The products on BigCommerce now use the platform’s Catalog v3 API. The Catalog v3 API varies from the v2 API in terms of functionality and usability, and there are some clear markers that indicate that some merchants should migrate to the new version – whereas others might be better served by v2. 

Here’s a high-level view of what you need to know.

BigCommerce v2 vs. v3: What They Offer 

There are several differences between BigCommerce v2 and v3 which can make a substantial impact on the user experience. These can be broken down into several sets of categories: 

• User Experience: In v2, product details are split across multiple tabs. In v3, details can be edited on a single page; a custom view of frequently-used or edited sections can be pinned to the sidebar for ease of product entry/management.
• Customs Information: In v2 customs information can only be added through the API; in v3 it can be added through the API or directly to products through the control panel. 
• Option Organization: In v2, options are organized into sets that can be set as optional or required. In v3, there are two tops of options, variant and modifier options, which can be applied either to individual products or to groups of products. 
• Option Data: In v2 Option Data is based on parent product data and can be applied either individually or using the option set. In v3, price and weight can be directly assigned to variant options without rules; there are also modifier options that allow for several display formats.
• SKU Management: In v2, SKUs can be added manually or automatically generated using the Auto-SKU Generator. In v3, SKUs are automatically generated when creating variant options. 
• Bulk Product Updates: BigCommerce v2’s Bulk Edit feature allows certain product details to be edited in bulk. A CSV import can be used to create or apply products, options, option sets, or rules. In v3, the Bulk Edit feature remains, and products, variant options, and rules can be applied via CVS import, but to make individual modifier options, shared variant options, or shared modifier options, you’ll need to use the Catalog API.

These are some of the main differences between the BigCommerce v2 and v3 experience. Some other noteworthy differences include: 

• Navigation: In BigCommerce v2, navigation functionality is placed at the top of the screen. In v3, however, navigation runs through a sidebar at the left of the screen. 
• Creating new categories is a little easier: One good feature about the v3 experience is that if you start creating products and forgot to create a separate category for them, you can go back and make one without leaving the product edit section of the backend.
• V3 requires you to assign SKUs to each variant: BigCommerce v2 didn’t require the assignment of SKUs to each variant, but BigCommerce v3 does. 

Who Should Migrate to BigCommerce v3?

Given the updates relevant to the BigCommerce v3 experience, there are some indicators that a move will be in your favor. 

You should consider migrating from BigCommerce v2 to v3 if you want to be able to view and edit all product details on a single page, instead of through multiple different tabs. 

For international sellers, adding customs information in v3 is easier and does not require you to use the platform API.

You should move to v3 if you want to be able to auto-generate SKUs for each variant instead of having to do it manually. 

You should also consider moving to BigCommerce v3 if the parent-data-import function associated with product data values is more of a headache than a time saver. 

You should also move to v3 if you want to be able to manually adjust or enter MSRP or sale prices for each product variant. 

What About Staying on BigCommerce v2?

For some merchants, it makes the most sense to stick with the BigCommerce v2 experience. 

You should stay on v2 if you already have a fully-built catalog of products and variants and you don’t wish to make any changes to it. 

If importing and exporting product option sets via CSV works for you, you should also stay on v2. 

If you prefer to add images via the control panel’s “Image Manager,” then staying on v2 is probably a good choice for you as well. 

If you’re big on selectively creating variants for products, you should stay on v2, as well as if you prefer to manage the catalog through the API.

One more thing: if you manage the fields used in automatic SKU generation through the Auto-SKU Generator, you should stay on v2. 

If you’re not entirely sure, you can test out the features and functionality of the v3 experience by creating a trial store beforehand. 

Requirements for Upgrading to BigCommerce v3

There are main three requirements your store will have to satisfy before upgrading to BigCommerce v3.

To do so, your store: 

• Must not have option sets associated with products or options present on products.
• Cannot have “Configurable Fields” enabled.
• Cannot have Google Shopping fields enabled on any products or categories. 

If your store meets all of these requirements, you will see an “Opt-In” banner for v3 whenever you add or edit a product. 

BigCommerce Development and Website Support Services 

Not sure whether or not you want to upgrade yet to BigCommerce v3? Our BigCommerce developers can help. We are BigCommerce Elite Certified, have an excellent relationship with BigCommerce, and have ten years of experience working with and customizing the platform.

If you have questions about the benefits of the new v3 experience or would like help planning for the upgrade, contact our BigCommerce developers at 888-982-8269. 

The post BigCommerce v2 to v3 Migration Guide: When Is It the Right Time to Migrate? appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

However, despite all the potential benefits of the platform, it can be challenging to set up and manage a successful online store. That’s why it’s crucial to hire the right BigCommerce developer to ensure your store is optimized for success.

If you’re looking to get the most out of the Bigcommerce platform and grow your eCommerce business, hiring a Bigcommerce developer is a great way to make it happen. Our team members are experts in helping customers customize their store to meet their specific needs. We also help customers optimize their store for search engine optimization (SEO) so that it appears higher in search engine results for relevant and transactional keywords. We can assist customers by integrating third-party applications and services, such as payment gateways, shipping services, and email marketing tools, so they can get the most out of the platform.

At 1Digital, we specialize in BigCommerce development and have the experience and knowledge to help you get the most out of your online store. Here are five reasons why you should hire us as your BigCommerce developer:

1. We’re Experienced in BigCommerce Development

At 1Digital, we’ve been developing eCommerce stores for over a decade. We have a team of experienced BigCommerce developers who have a deep understanding of the platform. We have the expertise to help you customize your store to meet your needs.

1Digital is committed to providing the highest level of customer service when it comes to building functional eCommerce stores for our clients. Our team is always available to answer any questions you may have and provide guidance throughout the BigCommerce development process. Making sure our customers have a visually appealing, conversion-optimized, and user-friendly website is vital. 

2. We’re Fast

Time is of the essence when it comes to getting your eCommerce store launched. That’s why we work quickly and efficiently to get your store up and running in a timely fashion. We use the latest technologies and tools to ensure your online store is optimized for success. We are transparent about every aspect of our process and will be able to walk you through each part of your BigCommerce store’s development. 

3. We’re Cost-Effective

We understand that cost is always an important consideration when launching an eCommerce store. That’s why we offer competitive prices and provide cost-effective solutions to meet your needs. We provide a range of BigCommerce developer services to fit any budget so you can get the most out of your investment. Whether you’re looking to create a simple website or a more complex one, 1Digital has the skills to make it happen.

4. We’re Reliable

When hiring someone to create your eCommerce store, it’s vital to find a reliable BigCommerce developer. We are committed to making sure your store is optimized for success. We provide regular maintenance and support to ensure that your store is running smoothly and efficiently. We are quick to respond to any communication and will provide you with an answer as fast as possible. 

5. We Have a Proven Track Record

We have a wide range of experience in helping eCommerce businesses optimize their stores for success. We have a proven track record of helping businesses increase their revenue and reach their goals across a diverse portfolio of industries. We’re confident that we can do the same for you as your BigCommerce developer. We keep performance and speed in mind when developing websites for customers.

Whether you’re a new eCommerce business or an established one, we’re ready and able to serve your needs. Providing users with an intuitive experience is a key factor in our BigCommerce development process. 

At 1Digital, we understand how essential it is in today’s online landscape to have a successful eCommerce store. That’s why we specialize in BigCommerce development and provide a range of services to help you get the most out of your store. We have the knowledge and expertise to help you customize your store to meet your needs and optimize it for success. 

What About the Freelance Route? Which is the Better Option?

When it comes to website development, you have a lot of options. You can go with a freelancer from Fiverr or another freelance website, you can hire an agency, or you can even try to do it yourself. Each of these options have their own pros and cons, but if you’re looking for the best results, an agency is the way to go.

Working with an agency for website development offers a number of advantages over freelancers or DIY. Here are just a few of the benefits you can expect when you hire an agency like ours:

1. Expertise and Experience

When you hire a BigCommerce agency, you’re getting access to a team of experts with a wealth of experience in website development. This means that you’ll get a website that’s built with the latest technologies and techniques, and you can rest assured that your website will be secure, user-friendly, and compliant with the latest industry trends and standards. 

2. Quality Assurance

When you work with a professional agency like ours, you get quality assurance throughout the entire process. This means that your website will be thoroughly tested and any issues will be addressed before launch. This is something you won’t get with a freelancer or DIY, which may add to the costs down the road.

3. Professional Service

When you work with a proven agency, you’ll get a much more professional service than with a freelancer. For instance, here at 1Digital, we have processes in place to ensure that projects are completed on time and to the highest standards. We also offer ongoing support after the website is launched.

4. Scalability

When you work with an agency, you can be confident that they’ll be able to scale up or down as your needs change. This means that you won’t have to worry about finding new freelancers or doing the work yourself if your website grows or changes.

A BigCommerce Development Agency You Can Count On

By using the latest tools and technologies and optimizing for conversions and search engine rankings, we are able to provide a BigCommerce development service that sees great results. We help provide customers with a BigCommerce website that is both visually appealing and technically sound. By hiring 1Digital as your BigCommerce developer, you will have a great-looking and easy-to-use website that is optimized for success. 

If you’re looking for a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective BigCommerce developer to help you launch and manage your eCommerce store, look no further than 1Digital. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you get the most out of your online store.

The post 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire 1Digital as Your BigCommerce Developer appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

Immersive User Experience

Arguably the most important trend in eCommerce web design in 2023 will be creating an immersive experience for users. As more people shop online, they expect an e-Commerce website to be intuitive and easy to navigate. To do this, designers will focus on using product images, videos, and animations to make the user experience more interactive and more appealing to the target audience. For example, when shoppers land on a product page, they should be able to see multiple images and videos of the product from different angles. This will allow them to get a better sense of what the product looks like in real life. Additionally, designers will focus on using interactive elements, such as hover effects, to make the website more engaging and user-friendly. Bright colors, clear calls to action, and custom apps and tools also can make an eCommerce website more engaging and immersive. 

Leveraging AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning will be key trends in eCommerce web design in 2023. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants will be used to help customers find the products they’re looking for and provide personalized recommendations. Additionally, machine learning algorithms will be used to track user behavior and make suggestions based on their past purchases. This will allow companies to create a more personalized shopping experience and increase the likelihood of a customer making a purchase.

Data-Driven Design

Data-driven design is another trend that will be popular in 2023. By analyzing data, designers will be able to create more effective website layouts and features. For example, they can use data to determine which page elements are the most effective at driving conversions. Additionally, they will be able to use data to optimize the user experience by making changes to the website based on user feedback. This will help ensure that the website is designed in a way that is most beneficial to customers.

Mobile-First Design

Mobile-first design is one of the most important web design trends for eCommerce in 2023. With more and more people shopping online from their phones and tablets, it’s essential that your website is optimized for mobile devices. This means designing a website that looks great on all devices, from desktop to mobile. To do this, designers should focus on using responsive design techniques and utilizing tools like Bootstrap and Flexbox to ensure that the website looks great on any device. It’s also important to note that for a website to be fully search engine optimized, it must be mobile-friendly, too.

Voice-Activated Shopping

Voice-activated shopping is one of the most exciting trends in eCommerce right now. With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, shoppers are now able to shop and make purchases directly from their devices. To take advantage of this trend, designers should focus on creating voice-enabled experiences that make shopping easier and more intuitive. This could include using voice commands to add items to the cart, search for items, and even complete the checkout process.

Personalization

Personalization is another key trend in eCommerce for 2023. With more and more customers expecting personalized experiences, it’s essential that your website is able to provide tailored experiences for each customer. To do this, designers should focus on using personalization tools like AI-powered recommendations and dynamic product categorization. These tools can help create a more personalized shopping experience that will keep customers coming back.

What Sorts of Tools Will an eCommerce Design Agency Use?

When it comes to web design, the tools used by web designers can be the difference between a good website and a great one. In today’s digital world, having a website that stands out from the competition is essential for any business, and the best way to achieve this is to have a web designer who knows the ins and outs of the tools they’re using.

Every web designer needs a good text editor to write the code that will form the backbone of the website. Popular choices include Notepad++, Sublime Text, and Atom. An eCommerce design agency might also use Adobe Photoshop to create graphics and images for the website, as well as Adobe Illustrator to create vector graphics.

Once the website’s design is complete, web designers turn to the development side of things. They use HTML and CSS to create the structure and styling of the website, and JavaScript to add interactivity and dynamic content. They may also use frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation to speed up the development process and make it easier to create responsive websites that look great on any device.

Finally, they lean on content management systems (CMS) like WordPress or Drupal to create websites that are easy to manage and update. These systems allow web designers and developers to quickly add new content and features to the website, as well as customize the design with plugins and themes.

How Does the eCommerce Platform Affect Web Design?

Platforms like Shopify and Magento are popular with eCommerce businesses because they offer a wide range of features and customization options. Both platforms have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages when it comes to web design. Shopify is great for small businesses, as it’s easy to set up and use, but it’s limited when it comes to customization options. Magento, on the other hand, is more complex, but it offers a lot more flexibility when it comes to designing and customizing your website.

Another popular eCommerce platform is WooCommerce, which is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to turn your WordPress site into an online store. WooCommerce is a great option for businesses that want to use WordPress as their content management system, as it’s easy to set up and use. However, it’s not as feature-rich as Shopify or Magento, and customization is limited.

There’s also BigCommerce, which is a powerful platform that offers a lot of features and customization options. It’s great for large businesses that need a lot of customization options.

No matter which platform you choose, it’s important to keep in mind that the design of your website should be tailored to the platform you’re using. For example, if you’re using Shopify or BigCommerce, you’ll be able to use their templates, theme editors, and design tools to create a website that looks great and functions properly. On the other hand, if you’re using an open-source platform such as Magento, you’ll have more freedom to customize your design, but you’ll need to be familiar with HTML and CSS to make the most of it.

One of the main advantages of using a platform like Shopify or BigCommerce is that they offer a wide range of themes and templates that you can use to quickly create a professional-looking website. These themes and templates are designed with eCommerce in mind, and they make it easy to create a website that looks great and functions properly.

Shopify vs. BigCommerce Website Design: What Are the Differences?

Both Shopify and BigCommerce are extremely popular subscription-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms that are specifically designed for eCommerce. But when it comes down to Shopify and BigCommerce website design, what are the key differences between the two?

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a comprehensive eCommerce platform that offers users a wide range of tools and features to create and manage an online store. The platform offers a variety of design options, from simple, one-page stores to complex, multi-page stores.

For users who want an easy-to-use and customizable design, BigCommerce offers a number of templates and themes. These templates are designed to make creating a store easy and can be customized with images, colors, fonts, and more. Additionally, BigCommerce offers users the ability to customize the HTML and CSS of their store, giving them full control over the look and feel of their store.

BigCommerce also offers users the ability to create a custom store design from scratch. This feature allows users to create a unique look and feel for their store that is tailored to their needs.

Shopify

Shopify is another popular eCommerce platform that offers users a variety of features and tools to create and manage an online store. Like BigCommerce, Shopify offers users a range of templates and themes to choose from. These templates are designed to make creating a store easy and can be customized with images, colors, fonts, and more.

Shopify also offers users the ability to customize the HTML and CSS of their store, giving them full control over the look and feel of their store. However, unlike BigCommerce, Shopify does not offer users the ability to create a custom store design from scratch.

BigCommerce and Shopify Custom Designs: Does Custom or Prebuilt Templated eCommerce Web Design Offer the Greatest ROI and Customizability?

When it comes to creating a website, businesses often face a difficult decision: should they choose a prebuilt template or invest in a custom web design? After all, the cost of a BigCommerce or Shopify custom design project can be significantly more than a prebuilt template, so it’s important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both options.

First, let’s look at prebuilt templates. Prebuilt templates are a great option for businesses that are on a tight budget and need a website up and running quickly. Prebuilt templates are typically much cheaper than custom web designs, and they can be easily customized with your business’s branding.

However, prebuilt templates can also have some disadvantages. For one, the design options are limited, so you may not be able to get the exact look and feel that you’re looking for. Additionally, prebuilt templates may not be optimized for SEO, and they may not offer the same level of functionality as a custom web design.

Now, let’s look at BigCommerce and Shopify custom designs. Custom web designs offer more flexibility and functionality than prebuilt templates, and they can be tailored to your specific business needs. Custom web designs are also typically optimized for SEO, so they can help you get more visibility in search engine results. Customizing themes can also give your online store a bespoke look and feel that cannot be imitated easily.

The downside of custom web designs is that they can be more expensive than prebuilt templates. Additionally, custom web designs may take longer to develop and launch, so if you’re in a hurry to get your website up and running, a prebuilt template may be a better option.

So, which option is the best for your business? Ultimately, it depends on your budget and timeline. If you’re on a tight budget and need a website up and running quickly, a prebuilt template may be the best option. However, if you have the budget and timeline to invest in a custom web design, it may offer better ROI and custom functionality in the long run. A web design agency with experience can also serve as a key strategic consultative resource to help you make that decision.

Working with an eCommerce Design Agency 

1Digital^Ⓡ Agency is an eCommerce design agency with over 10 years of experience working with all the major platforms, including both Shopify and BigCommerce in addition to WordPress, Magento, Volusion, and others. We are also BigCommerce Elite Partners and have a vibrant client portfolio showcasing the proof of our works. 

Take a look through our many examples of eCommerce web design and digital marketing success and then get in touch with us at 888-982-8269 or at Info@1DigitalAgency.com if you have any other questions. 

The post Top eCommerce Web Design Trends to Keep Your Eye on in 2023 appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

Here we will dive into some of the reasons why polishing your online store with the help of professional BigCommerce development services might make all the difference in the world if you are trying to outpace your competitors and create a lasting brand.

Read: BigCommerce Development Case Study on Improving Customer Satisfaction

Why BigCommerce? 

BigCommerce is great for merchants because it helps them to easily set up and manage their online stores. It also provides a wide range of features and options that merchants can use to customize their stores, and its pricing plans are very affordable.

There is only so much out-of-the-box customization you can expect with these kinds of platforms, however. One of the things that makes BigCommerce so successful is that it makes the whole process of starting an online store as easy as possible. No-nonsense store themes, basic eCommerce functionality, and a great backend all come together to create a very workable user experience. BigCommerce also offers great flexibility when it comes to optimizing for SEO. BigCommerce SEO services can be a strong additive towards your eCommerce marketing plan.

That being said, with this streamlined approach come certain limitations. 

The Case For BigCommerce Developers

There are several reasons a store owner might need the help of a BigCommerce developer or web designer. Some of the most common reasons include:

1. To design and build a new e-commerce website from scratch.
2. To migrate an existing e-commerce website to the BigCommerce platform.
3. To customize the design and layout of an existing BigCommerce website.
4. To add new features and functionalities to an existing BigCommerce website, such as a customized checkout process or a loyalty rewards program.
5. To integrate third-party tools and services with a BigCommerce website, such as a payment gateway or a shipping provider.
6. To troubleshoot and fix technical issues with a BigCommerce website.

Overall, a BigCommerce developer or web designer can help a store owner create a more professional and user-friendly e-commerce website that is better equipped to drive sales and grow their business.

What Does a BigCommerce Company Do?

In short, a BigCommerce development company like ours specializes in providing bespoke solutions on the BigCommerce platform. This often means implementing new functionality – such as mega menus or special checkout options, or helping to perform complex tasks like site migrations or database migrations. 

Let’s see some examples:

BigCommerce Theme Customization

Imagine that a store owner wants to add a new section to their homepage that showcases their top-rated products. To do this, they would need to work with a BigCommerce developer or web designer who can help them customize their website’s theme to add this new section.

The developer or designer would start by creating a new design for the section, which might include elements like product images, ratings, and customer reviews. They would then use BigCommerce’s built-in tools and APIs to add the new section to the website’s homepage, and to pull in the appropriate product data from the store’s catalog.

Once the customization is complete, the store owner would be able to see the new top-rated products section on their homepage, and their customers would be able to easily browse and shop for the store’s best-rated products. This customization could help the store owner drive more sales and improve their customers’ shopping experience.

Added Functionality at Checkout

Checking out is the ultimate goal of any eCommerce store. A well-designed online store will educate customers on their shopping experience and help them convert as best as possible.

For this to happen, the checkout functionality has to be smooth and seamless. If there is important information or features lacking, it could seriously affect the conversion rate. BigCommerce development services can come in handy here, as a team of experts can help build onto the existing functionality of a BigCommerce store in order to maximize the experience. 

A BigCommerce development team could implement new checkout functionality by using BigCommerce’s built-in APIs and tools to create custom checkout pages and processes, or code their own from scratch. This would involve several steps, including:

1. Identifying the specific checkout functionality that the store owner wants to add, such as a customized payment gateway system.
2. Designing and developing the new checkout pages and processes, using a combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other web development technologies.
3. Testing the new checkout functionality to ensure that it works as intended and integrates seamlessly with the rest of the store’s website.
4. Deploying the new checkout functionality to the live website, and making any necessary adjustments based on user feedback and testing in a structured manner. 

Overall, implementing new checkout functionality on a BigCommerce website typically involves a combination of design and development work, as well as thorough testing and deployment processes to ensure that the new functionality works as intended.

Can BigCommerce Developers Improve Conversion Rates?

Yes, BigCommerce developers can help improve conversion rates by implementing custom design and development solutions that enhance the user experience and make it easier for customers to complete purchases on a store’s website. Some specific ways that BigCommerce developers can improve conversion rates include:

1. Creating a more user-friendly and visually appealing website design that engages visitors and encourages them to explore the store’s products and services.
2. Implementing streamlined and intuitive navigation and search functionality, to make it easier for customers to find the products they are looking for.
3. Adding new features and functionalities that enhance the checkout process, such as real-time shipping estimates or visual cues that announce special deals.
4. Optimizing the website for mobile devices, to ensure that customers can easily shop and purchase products on their smartphones and tablets.
5. Integrating the website with third-party tools and services, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems and email marketing platforms, to provide a more personalized and engaging shopping experience for customers.

By implementing these and other custom solutions, BigCommerce developers can help store owners improve their conversion rates and drive more sales through their e-commerce websites.

Thinking About Supercharging Your BigCommerce Store? You’re In The Right Place

1Digital^Ⓡ is a top-rated BigCommerce company specializing in development and design. Merchants from all over the country rely on us to provide custom solutions that drive engagement and conversions, while also promoting brand awareness effectively. 

As far as BigCommerce development services go, we have everything taken care of all in one place. Migration, checkout customization, mega-menus, category page restructuring, custom page design, and more. 

The eCommerce landscape is getting more competitive, but that doesn’t mean you have to worry about not keeping up. With the right adjustments and updates, your online store will look and feel like a polished, professional operation through and through. 

Need some more information on how a BigCommerce agency like ours can help you out? Just give us a call at 888-982-8269 and one of our experts will walk you through the next steps. We are an official BigCommerce Elite partner, trusted in the industry, with the client portfolio to back it up, so get in touch with us now and let us take on your next development project!

The post Supercharge Your Store With BigCommerce Development Services appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

As you can imagine, installing a sliding barn door inside a home offers no standardized process. There aren’t really any sort of “one size fits all” options for homeowners that want to add barn doors to their homes’ interiors.

The process must be planned, carefully, and, as you can imagine, the act of creating a largely hands-off online ordering process is no walk in the park. It requires attention to detail, as well as forethought. At least enough to see what could go wrong with an order, and set up a purchase experience that does as much as it can to prevent those hiccups.

That’s the sort of thing we specialize in. Here’s how we did it for Barndoorz, with a little help from our skilled BigCommerce developers.

The Challenges of Ordering Barn Doors (Literally!)

As stated above, buying a barn door is not a typical process. Setting up an online purchasing process that works takes some additional foresight and creative firepower.

For instance, when you buy, say, a hammer online, you know what you’re getting. Excuse the blatantly simplified metaphor, but it serves the illustration perfectly.

There are few tools simpler than a hammer. Buy one online and you can easily see on a product page how heavy it is, what materials are used in its construction, and so on and so forth. You use a hammer to drive nails and stakes. It’s all right on the surface. What you see is what you get.

Well, with interior furnishings like sliding barn doors, sometimes what you see is not quite exactly what you get.

Size, finishes, compatibility of hardware, and other factors can complicate the process of buying a barn door that not only can be installed in a given location but also the process irself of installing it.

Customers that buy, large, expensive doors like these, understandably do not want to have them arrive only to realize they can’t install them as they’d have hoped. They also, understandably, don’t want to have to deal with the process of returns. It’s time-consuming and can be expensive.

So, basically, for a client like this, we knew we had to make sure that the end result – the product pages – we delivered removed as many question marks from the purchasing process as possible, and guided the buyer along the journey.

However, this was an atypical case.

Putting the Pieces Together

Barndoor originally came to us in a very unique situation. Typically, we work with clients on BigCommerce development and design projects from start to finish. We scope out the process and then design and develop the pages and tools as needed by the customer.

Barndoorz had already been working with another partner to complete its page redesigns and product page customizations. Barndoorz ended up needing some additional customizations that were better suited for an Elite Certified BigCommerce partner with extensive experience to handle – so they came to us with some of the design files ready to go, with others needing some adjustments.

Part of our work was easy. Barndoorz had most website design files queued up. All our developers had to do was implement those.

But it was the changes we made to the product page templates that really set the record in order for Barndoorz and their customers.

BigCommerce Development and a Near-Perfect Product Page

If you visit Barndoorz at the link above and take a look at, for example, their Mirror Barn Door, you will see just how we set the product page in order to guide the purchaser’s hand.

As you can see in the image above, the first thing the page template requires the users to do is take the measurement of the width of the door frame in inches. This comes before any other customizations can be made.

The purpose is, clearly, to prevent customers from investing too much time in configuring a door that won’t properly cover their door frame in the first place! It helps to prevent frustration and hiccups along the way, too.

Let’s say the customer determines that the door is, in fact, the proper size for their home. Then, in order to properly configure the order, the customer would also have to measure the height of the door as well in order to make sure it would fit. Detailed instructions for how to measure height and width are on the page as you can see from the image above.

We also added some custom functionality to the product page with respect to finish options with realistic photos showing customers what sorts of finishes are available with each barn door so they know what to expect before making the purchase. This can be seen below.

The process we created continues to guide the user through the journey of configuring and purchasing a door, helping to eliminate guesswork and ensuring that, at each step of the way, the customer is configuring a door that can be installed in the intended location and which comes with all of the necessary components and hardware.

As you can see from the image below, the process we created through this BigCommerce custom development project prompts the customer to choose “Rolling Hardware Options,” as well as “Rail Options.”

In the latter case, the page explicitly and prominently informs the user that this step is only necessary if he or she selects a hardware kit with the door.

As you can see from the image above, we also integrated helpful pop-ups with useful information into the product pages. All a user has to do is hover over a question mark icon and the pop-up will walk the user through the process of selecting a rail size that is compatible with the door.

The custom product pages we developed also prompt the customer to configure the purchase with front and back handles, handle placement, a privacy lock, and soft close and header board options.

Again, in each instance, the page layout guides the user’s purchase in order to ensure that everything that is necessary is added to the order and that nothing that is necessary is omitted.

Aside from a newly redesigned website with unique, differentiating functionality, Barndoorz has reaped a few additional benefits.

Primarily, this page has helped to provide a passive level of customer service. Instead of bogging down their customer service department with live queries on how to configure their purchases, customers can just use this easy, straightforward interface to make sure what they purchase meets their needs and fits in their homes.

This initiative to develop a better, “foolproof” product page has also been completed with the intention of improving customer satisfaction. Barn doors are a sizable investment and in many ways, each order is customized in some way or other.

It’s also discouraging to buy something like this and have it not meet your expectations – but rectifying the issues can be time-consuming and potentially expensive. This product page interface helps prevent simple mistakes and all but ensures that an order is configured and placed accurately and in a timely, efficient manner.

For this eCommerce client, it wasn’t just about optimizing the pages of the eCommerce platform for conversion rates. That was an aspect, but a greater aspect has been to create a page that not only encourages conversions but ensures that the customer gets what is needed, as needed, boosting buyer satisfaction.

See Past Your Own Hurdles (with the Help of Our BigCommerce Development Team, That Is)

A BigCommerce development project for expanded product page functionality that enhanced the user journey is exactly what Barndoorz needed. Some eCommerce clients like Barndoorz need similar development assistance. Others don’t, but need mobile apps developed, payment gateways integrated, or search engine optimization marketing plans devised.

Each eCommerce website has its own unique needs and serves an equally unique segment of the market. What your customers need may be entirely different from what this client needed. But it’s not about product page customization. It’s about customization as a concept.

Thinking critically, acting creatively, and understanding the strengths and limitations of the platform. That’s what our BigCommerce development team excels at, and it’s how we delivered success to Barndoorz.

For those of you reading this with BIgCommerce websites who are wishing the platform could deliver a little something more, don’t try to figure it out on your own.

Check out our eCommerce case studies to see some more examples of the work we’ve performed for past clients. Many of our projects have been for BigCommerce stores. Then get in touch with us for BigCommerce development services and let us do the in-depth creative problem-solving. We’ll create a high-quality, one-of-a-kind solution for your online store that will please you and your customers with a high-level user experience.

The post BigCommerce Development and Improving Customer Satisfaction appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

While the core features of this platform make it an excellent choice, there is still a need for skilled BigCommerce website designers that can create fully responsive custom websites, specialized integrations, and hand-tailored themes that cater specifically to your unique business needs.

A well-made eCommerce website is essential if you want to convert your users into shoppers.

Everything from the way your website looks to how it performs on mobile devices can come into play as a user is browsing your store. In all phases of the buying process, you want to make sure that your BigCommerce store looks professional and has all of the right features that your users are looking for.

In this guide we will be taking a look at 3 of the biggest reasons why a BigCommerce designer is a must if you want to maximize your sales, and why 1Digital® is recognized as one of the leading eCommerce agencies when it comes to providing custom BigCommerce solutions that can actually have a positive impact on your store.

Why a BigCommerce Partner is Important for the Long-Term Success of Your Business

Loved for its features like optimized one-page checkout, inventory management tools, and a robust page builder, BigCommerce is an easy choice for eCommerce merchants that are looking for a powerful and full-featured storefront.

The only issue with pre-packaged solutions like this is that eventually, you’re going to hit roadblocks as you attempt to fit your specific eCommerce vision into an established mold. As your store grows, you’re going to need advanced features and special customizations that aren’t offered by native BigCommerce plans.

As a store owner, you will be faced with two options: either stick with what you have and risk letting your store become stagnant, or begin working with a qualified BigCommerce partner that can help you navigate these issues through intentional design, development, and marketing projects.

A professionally-developed BigCommerce website design will stick out among your competitors and will improve the entire sales process, as your store will be more responsive, easier to navigate, and will better accommodate your users in every way.

It’s not enough to simply get a custom design made, however. For long-term growth, you will want a strategic partner that can help you realize your eCommerce goals on a larger scale. This requires a more thoughtful approach when it comes to the design process, which only certain agencies are able to manage.

Here at 1Digital®, for instance, we have a comprehensive approach when it comes to all of our BigCommerce design and development projects. We take a great deal of time to listen to the specific needs of our clients before any kind of development even begins.

We work closely with clients to analyze their needs, understand their position in their industry, and create custom solutions that take full advantage of the BigCommerce platform.

It is this degree of expertise and sophistication in the way we approach eCommerce development that has made us such a force in the industry. Clients from all over the country trust us to provide them with snappy web pages, custom apps and integrations, and on-brand designs that really connect with customers and get them to convert.

When it comes to running a business, you always want to think long-term. Whether you are trying to enhance your online store with a custom BigCommerce theme or if you need a full-fledged marketing campaign that involves strengthening the technical fundamentals of your website in order to reach more customers, it all comes back to hiring the right BigCommerce agency for the job.

Recognized by an Industry Giant For BigCommerce Website Design

What does it take to build an effective eCommerce store that has everything your users are looking for? If you perform Google searches on the subject, you will uncover any number of different articles on everything from responsive design to search engine optimization, written by authorities with varying degrees of knowledge on such subjects.

The truth is that success in eCommerce isn’t easy.

You will have hurdles to overcome that require hard work and complex solutions, which is one of the reasons why there are so many blogs dedicated to the subject. If you have been in this space long enough, you have likely read several articles written by well-known entrepreneurs who have already succeeded in eCommerce and online marketing and who now hope to impart useful information to business owners looking for answers.

One of the most highly regarded personalities in this space is Neil Patel.

Known for his SEO keyword tool Ubersuggest and a wide array of other accomplishments, this UK-based entrepreneur is commonly recognized as one of the foremost authorities on digital marketing for online businesses. His blog is one of the most popular in the entire industry and represents the gold standard in terms of trustworthiness and reliable information for business owners that want to improve their online presence in a myriad of ways.

Recently, Neil Patel recognized 1Digital® as the best eCommerce design agency for BigCommerce customizations. This is based on the extensive list of BigCommerce merchants we have served and the comprehensive customizations and design projects that we have implemented over the years. This nod exposes just how important it is for store owners to partner with a BigCommerce web designer that can properly accommodate them.

The focus of the article in particular makes it clear why design and development are so crucial for the long-term growth and success of any eCommerce store. Featuring the best eCommerce digital marketing agencies of 2021, traffic, sales, and ROI were discussed at length.

In fact, Neil Patel makes it a point to mention at the onset of the article that every improvement made for eCommerce sites should lead to an increase in revenue in some way or another.

This is telling because it reveals that custom design and development is a driver of revenue.

When it comes to effective marketing tools, there’s nothing better than the power of your own website. Your BigCommerce site should be doing a lot of the legwork in terms of getting your customers to convert.

If you have noticed that your website has a rather high bounce rate or a low conversion rate, this is a surefire sign that it’s not functioning as an effective marketing tool.

This is where you need the ongoing guidance of an Elite BigCommerce partner that can help provide effective solutions that will enhance the core functionality of your storefront.

What Neil Patel is calling out by highlighting 1Digital® is the fact that without a custom BigCommerce design, your store is not going to have that professional panache and slick feel that many users are looking for. Whether it’s a need for a custom third-party app integration or a fully-customized category page that effectively communicates your brand message, our team of BigCommerce experts here at 1Digital® are well suited to make it happen.

How Can a BigCommerce Website Designer Increase Your Revenue?

Neil Patel’s knowledge of the industry and extensive marketing background makes it easy for him to recognize why a professional website design is such a crucial element to boosting your sales numbers. However, the article itself doesn’t go into too many specifics in terms of the actual benefits of improving your BigCommerce design, and the kind of solutions that we as an agency can provide BigCommerce store owners.

Below you will find just a few examples of how a design project can completely turn your business around.

1. Better UX Increases Conversions

The user experience or UX of a website often determines how it performs. From the responsiveness of buttons to how easy it is to find particular products, an eCommerce storefront needs to be a well-oiled machine if you intend on maximizing your conversions.

A skilled BigCommerce website design agency can help to ensure that your store meets the expectations of your shoppers on all fronts. The more usable your website is, the greater the chance that your users will feel comfortable, find what they are looking for, and will flow through the sales process seamlessly.

2. An Attractive BigCommerce Design is Great For Brand Awareness

Another way that a professionally designed website can help improve sales is through brand awareness. An attractive, unique website will stand out in the minds of your shoppers and keep them coming back.

A recognized brand gives you a competitive edge and can improve customer retention while attracting new shoppers that see you as a leader in your niche.

3. A Properly Designed eCommerce Website Improves SEO

You can’t dig too deep into the nuts and bolts of a website without mentioning SEO. This is one of the most important aspects of any website, and if you intend on getting found in the search engines, you have to take it seriously and invest in it accordingly.

While a custom design project for BigCommerce may not always incorporate SEO tactics directly, there will always be some overlap. For instance, a poorly-coded app could potentially slow down your website, which could hinder the user experience and negatively affect your page rankings.

Our developers and eCommerce design experts work closely with our digital marketing team to ensure that everything we do is SEO-friendly and designed to help boost your rankings on Google, not damage them. When we are mapping out a project, we specifically look for ways in which we can improve the performance of a website and optimize it so that it has a better chance to rank organically.

Increasing your organic traffic properly will naturally result in more sales, which is one of the reasons why influential marketers like Neil Patel have made a career off of discussing this subject and helping people to understand it, as it is a complex subject.

With anything related to eCommerce SEO, you are going to want a knowledgeable BigCommerce partner at your side that has plenty of experience in this arena and who understands how to implement the right search engine optimizations on the platform in order to get the best results.

A website with a strong SEO foundation will make ongoing optimizations and digital marketing campaigns that much easier, so this is something to take note of if you are looking into custom development for your website. It’s important that the agency partner you hire understands the weight of SEO in today’s marketplace and that your development project or new design will incorporate these marketing tactics from the start.

Get In Touch With Our BigCommerce Developers For Your Next Custom Project

At 1Digital®, we seek to provide the best possible solutions for eCommerce merchants, and BigCommerce customizations are often a big part of the picture. After diving into the specifics and some of the benefits of these customizations, it’s easy to see why they are necessary.

Growth rarely comes by doing what everyone else is doing, and our clients recognized this and acted decisively, by hiring us to perform custom BigCommerce development for them.

If you are a BigCommerce merchant and are curious as to the impact we are having on the industry, take a look at some of our hottest case studies and portfolio pieces on the subject, and you will see why Neil Patel thought to call attention to our services.

As Neil Patel pointed out, we have performed BigCommerce website designs and development solutions for an array of clients such as Mac Me an Offer, Stover & Company, and Westlake Dermatology, to name a few. We are one of the leading agencies for BigCommerce app development, BigCommerce migration services, and all forms of digital marketing for eCommerce.

While it might seem like a big leap to go from ready-made solutions to custom development, the process is made a whole lot easier when you have a skilled team working on your project.

We have a streamlined project management system and a fully transparent process that clients love, which is another reason why so many store owners come to us for their BigCommerce needs. If you want your next eCommerce project handled by veterans in the industry, get in touch with our team today by calling 888-982-8269.

The post 3 Ways a BigCommerce Website Designer Can Boost Your Sales appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

Since 2009, the team at Pawn Stars has produced over 600 episodes across 18 seasons. This kind of exposure has made the Harrison family and their shop household names. It has also placed them in a unique position amongst pawnshops to venture into the eCommerce marketplace.

The Pawn Stars website is a unique combination of an online pawn shop and a destination for Pawn Stars fans. On their website, you can buy products they have in the shop, including items featured on the show. You can also find information about how to sell your items to the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and plan visits to the shop. Finally, diehard Pawn Stars fans can find a selection of show merchandise from t-shirts to a Chumlee video game for the NES system.

All of these features make the Pawn Star website a great destination for fans, but no eCommerce website is without the need for help with eCommerce website design and development. With hundreds of happy clients in our camp and years of experience creating custom solutions, we were happy to answer Pawn Stars’ call.

It’s no secret that the Pawn Stars team accepts nothing but the best, and this philosophy applies to their eCommerce strategy as equally as it applies to filling their store shelves. There’s Only 1Digital^® when nothing but the best will do, and that’s just the reason they’ve announced a partnership with us for the eCommerce website development of their new store.

This online store has a lot of amazing features and our team is excited to perfect the website. With a new eCommerce web design and improved features, our team is going to give their website the clean look and provide an amazing, updated user experience. As a BigCommerce Agency Partner, our team is the perfect choice for Pawn Stars – as we would be for anyone else in need of services on the BigCommerce platform. Soon Pawn Stars fans will be able to navigate and utilize the features on the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop’s website like never before.

Almost all industries are shifting towards eCommerce, making it more important than ever for businesses to update their online presence. To get the best online results, this means partnering with a web design company that will update not only the appearance but also the performance of your eCommerce site.

We specialize in and have perfected The Art of eCommerce. That includes design, development, search engine optimization, migration, and online support services for all major eCommerce platforms. Everything we do is based on making our clients’ websites easy to use and in the perfect position to market. There might be plenty of eCommerce agencies, but There’s Only 1Digital^®.

Whatever your eCommerce business needs, reach out to us by calling 888.982.8269 or sending an email to info@1DigitalAgency.com

The post 1Digital® Agency: The eCommerce Experts Pawn Stars Calls for Help appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

It’s also not rocket science. The BigCommerce carousel is simply a system of rotating images, potentially linked to other pages, that displays on your homepage, changing every few seconds so that your visitors get an impression of what your business does or provides. Among other things, your BigCommerce carousel can:

• Direct traffic to conversion-oriented pages.
• Streamline the user’s navigation experience on your website.
• Foster conversions for top-selling categories.
• Present opportunities for cross-selling opportunities.

It’s a great opportunity to put enticing and original product or company photography in front of your users, but it can also be a great avenue to promote services or specials. Best of all, it’s not too difficult a feature to use. Even without a BigCommerce web designer, you can create a basic carousel.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Log into your BigCommerce admin portal

In the image below, you can see the admin portal of a BigCommerce store. This store uses the Cornerstone Light theme, which in this case, is a default. The theme you use will potentially impact the presence or appearance of your carousel, so keep that in mind. Also, if you’re thinking about changing, updating, or editing your current BigCommerce theme, please see our blog on that topic in the previous link.

There’s more than one way to make edits and adjustments to your BigCommerce carousel, but for the purposes of this tutorial, we’re going to show you one of the most user-friendly ways to do so. Before you actually change the carousel, you may choose to click on “View Store” as indicated in the image above. This is how your storefront looks to visitors of your online store. In this default example, the carousel has two slides and shows stock imagery of office products. Since 1Digital^Ⓡ Agency is, well, a digital marketing agency and does not sell lamps, we want to change our carousel to be more in line with what we offer.

2. Click on “Storefront” and then “Home Page Carousel”

Back in the admin portal, at the menu on the left, you will see “Storefont.” Click on “Storefront” and you’ll see a number of options, including “Theme Marketplace,” “Logo,” and “Homepage Carousel,” as indicated in the image below. Luckily, BigCommerce is fairly user-friendly and enables you to make a variety of edits, alterations, and customizations without knowing any code.

3. Upload images to your carousel

While you can edit your homepage carousel in any order you choose, we’re going to start with the imagery. We can then go back and edit the number of slides, heading, text, buttons, links, and alt text, along with the length of time a slide appears before rotating.

First, we’re going to get rid of the images that have default-populated this sample carousel by clicking the red X’s in the corner as indicated in the image below.

Once you’ve removed the images, you’ll see a section prompting you to drag and drop photos or to select them from your computer, as can be seen in the image below.

As you can see, you have two options for adding images to your carousel: Drag and Drop or select them from the files on your computer. For the purposes of illustration, we’re going to use some graphics representing some of our pillar services: eCommerce Digital Marketing, Design, and Development.  We’re going to use three, but you can select up to five.

This is how the carousel building will look once you’ve uploaded the images you’d like to use:

You’ll notice that there are some important blank areas – such as the heading, text, alt text, and button texts. There are also no links, which we’ll change in a moment. The slides are also pre-set to rotate every 5 seconds, which we’ll leave alone, but you can change if you choose. Before going any further, click save in the bottom right corner.

4. Add Headings, Text, Button Text, and Links

To improve the appearance of our slideshow, we’re going to add headings and text for each image. For our Digital Marketing slide, we’ll choose Digital Marketing as the heading – and add a CTA.

First, we’ll show you an example of how to add a heading and some text using the Home Page Carousel tool in the back-end before we make customizations using the page builder.

For the slide featured below, we’re going to use the header “Digital Marketing,” and the descriptor text “SEO, PPC, Social Media Management and Email Marketing” as it gives a pretty good synopsis of our services. Enter this text in the two boxes indicated at the top of the page.

As you can see in our example, the text doesn’t look good on the slide – but don’t panic yet! We’re going to show you how to make some additional minor changes to this using the Page Builder. Before we get there, let’s add a button with a link to our Digital Marketing pillar page using a clear call to action.

How does “Grow Organic Traffic and Sales” sound? Let’s use that. Type it into the box at the top of the image above where it says “Button Text.” Then enter the URL of the page you want to direct traffic to. For us, this is our Digital Marketing pillar page. After you’ve done so, you’ll see what we have in the previous image (we already entered it).

Click save again (at the bottom right of the page as indicated in the image). Now we’re going to preview these adjustments to the website and make fine adjustments using the Page Builder tool. At the left of the admin portal, click on “View Store.”

As you can see, the front end looks a lot better than the back end, and the weird, misaligned white text has been replaced and the alignment fixed. However, the presentation is still a little bit bland. To make fine adjustments to the carousel, click on “Design this page in Page Builder,” which will show you this:

That will take you back to this page:

Now we’re going to show you how to make a few changes to the color of the text that appears here on the carousel display. However, it’s important to note that the theme controls the text font, the position of the text, and the image size, so if you don’t like the way it looks you’ll need to install a new theme or work with a BigCommerce developer to make advanced changes.

See the image below and click on “Theme Styles” (where indicated, it’s a palette) and then on “Home Page” where you can make a few adjustments to the color of the text on the carousel.

Here you can see that you can make some minor adjustments to the color of the text on your carousel if you so choose. Just make sure you click “Save” as indicated at the top of the image so that your changes aren’t lost.

You’ve just created a BigCommerce carousel for your online store – but there’s one more addition you may want to make to your carousel before calling it a day – you should add fitting Alt Text to the slide images. Go back to the “Homepage Carousel” tool where you started.

5. Bonus: Improve your BigCommerce SEO by adding Alt Text to your carousel

Look at the picture below, where you can see the carousel we just created.

If you zoom into the indicated region, you’ll see that this tool gives you the ability to add Alt Text to your carousel.

There’s one main reason you’ll want to do this before finishing – it can enhance your website’s SEO value. It’s called alternative text because it’s text that can be displayed in place of an image as an alternative to the visual. To properly optimize your carousel with Alt Text, you’ll need to perform keyword research, but in this instance, for our digital marketing services, we might enter “digital marketing,” “SEO” or “marketing services,” just as a cursory example.

Well done! You’ve just created your first BigCommerce carousel and even boosted your on-page SEO score a little with tasteful, well-researched alt text for your carousel images. You’re well on your way to a great shopping experience and an eCommerce website that is the image of search engine optimization.

However, if you’re interested in making advanced changes to your eCommerce website design and have a very specific image in mind for your brand, a BigCommerce partner can help you make the changes that are difficult to make using BigCommerce’s tools.

Whether you’re looking for a BigCommerce designer to take your carousel and your entire UX to the next level, or for an eCommerce SEO company to optimize your website’s meta descriptions, blog posts, page titles, and product pages as part of a genius SEO strategy, 1Digital^Ⓡ Agency is here to help.

Just see our eCommerce client portfolio for visual evidence of the type of creative genius we can pull off – and then give us a call at 888-982-8269 to make it happen for your website.

There may be a lot of BigCommerce designers out there, but There’s Only 1Digital^Ⓡ.

The post How to Edit Your BigCommerce Carousel appeared first on 1Digital® Agency.

With growing sales and operations through 2020, Stover & Company knew that something would have to give soon. For years, their online store had been hosted on Magento, an eCommerce platform that is extremely robust and allows for limitless customization. However, with an open-source platform like Magento, that capability comes at a price.

With Magento, users need to provide their own hosting infrastructure and security and need to devote an uncommon measure of resources to development and support. Sure, the code is out there for anyone to inspect, but without a pool of dedicated developers, keeping up with a Magento website is a true labor of love.

Stover & Company had those resources, business was growing, and they wanted to allocate them to business development as well as a website that better reflected their growing capabilities and was easier to manage.

Unfortunately, despite Magento’s glaring capabilities, it was too resource-intensive to maintain. Stover & Company needed to move to a platform that could offer similar customization and would be easier to keep up with, and for that, they chose the BigCommerce platform.

Ideally, they’d want to get their website up and running on a newly designed BigCommerce store without any disruptions, which is quite a task for an established online store with a huge volume of sales and customer accounts. What they needed was help moving from their old store on Magento to their new store on BigCommerce with no hiccups.

Lucky for Stover & Company, 1Digital^Ⓡ Agency has experience in that arena.

Making the Move

Stover & Company was operating a large, complex eCommerce website on Magento. To say it was full of data, product and account information and a variety of content would be an understatement. To make matters more complex, being an established business with a powerful online presence, Stover & Company had appreciable traffic to their online store that they couldn’t risk compromising – as in other businesses, web traffic to an online store is dearly earned and brings in revenue.

1Digital^Ⓡ’s specialists conducted a complex and thorough data migration for Stover & Company’s website, carefully transferring each item of valuable data to the correct location in their new BigCommerce store.

The scope of their eCommerce migration consisted of over 150 categories, 900 products, 15,000 customer accounts, and nearly 33,000 orders. Special steps had to be taken with each category to ensure the timely and accurate migration of the data.

For example, in order to protect the SEO value of Stover’s category structure, we had to take care to transfer not only the categories and descriptions themselves but also to move over the category metadata, including titles, descriptions, and keywords. We then did the same thing with their product information, taking care to preserve the fidelity of names, prices, images, descriptions, and options.

We also uncovered group products in Stover’s Magento store, which required careful configuration before being transferred. In order to be compatible with BigCommerce, we had to convert them into simple products and manually sync them to the BigCommerce store before combining them with BigCommerce’s product options.

Our process for migrating Stover’s customer and order information was every ounce as thorough. We took care to meticulously migrate names, addresses, email, and phone numbers, even sending each customer account an email informing them that they would need to change their account password since we would not be able to migrate the original, encrypted passwords.

No Traffic Left Behind

When executing a migration, especially for a well-established business with a successful online presence like Stover & Company, taking steps to ensure that no traffic is lost is critical. As a part of the migration process, we followed two particularly important protocols to ensure Stover & Company would not lose any traffic as a result.

For one thing, we scrupulously compiled all of Stover’s Magento URLs and created standard 301 redirects to all of the BigCommerce URLs that would correspond to them. This is a crucial step to ensure that Google knows where to send traffic when a user searches for a URL that may no longer exist. When done properly, it can completely prevent any loss of traffic that would otherwise result from a poorly planned migration.

In addition, after the migration, we monitored their Google Search Console for any potential shifts in traffic, as well as allocated a period of support to it in case any issues would arise or be uncovered. Needless to say, the migration and ensuing redesign and development projects were successful in tandem, and the company not only saw no loss of traffic but a boom in traffic to their online store.

Advanced Design and Development for Better Branding and More

Stover & Company wanted two things in particular from their new BigCommerce website. They wanted it to put forth a more professional, capable, front, and they wanted it to be better equipped to handle an influx of online orders as they planned for growth. For that, they’d need the help of an experienced BigCommerce partner. In conjunction with their migration, our designers and developers were busy at work creating a brand new BigCommerce website for Stover & Company that offered the same functionality as before, and more, for a significantly improved customer experience.

While our BigCommerce web design specialists updated the overall appearance of the entire website as can be seen from the image below, they also designed and developed some new features for their website to boost engagement, improve UX, and put forth a more professional front.

One of the big-ticket items that we created for Stover & Company was an advanced mega menu. Enhanced navigation is well known as a critical component of the customer experience, and this mega menu was reorganized to facilitate a customer’s search and pushed their highest selling category (chocolates) to the top, as you can see below. This new mega menu also featured updated imagery and eye-catching colors to hold attention and sync up better with the color scheme of the overall website.

Moreover, this advanced mega menu contained several different features and effects. You can see at the top of their homepage the way the menu displays; it expands with a second display of subcategories when the user clicks on “Shop by Category.” A third display of subcategories will appear when the user clicks on the category of interest. This is a significant experience-booster for Stover & Company’s users, as the company offers such a diverse collection of different bakery supplies.

As an additional positive effect on the navigational hierarchy of the client’s website, we also created subcategory landing pages. For example, if a user selects “Chocolate & Caramel” through the mega menu and then selects “Compound Chocolates” as a subcategory, the page to which the customer will be directed displays a variety of different subcategories within the original subcategory.

This facilitates a customer’s search, for example, for “Dark Compound Chocolates” or “Flavored Wafers,” which otherwise would be lumped together blindly into one collection. This neat and comprehensive compartmentalization of Stover’s products created a much better searching and shopping experience.

In accordance with the wishes of the client, we also created a Quick Order page to enable customers to complete large, complex purchases as easy as possible. Since many of Stover’s clients are also large businesses, many of them return frequently to make the same or similar large purchases. Streamlining this process, at least for these accounts, was a highly valuable initiative that we designed and executed for them.

In addition to redesigning their homepage, mega menu, subcategory pages, and more, we also created a few additional items that advertised their capabilities and customer service. For example, we created a new banner for the homepage highlighting some of the selling points of their business, such as their warehousing capabilities.

In addition, we created special badges for some of their product pages, such as what you can see in the image below. This particular product page, for one of their most popular products, shows the user that the product is in stock and also gives the option to add cold packing to the order, advertising the robust capabilities of the client and boosting confidence in their operations in specific and their brand in general.

1Digital^Ⓡ also completed several additional critical development items for Stover & Company, including business critical integrations and configurations. For example, our BigCommerce developers implemented ShipperHQ and configured it to their new BigCommerce store. As large businesses often rely on the operational efficiencies afforded by the shipping-based economy of apps like this, ensuring it was installed and configured correctly was critical.

The advanced mega menu described above was not the only item in the project that helped to foster a streamlined and effective navigational process for the client’s users. Our team also integrated and configured Nextopia into their new BigCommerce store so that they could afford their customers additional powerful site search features as a part of the navigational hierarchy.

To ensure the highest level of security possible for their online store, we also made sure that a new EV SSL was issued for their new online store, and then installed and configured properly on the Stover & Company BigCommerce website. We also added a few complimentary development items as a part of their larger project, including a new Favicon for their website and a reorder button for customer accounts, to improve customer engagement and retention.

Growing Organic Traffic with SEO

Stover & Company has been growing and planning for growth; in addition to setting aside funds for migrating to a more capable and freshly designed and developed website, they set aside some investment for digital marketing. Knowing that SEO is a long term gain that affords many business steady growth over time, they chose to partner with 1Digital^Ⓡ for BigCommerce SEO services for a particularly large SEO campaign targeting 120 keywords.

As with all of our comprehensive SEO projects, we conducted thorough keyword research and analyses before even beginning with onsite optimization and content publication. We began by identifying a large collection of carefully chosen keywords that were relevant to their industry, according to their product selection and customer searches.

We also conducted a competition analysis and initial benchmark to show the client where they stood in relation to key competitors and current rankings. Once we had identified key areas for improvement and keywords to pursue, we were ready to begin with our onsite optimization processes. Simultaneously, our content creators began suffusing their website with original content and building links to their website through the publication of offsite content.

As with our other SEO projects, regardless of the size, we audited Stover’s URL structure in order to uncover utilized keywords and room for improvement. We also conducted a site speed optimization discovery touching on numerous items that affect site speed so that they could be rectified and addressed.

As an additional component of onsite optimization, we audited the site for toxic backlinks and broken links and removed or disavowed them wherever found. As this was a brand new BigCommerce store, we were able to optimize title tags and metadata like meta descriptions, to ensure that pages were properly cached and that onsite content was visible both to site visitors and to Google so that it could be crawled and indexed.

In addition to this, our professional content creators undertook the process of creating a variety of onsite content to enrich Stover’s website and make it more attractive to search engines. We created a variety of long and short form content, including category page content and several different types of blog content, carrying both in length and keyword density.

In tandem with these other processes, our specialists also pursue an aggressive backlinking strategy to boost authority. Targeting a broad sweep of keywords, many of which were shared with onsite content, we created a variety of offsite posts and items that were distributed across a number of third-party sites containing backlinks to stovercompany.com.

We Can Tie It Together for Your Business

These are the types of multifaceted digital marketing projects and results we can accomplish for your business, whether you operate in a similar sphere as Stover & Company or in an entirely different industry. Our collection of eCommerce case studies is a sturdy testament to that claim.

Without lauding ourselves too immodestly, we welcome you to check the case studies link above. There, you can see some of our case studies and filter them by project and even platform. If you’re interested, you can also see our SEO by industry page, where you can find some of the industries we serve.

Our talented team of eCommerce web design and development professionals, much like our experienced team of digital marketing eCommerce SEO and PPC specialists, only wait for a call from you to get started achieving similar results for your online business. Whether you need a full-scale redesign or want to see how SEO can work to grow your business in the long game and connect better with your customers with targeted content, it all starts with a call. Contact us at 888-982-8269 or info@1digitalagency.com today.

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First, if you’re looking for some information on why it might be a good idea to make an upgrade to your theme, keep these in mind:

• Your theme has a profound impact on user experience.
• Your store theme will impact the integrity of your brand.
• A new theme may help you improve your store design functionality.
• A new theme may give you better access to new or updated BigCommerce features, like faceted search.
• You may be able to improve the responsive design of your website with a theme upgrade.

With that in mind, if you’re just looking for some quick tips on how to make changes, you’re in the right place, so let’s get started.

1. Log into your BigCommerce Portal.

Log into your BigCommerce portal with your login credentials. You should see something in the backend that looks like this:

2. Click on “Storefront.”

Click on “Storefront” as indicated by the red arrow in the picture above. That will take you to a new display and expand a menu on items that you can alter in the backend of your BigCommerce store.

As you can see, the options will expand. Next, you’ll want to click on “My Themes” to proceed, but before you do, note a few things. As indicated by the red boxes to the left of the image above, this is also where you can make changes to other important aspects of your BigCommerce store, such as your blog or scripts. In addition, you can upload themes in this portal, but be aware that if you upload your own theme, BigCommerce will not provide technical assistance.

3. Select “Browse Themes.”

The above image is an inset; here you can see that you can make updates to your current theme as well as customizations. If you want to change your theme, you’ll click on “Browse Themes” as indicated by the red box.

This will take you to BigCommerce, where you will be able to search through a pretty big collection of free and paid themes. You can also sort through collections with respect to how they are optimized and laid out, as well as themes that are popular by industry, as indicated by the red arrows below. Look through their collection and pick the theme that appeals most to you (or you think will appeal most to your customers). Once you select a theme, you’ll be back to editing or customizing it.

4. Alternatively, you can choose “customize update” to  edit or update the theme.

Let’s say you didn’t change your theme but stuck with the theme you had, which in our case is “Cornerstone Light.” You’ll want to click on “Customize Update” which you can see in the middle of the screen of the second image in this post. That will bring you to the image you see below:

There are a few things to note in the image above:

• At the top of the page, you can see toggles for “Design” and “Preview.” In preview mode, you can see how your store will appear once you’ve made and saved changes via the “Save” button at the top right of the image.
• Also at the top of the page, there are previews for how your theme will appear on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
• At the far left of the image, in a red box, there are three toggles for “widgets,” “layers,” and “theme styles.” we’ll investigate the basic functionality of these in this post.

5. Edit, Adjust, or Add Widgets.

First, we’ll take a look at how to make quick edits to widgets that you can include or change in your BigCommerce theme. Let’s say you want to add a carousel beneath your menu – BigCommerce’s interface makes the process relatively simple. Simply click on “Carousel” and drag and drop it in the space beneath the menu that says “Drag and Drop Widgets Here.” You’ll then see this image:

Lucky for you, BigCommerce’s interface is straightforward and easy to navigate. Over at the left side of the screen, you’ll see you can make changes to the slides, the background images, the text colors, font sizes links, and more, all without needing to know a line of code.

Now let’s say you’d like to see some variations of the same theme. Over at the left of the screen, you’ll see this:

6. Adjust Additional Features of Your Display. (Styles, Headers and Footers, Homepage and More)

Click on the little palette as indicated by the red arrow and you’ll expand a menu of options, shown in the picture below, including but not limited to “Styles,” “Global,” “Header & Footer” and “Homepage.”

This area lets you make fairly quick and easy changes to the style of your theme. As you can see from two of the options above, these will impact the visual presentation of your theme. For this particular theme, two of the options are “Light” and “Bold,” which are minor variants of one another. From a design perspective, however, they can impact the feeling of your website, its branding, and the overall customer experience.

• As you can also see in the image above, in this area of the theme editor, you can also make relatively quick and easy changes to products, your checkout page, and even payment buttons, all without needing to access or alter any code.
• By this point, you can make many of the high-level changes to your BigCommerce store that come along with changing a theme or altering the visual aspects of your theme, like text, coloring, imagery, or carousels, as well as other qualitative features such as those described immediately above.

However, even though BigCommerce has a user-friendly admin portal that is easy to navigate, even for eCommerce entrepreneurs with little or no design or coding experience, getting the exact visual layout that you envision for your online store may be more time-consuming. In addition, making custom alterations, including those involving code, may require special skills for which you will need the assistance of professional BigCommerce web design or development services.

If you’d like to see something special from your BigCommerce store but aren’t sure how to make the alterations using the suggestions or guidance in this article, get in touch with our BigCommerce developers and designers today. Whether you need a full-scale redesign or would just like to learn more about what we can do for your online business, it all starts with a call to a BigCommerce partner – contact us at 888-982-8269 the next time you need assistance.

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