takes to build a website varies. While it can take as little as one day to create a simple website, the entire process of creating multi-page websites with ecommerce capabilities and advanced features can take more than three or four months.

Learn about the usual web development timeline, and what it takes to move from one step of the process to the next.

How long does it take to build a website?

There are typically seven phases of building a website. Breaking up the website-building process into these steps will help you determine the project’s overall duration.

1. CMS and web hosting (1 to 2 weeks)

Before diving into design and development, you need to decide where your website will live and how to manage its content. This process takes one to two weeks. This time frame accounts for the necessary research and comparison of various CMS platforms and hosting providers, the evaluation of their features and pricing, and the potential need for technical setup or migration, ensuring a solid foundation for your website’s functionality and performance.

A content management system (CMS) allows you to create and manage your website’s content while your web host stores its data files. Your choice of CMS affects everything from the user experience to search engine optimization (SEO), so you should think it through early in your website development process.

When choosing a CMS, consider customization, SEO, and integration needs. For example, will you need to connect your email platform or other payment gateways? Does the CMS have built-in URL and metadata optimization options? Shopify is an all-in-one solution for ecommerce websites, while content-driven sites (like blogs or news sites) might consider WordPress.

When choosing a web hosting provider, consider site speed and performance, security features, and whether it can handle big spikes in traffic around holidays or seasonal sales. Shopify stores have built-in web hosting, making this step easy for online store owners.

2. Goal setting and information architecture (IA) planning (1 to 3 weeks)

Now that you know of any potential structural or technical constraints your CMS and web host have, you can begin building out your page structure, folders, and navigation. The time allocated allows for research, brainstorming, and iterative refinement to ensure a logical and user-friendly website structure. Information architecture (IA) planning allows you to organize your site content logically. This results in a smoother user experience and makes it easier for search engines to understand your site’s content.

Next, keeping your target audience in mind, define your website’s goal at this stage. Are you using the site to sell products? Send visitors to your retail locations? Offer free trials? Defining goals will help you identify what features your website will need and how you should structure them.

Next, organize your folders and subfolders with your product mix. What categories make sense? How will your products be organized? For example, folders for a clothing store might look like:

Folder: /shop

Subfolder: /shop/men, /shop/women

Sub-subfolder: /shop/men/shirts, /shop/men/pants

3. Low-fidelity wireframing (1 to 2 weeks)

Low-fidelity (lo-fi) wireframes are rough sketches of a website’s layout, focusing primarily on the user experience (UX). Lo-fi wireframes use simple shapes, like boxes and circles, to represent blocks of content. This allows stakeholders, including marketing, design, and development teams, to align on the site’s structure without getting distracted by copy or web design elements.

Lo-fi wireframes are fast to produce and easy to iterate on until they satisfy all stakeholders, so this process usually only takes a week or two. Some design elements may need to change to accommodate smaller screens, including the navigation and call-to-action (CTA) button sizes, so wireframes should include a desktop and mobile version. You can use tools like Figma, Miro, or Google Docs to create lo-fi wireframes.

4. High-fidelity wireframing (2 to 3 weeks)

After all stakeholders have given their feedback and approved the lo-fi wireframes, it’s time to design exactly what the website will look like. A high-fidelity (hi-fi) wireframe focuses on the user interface (UI), incorporating fonts, colors, copy, and images that align with your brand identity. As you move from a basic structure to a polished design, this process can take two to three weeks.

The hi-fi wireframe gives stakeholders a clear picture of how the website will look. Web developers also use it as a detailed reference for implementation. It acts as a prototype with clickable elements showing how users would interact with the website. At this point, you can also perform some light usability testing to make sure you’re on the right track. Figma’s prototyping feature allows for interactive components, while Adobe XD has advanced wireframing features, like interactive elements and animations.

5. Web development (4 to 10 weeks)

The development phase is usually the longest part of the website creation process because a professional developer now has to translate wireframes and mockups into a working website. This is when all the features and functionality come to life, including design layout, correct fonts, copy, and interactivity. If you’ve got a complex website with many product pages, this stage can take two months or more to complete.

The web development process includes building the front and back end, custom coding, and testing. Front-end development focuses on what your customers will see and experience, while back-end development ensures that all functionality, such as email captures and store integration, is working properly. If your website has any unique requirements, like interactive maps or sold-out notifications, you’ll need to develop them at this stage.

The web development phase requires a consistent feedback loop between developers and stakeholders, as everyone needs to be aligned on all the detailed decisions, like scroll feel or button hovers. A professional website developer will build in plenty of buffer time to accommodate any unexpected issues. Alternatively, if you have to build a site on your own, you can use a website builder app to get the job done—though it may be a bit more rudimentary than you’d like.

6. Marketing preparation (4 to 6 weeks)

After your web developer (or developers) finish the job, you’ll want to ensure that both your website and marketing content are primed to bring in site visitors and boost sales. Your marketing plan may include paid ads and a social media strategy to drive traffic to your new website, or a blog content schedule to build authority and bring in organic traffic. It can also include teaser campaigns or pre-launch incentives to generate buzz.

Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures search engines rank your website well, which makes it easier for new customers to find you. SEO includes keyword research (using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush), optimizing meta tags and descriptions, proper URL structure, and optimizing for mobile experience. This is why choosing the right CMS in Step 1 is so important, as some CMSes, like Shopify, have built-in optimization tools.

Set up your Google Analytics and track key events, such as conversions. You can also track custom events through Google Tag Manager, like submissions on a specific form.

7. Launch and final quality assurance (3 to 5 days)

Congratulations, your website is live! At this stage, review the user experience again and place test orders to ensure data flows through the back end smoothly and functionality works as expected. If you have multiple conversion points, such as purchases, form submissions, or free trial requests, test all of them to ensure a seamless user experience.

\n\n

Factors that affect website development time

While each step of website development has an expected time frame, certain factors can speed up or delay website development timelines.

Visual builder vs. developer

Visual builders like Elementor or Webflow have drag-and-drop functionalities, requiring minimal coding to build a website. This speeds up the development phase significantly, allowing you to launch a website in just a few days. If you’re working with a developer and custom coding your entire website, it will take longer, as they’ll need to build everything from scratch, test, and debug. This process ends up taking a few weeks to a few months to complete.

Stakeholder management

Multiple decision-makers can delay timelines if everyone isn’t aligned. If many departments need to be consulted, interdependencies can delay timelines.

Establish a project lead to collect feedback and develop an approval process with stakeholders early on. Set clear deadlines for reviews and feedback and hold regular check-ins to reduce last-minute surprises.

Customization

The more complex features your website has, the longer it will take to build, as the features will require custom development. Using a preexisting theme with a prebuilt design framework can speed up development. However, if you want a completely unique website experience, expect longer timelines for creation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) usage

AI website builders like Durable are ideal for small businesses looking to build a website quickly. You simply tell the AI what you’d like, and it automatically generates a website following your layout and branding. Most AI website builders are fast but allow for little customization. You can also use AI tools like Jasper to write content for your website, including metatags and product descriptions. If you’re custom coding, ChatGPT and GitHub CoPilot can assist with code development to speed up the development process.

If you’re building an ecommerce website, Shopify Magic can help you with tasks ranging from photo editing, copywriting, email marketing, and customer service.

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How long does it take to build a website FAQ

How long does it take, on average, to build a website?

If you’re building a simple website using a drag-and-drop website builder, you can have your website ready in under a week. But a complex, custom website with many pages and functionalities can take four months (or longer) to build and have ready. Test your website carefully before launching to make sure it’s secure and easy-to-understand.

Can you build a website in a week?

Yes, you can build a website in a week, as long as functionality is simple with only a few pages. You can use a pre-built theme to speed up the process or an AI builder, like Durable, to quickly create your website. Even if you’re in a rush, check the content and usability of your website carefully before putting it out into the world.

How long does it take to build a five-page website?

The time it takes to build a five-page website will depend on several factors, including website complexity, site content creation, functionality, and stakeholder management. If your pages include an ecommerce component, interactivity, and lots of customization, even five pages can take a few months of development time to get right.

Can I use AI to create a website quickly?

Yes, AI can help you put together a website quickly. For your ecommerce website, you can use Shopify Magic for a range of tasks to get your website up and running efficiently. You can also use AI tools like Durable and Wix AI website builder to develop a website and platforms like ChatGPT and Jasper to create content.

","Building a website can take between one week and five months to build, depending on its complexity. Learn about each step of the process and associated timelines.","

$\"Desktop$

Building a website can take between one week and five months to build, depending on its complexity. Learn about each step of the process and associated timelines.

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Fenty Beauty offers more than 50 shades of its skin tints and foundations. But with so many options, finding the perfect match can feel overwhelming—especially for first-time customers. To reduce friction, Fenty Beauty’s user experience strategy guides customers with an AI-driven Foundation Shade Finder. Desktop users simply scan a QR code with their phones. From there, they use their phone camera to submit a selfie that AI analyzes to recommend a foundation. It’s elegant and intuitive, reduces decision fatigue, and removes purchase barriers.

“The purpose of UX strategy is to serve business goals by creating an experience that builds confidence and makes it easy for the visitor to accomplish your mutual goal,” says Kellie Kowalski, head of UX design at Fuel Made—an ecommerce agency that helps brands improve conversion rate, average order value, and customer lifetime value through custom Shopify design, development, and marketing.

Below, Kellie and web dev expert Mark Lewis of Netalico explain why user experience strategy matters and provide steps to build an effective UX strategy that achieves your business goals.

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Join the ranks of the world’s best online stores with Shopify’s powerful tools and features. With the highest-converting checkout, Shopify stores sell more products, lower your costs, and save you time.

\nLearn more\n

Table of contents

What is UX strategy?

UX strategy is the design direction for a website that creates an optimal experience for users and customers. It’s a comprehensive plan that blends strategic goals with design principles to ensure user needs are met. An online store’s UX should give visitors a smooth, frictionless experience—ideally guiding them to make a purchase.

“A strong UX strategy balances aesthetics with functionality, increases customer satisfaction, and ultimately boosts sales,” says Mark Lewis, founder and CEO of Netalico, an ecommerce agency that helps businesses grow through website development and design.

For example, a company looking to improve its conversion rate might implement a UX strategy that streamlines the buying process with one-click checkout and multiple payment options. Meanwhile, a business targeting a younger audience might employ a UX strategy prioritizing mobile-first design and interactivity.

4 reasons UX strategy matters

A strong UX strategy turns visitors into customers and can be crucial for small businesses with limited marketing budgets or resources. Here are four key benefits:

1. Improves return on investment

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) measures what you can expect to pay to acquire a new customer. You spend money on advertising to bring visitors to your online store and hope that once they get there, they buy something. The amount you spend to acquire that new customer varies dramatically. The average CAC ranges from $21 to $377, depending on the industry and business model.

“A strong UX turns that investment in getting a visitor into a return on that investment in the form of a sale,” says Kellie. So, after your advertising efforts bring visitors to your site, good UX takes the reins and converts them into customers.

2. Aligns business goals with aesthetics

“A great-looking site is important, but it’s only part of the equation. The real goal is to design a store that looks visually appealing and drives conversions,” Mark says. This is where strategy comes into play, helping you strike the right balance between aesthetics and functionality. Putting clarity over perfect design makes for easy, hassle-free shopping experiences, encouraging repeat customers.

If you’re redesigning your online clothing store’s product page, for example, you can make sizing charts and product descriptions instantly visible and easy to access. But rather than treating these elements as separate functional components, integrate them into the design and align them with your overall aesthetic vision.

3. Prioritizes the user

Kellie says a common mistake businesses make when developing a UX strategy is getting too clever with their design or designing for themselves. For example, let’s say you own a pickleball accessory store. You might want to lead with a video on your homepage about your brand story, because you spent a lot of time and money producing it. But you discover that it distracts visitors from your core offerings—affordable pickleball paddles and bags.

Instead, a good UX strategy prioritizes the user’s needs through a constant feedback loop. In asking friends and family to visit your pickleball store, you hear again and again that the video takes up so much space, they can’t figure out where to go to view the products. With this advice in mind, you iterate until the design is intuitive and visitors can easily get where they need to go. This builds confidence in the visitor that buying from you is safe, predictable, and straightforward.

4. Helps you scale your business

A good UX strategy ensures your design can grow with your business, whether through an expanded customer base or new products and services. This means you don’t need to constantly redesign your site to accommodate new offerings or other changes—instead, your site can seamlessly adapt to changing demands and business priorities.

For example, a modular website design lets you easily add new sections and features without disrupting the user experience, making it easier to scale as your business grows.

How to build a UX strategy

Kellie says a successful UX strategy combines business goals with user data, content strategy, and visual design. Here are seven steps to create yours:

1. Do your research

Research your audience to understand what drives their behavior. Audience analysis goes beyond identifying your target users—it digs into their needs, values, pain points, and buying motivations. Gather these insights through qualitative customer feedback, like surveys and focus groups, or quantitative data, like sales and website analytics.

Next, create buyer personas—semi-fictional characterizations of your ideal audience. Personas can include the following distinguishing traits:

Name and stock photo
Demographic details like age, gender, marital status, etc.
Job role and industry
Goals and challenges
Buying motivations
Favorite brands
Favorite social media platforms

These buyer personas can help you design an impactful experience that speaks directly to your target customers. Making your ideal customer feel like a real person can help you keep their perspective top of mind as you iterate on your design.

You may also want to conduct competitive research to find out what your competitors are doing and identify opportunities that could differentiate your website and your brand.

2. Set clear goals

Consider your business priorities, like generating new leads, improving customer loyalty, or strengthening brand identity. Consider how you position your products or services. Are your customers price-conscious, and therefore need to see prices upfront? Or do you offer high-touch services (like legal advice) and want potential clients to reach out to you as quickly as possible for info without getting bogged down by pricing details? With your core customer in mind, you can determine how you’ll measure success.

Create objectives and key results for your UX strategy, like improving your conversion rate or repeat purchase rate. Set SMART goals to track progress. For example, your goal might be to increase your conversion rate by 30% over the next six months or to boost customer retention by 20% in the same timeframe.

3. Audit the current user experience

To improve, you need a clear baseline. Test the website experience yourself and identify any friction points—or, better yet, have someone unfamiliar with your site, like a friend or family member, walk through it and share their thoughts.

Tools like heat maps and session recordings can also reveal user behavior, such as where they click and how far they scroll, providing valuable insights into areas that are confusing or frustrating for users, and a solid starting point for comparison.

4. Map the customer journey

The customer journey is the complete path from initial brand awareness to post-purchase interactions. To understand this journey, map out the four stages: awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, highlighting your critical touchpoints at each stage. For example:

\nAwareness. Content marketing, social media posts, paid search.
\nConsideration. Website visits, reading reviews, engaging with comparison charts.
\nConversion. Add to carts, promo code use, completing the checkout process.
\nRetention. Post-purchase follow-ups, loyalty program, new product recommendations.

By visualizing this map, you can better understand the entire experience from the perspective of potential customers and identify gaps in the journey. Do customers need more information before making a purchase? Are they having a hard time finding where to plug in their discount codes? Use a visualization tool like Miro or FigJam, to create a clear map.

5. Prioritize the mobile experience

Kellie points out that one often overlooked UX factor is mobile design. “Consider mobile UX when designing key pages, and make sure features like call-to-action buttons, navigation menus, and the cart are easy to use on mobile,” she says.

Google prioritizes mobile-first websites, so designing for mobile also ensures you secure top rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). “Your site should be optimized to all devices, looking and functioning like it was made for them,” Mark says.

6. Test and iterate

“A successful UX strategy should be fluid,” Kellie says. “Continuously iterating upon your strategy based on real-time data, testing, and customer service insights is the only way to ensure you continue to offer your customers a compelling reason to keep coming back.”

Before rolling out major changes, test your designs with users to gauge their response. This could be done through A/B testing or asking for direct feedback on changes. Mark says to use data and customer feedback to identify design adjustments that drive higher conversions. By aligning design changes with the key performance metrics you established at the beginning of your strategy, you can refine your UX to better support your business goals.

“Every design choice should aim to make the shopping experience smoother and contribute directly to your bottom line,” Mark adds.

7. Avoid common mistakes

When visitors find your site naturally easy to use, conversion follows. Both Kellie and Mark identify common mistakes businesses make with their UX strategy. These include:

\nUser-neglected design. Build for your customers’ needs, not yours. Good UX is intuitive for shoppers, from features and functionality to site content.
\nNon-intuitive design. Use common ecommerce design patterns, keep your language simple, and focus on design that supports the user’s goals on your site.
\nCluttered navigation. Use the “highway sign test.” Ask yourself if a label is as simple and clear as a sign designed for someone to read and understand in a split second.
\nConfusing product pages. Present key details in a simple layout, prioritizing clarity above all.

UX strategy FAQ

What are the core pillars of UX strategy?

According to Jaime Levy, author of UX Strategy, the four tenets of UX strategy are business strategy, value innovation, validated user research, and frictionless UX.

What does a UX strategist do?

A UX strategist devises an overarching strategic plan for a business’s user experience, considering business objectives and user needs. They consult with stakeholders and collaborate with UX designers and cross-functional teams to create an intuitive user experience that’s aligned with business goals.

What are common mistakes of UX strategy?

Some common mistakes of UX strategy include:

\n
Building for yourself, not your customers
\n
\n
Non-intuitive design
\n
\n
Cluttered navigation
\n
\n
Confusing product pages
\n
\n
Not considering the mobile experience
\n
\n
Opting for clever over functional design
\n

\n\n

","UX on your website ensures that it’s easy to use—and leads customers down the paths you’ve laid out for them. Learn how to use an effective UX strategy.","

$\"table$

UX on your website ensures that it’s easy to use—and leads customers down the paths you’ve laid out for them. Learn how to use an effective UX strategy.

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If a potential customer lands on your business website, will they stick around or leave within a few seconds? More importantly, will they convert? Just as unclear signage and cluttered displays in retail stores can drive customers to the competition, a frustrating or unappealing website can make site visitors switch tabs before they know what you have to offer.

In a world of rapidly changing digital trends, there’s almost always room for improvement on your website—whether it’s page speed improvements or major design changes. Consider these four common categories of website improvements and seven tips for keeping your website top-notch.

Categories of website improvements

Website improvements can generally be grouped into four main categories:

1. Conversion and user experience (UX)

Although not all user experience (UX) edits are immediately in service of conversion, they’re all ultimately in service of conversion. Every UX improvement paves the way for smoother conversions in the long run, even if the immediate impact isn’t visible.

For example, easy navigation to your FAQ section or a simple login process can remove obstacles that might otherwise prevent a customer from completing a transaction or making repeat purchases.

2. Search engine optimization (SEO) relevance

A well-designed website isn’t valuable if no one can find it. A strong search engine optimization (SEO) strategy helps your site rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and aligns content with customer searches.

You can use keyword research tools to find words and phrases people are searching for that are related to your business. Then, you’d review your website copy to ensure it includes those words and phrases.

3. Technical performance

Slow page load times and broken links are frustrating and can send visitors straight to the competition. A technically sound website not only enhances user experience but also performs better in search engine rankings. Technical website performance improvements include:

\n
Checking Core Web Vitals, Google’s standardized metrics on page performance
\n
\n
Fixing broken links
\n
\n
Improving website accessibility
\n
\n
Implementing lazy loading, which staggers website loading to improve speed
\n
\n
Reducing image file sizes
\n

4. Brand expression

Branding helps customers understand who you are through visual identity, web design, and storytelling. When improving your website, consider how it communicates your brand to your audience. If your website presents your brand identity in a way that resonates with and captivates customers, they’re more likely to overlook UX imperfections when shopping.

While brand expression is difficult to quantify, you can measure it through brand recognition, customer loyalty, and sentiment analysis.

How to improve a website: 7 practical steps

Here are seven effective ways to improve your website:

1. Optimize for mobile devices

With more than 75% of retail site visits in the US happening on mobile devices, mobile-friendliness is a must to reach potential customers. Mobile website design is also a baseline requirement for good performance in search. Google uses mobile-first indexing, crawling the mobile version of a website to determine where it appears in search results.

Build your dream online store today

\nLearn more\n

One strategy to ensure mobile-friendliness is to design in mobile first and then port that to desktop. You may also choose to test in a mobile development environment first.

Consider the following when optimizing for mobile:

\n
Include a hamburger menu for easier navigation.
\n
\n
Design for vertical screens by keeping key messaging at the top of the screen.
\n
\n
Make calls to action (CTAs) large—at least 48 by 48 pixels—and within thumb reach.
\n
\n
Reduce copy and keep the text simple.
\n

2. Use consistent UX/UI best practices

UX focuses on a website’s functionality, while user interface (UI) focuses on visual design. When improving a website, it can often feel like your brand’s uniqueness is in constant battle with your website’s usability. Because people expect websites to look and function a certain way, veering too far from convention for the sake of originality can create confusion.

When thinking about the tradeoff between uniqueness and functionality, it’s best practice to stick with convention when it comes to UX (usability), but you can experiment with UI (uniqueness). This could mean playing with button shape, color, or font while keeping elements in the place people expect on the page.

For example, people expect a navigation bar to be at the top of a page, so placing it anywhere else would be confusing. On copy-heavy web pages, people expect to scroll vertically, not horizontally.

Similarly, people expect mouse functionality when they visit a website. Skin care brand Blume fulfills user expectations but plays with UI by changing the mouse to its signature shade of orange.

3. Consider new vs. returning customers

Consider your homepage’s target audience when merchandising products there—bearing in mind new customers usually want easy access to your hero product—i.e., your most iconic product—while returning website users tend to look for variety in a diverse product mix.

Mature brands with more than 30% returning customers, for example, may feature a product mix with new products or seasonal drops on their homepage. If you’re newer to the market, your job is to introduce new customers to your brand by showcasing your hero product or a few signature items.

For example, although blender brand Blendjet offers a variety of portable blending accessories, its hero product—the Portable Blender—is featured prominently on its homepage.

4. Establish benchmarks

Deciding what to test and improve on your website can be overwhelming. As you work toward your website goals, establish benchmarks to measure progress against. For example, a beauty ecommerce company might set subscriptions or repeat purchase rates as key benchmarks.

Shopify has built-in benchmarking resources for conversion rate optimization (CRO), SEO strategy, and technical performance. If you’re unsure, research industry trends, ask other store owners, or consult with a digital marketing agency.

Once you have peer-level benchmarks, review your metrics using both qualitative (non-numerical) and quantitative (numerical) data to prioritize. For example, you might use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for quantitative data, including landing page conversion rates, revenue per session, and revenue per website page visit.

For qualitative data, heat mapping software like Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity can show click patterns and drop-offs. You can also review customer chat logs to identify common questions and inform additional improvements.

5. Start big, go small

For newer websites or small businesses, changing button colors and shapes can enhance UI, but rarely move the needle on their own. Instead, first ask what foundational improvements you can make to your website experience. Examples include:

\n
Optimizing load speed
\n
\n
Simplifying navigation
\n
\n
Updating homepage messaging
\n

Bigger changes, like the website navigation, can give you the more significant wins you need to continue growing. Conversely, if you start immediately with a strategy of tweaking things like button roundedness, you won’t be able to get conclusive data because it is such a small change.

Once you have a strong foundation, you can optimize UI elements like fonts, colors, and buttons such as:

\n
Adding a sticky header
\n
\n
Adding a search bar
\n
\n
Testing CTA colors
\n

6. Consider your audience and channel

Match your website with your audience. The best tactic for a competitor’s target demographic might fall flat for yours. If your audience is young or mostly from social media, they may expect a lot of brand personality. Michael Steele, CEO of growth marketing agency Flywheel Digital, advises to lean into uniqueness to stand out among the sea of sameness. For example, Yellow Beauty includes bright yellow tones to evoke happiness and warmth and emphasizes its mission to empower women with diverse imagery and callouts to social causes.

If your website users arrive primarily from search, they’re typically looking for something specific. In this case, emphasize functionality and clarify the page’s purpose. For example, Ever focuses on product efficacy to convey how its skin care products address specific needs.

7. Market products based on thinking patterns

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman says people think in two modes: System 1 thinking is reactive and instinctual, while System 2 thinking is analytical and logical. Product selection might seem like a System 2 process, but designing for System 1 first creates an experience that feels intuitive. This helps customers make quick decisions without overthinking.

This might mean featuring your bestsellers on your homepage, like luggage brand Monos does, including a “most popular” callout, or sharing a guided quiz that recommends products based on a few simple questions. As visitors progress further in their buying journey, provide comparison tables or in-depth blog posts to support System 2 thinking. For example, Monos offers a comparison page where shoppers can assess luggage options based on the length of their trip and how many outfits they plan to pack.

How to improve a website FAQ

How could a website be improved?

You can improve your website by:\n

Improving mobile responsiveness
Creating an intuitive user experience (UX) with common navigation elements and button placements
Ensuring relevance for search engine queries by incorporating strategic keywords into copy
Improving technical performance by fixing broken links and implementing lazy loading
Improving brand expression with unique design elements

\n\n

How do I enhance website performance?

You can enhance website performance by:\n

Improving slow page speed
Reducing image file sizes
Fixing broken links
Improving website accessibility
Implementing lazy loading

\n\n

How do you make a website eye-catching?

To make a website eye-catching, use a consistent design with visual cues like color contrast or arrows to draw visitors’ attention to key information. Improve readability by differentiating hyperlinks with differently colored text and including visual breaks to make content easier to scan. Consider the customer’s perspective by balancing aesthetics with usability.

","The almost infinite improvements you can make to a website mostly fall into four categories: user experience, SEO, technical performance, and brand expression.","

$\"website$

The almost infinite improvements you can make to a website mostly fall into four categories: user experience, SEO, technical performance, and brand expression.

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