Penny Maltby
DIY Shopify - moving from Squarespace to Shopify
“Working with Business Think was really easy. They gave me the confidence to make the move to Shopify and were very patient with my endless questions!
Now that my website is set up, I’m hoping to make more use of the integrated features it offers with social media to promote what I do and my products.
Even though I’ve set up a website before, I’ve learnt so much from Elliot about how to approach all the different aspects. I’d been wanting to move my website for some time, but felt completely overwhelmed by the task.
Elliot took me through the steps in a manageable way and without his help it simply wouldn’t have happened. Thank you, Elliot, you’re a star.”
DIY Shopify
Penny had been using a Squarespace website for a while but was becoming increasingly frustrated with its limitations compared to Shopify. She wanted something simple to use, easy to update, with no hidden costs,and ideally a site that connected more smoothly with her social media.
Switching platforms is a big decision, so before getting started we spent some time talking through what she wanted the new site to achieve. We discussed her goals, how to protect her existing search rankings and traffic, and what kind of timeline would be realistic for completing the project.
Coaching the Process
When you’re helping someone build their own professional-quality e-commerce website, it’s really important to have clear roles for both sides. The great thing about DIY Shopify is that it costs much less than a full website build because the customer takes on some of the simpler tasks. That means less development time overall, and a much lower price.
The more complex or technical parts, like setting up e-commerce functionality, designing templates, and managing domain name settings for launch, are all handled by Business Think. This meant Penny didn’t have to worry about anything behind the scenes, she knew everything would be done professionally and set up properly for the best performance.
We also took care of the website migration and made sure her existing search rankings were protected. That part can be quite technical, involving lots of spreadsheets and data checks. Depending on the platform, it can sometimes be automated, but with Squarespace, there’s a lot more manual work involved. Penny didn’t have to deal with any of that, she just provided access to her old site, and we created a new version for her to work on in Shopify.
To make sure everything stayed on track, we kept in regular contact with short weekly Zoom calls throughout the project, right up until launch, which took just six weeks from start to finish.
What are the simple steps you need to take?
Some people worry that they won’t be able to handle the technical side of building a professional-looking e-commerce website, but with DIY Shopify, there’s really no need to worry.
The tasks are simple and easy to follow.
For Penny, the focus was on a few key areas:
- Checking and adding the right images to each product/page.
- Reviewing and improving product descriptions.
- Making sure prices were accurate and up to date.
- Providing timely access to other software when needed, like Mailchimp.
Most importantly, Penny knew she could ask any question at any time if she felt unsure or needed a bit of guidance. That’s the real value of coaching, having expert support at every stage and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re not doing it alone.