As you grow your booster club, you may be considering addin to your online presence by creating a booster club shopify website so that people can easily find you and find information about your club, events, and any merchandise you might sell. Sites like Shopify make designing and building your own website without knowing code extremely easy. The question is, is Shopify right for your booster club? If not, then which platform should you use? Popular platforms offer different features and focuses, so choosing one depends on what kind of website you wish to create.
One of the leading website building platforms is Shopify, which allows you to set up a fully functioning online store. Shopify is primarily a website for ecommerce – the buying and selling of goods or services online. Because of this, Shopify is best for booster clubs and organizations that are heavily focused on ecommerce. If your booster club produces t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, bags, or other merchandise to represent your school and program, a booster club Shopify website is a place for you to expand your endeavors and increase your sales.
As you consider whether a booster club Shopify website is right for you, here are some Shopify website pros and cons to think about.
Pros of a Booster Club Shopify Website
Initial setup of a booster club Shopify website is relatively easy. It will ask you for an email address and password and will also require you to provide a business address and a phone number.
Shopify includes features such as a customer management section, which allows you to track customer information including how many times a customer has purchased from you. If you do a lot of business and have a lot of customers, this can save you a lot of time and headache. Shopify provides a blog section as well. Though this is not the primary function of the site and is not great compared to other blogging websites, at least it does give you the option of blogging.
Another wonderful feature of Shopify is the ability to integrate with any other major application, allowing greater access to niche clientele. The Shopify buy button, for instance, can be used on any website to give customers and easy way to make purchases. Additionally, Shopify allows you to customize your ecommerce site using a variety of themes, which are an excellent way to represent your booster club and make your online store unique.
When you build your booster club Shopify website, you have the option to explore Shopify for free during the first two weeks, before choosing from a number of monthly subscription options. While the more expensive subscriptions may seem like a high price to pay at first, however the cost is negligible when your ecommerce is thriving, and Shopify provides all the tools you need to get there. All of the platform’s features are incredibly helpful if you are doing a lot of online business and growing your store.
Cons of a Booster Club Shopify Website
As you build a booster club website, consider the goals and focus of your club. If ecommerce is not your strong suit, Shopify is a significant cost to your club that is probably not be worth the investment. The comparatively high cost of the platform assumes that you have a flourishing online business. In the same vein, you may end up paying extra for plugins to perform basic functions that other sites such as Wix or WordPress include for free.
Another potential downside of using Shopify is the peripheral position of the blog feature. The blog takes a backseat to other functions of the website, so if you are hoping to do a considerable about of blogging on your booster club website, Shopify is not a great option. Another drawback is that Shopify is not strong in SEO. While it would meet all your major SEO needs, Shopify makes SEO difficult to manage and control and therefore, is probably less effective in this arena.
Considering this, while Shopify is a useful platform with an array of features, if Ecommerce is not the key focus of your booster club, a booster club Shopify website is probably not the best choice. Shopify does offer a blog section where you can post articles, however it is not the primary focus of the site and may also be a little less effective when it comes to SEO. You can certainly build a blog using your booster club Shopify website, but it will take a backseat to your store.
As you think about the brand and persona you are creating with your booster club website, Shopify’s primary function is a good thing to keep in mind.
Which Platform Is Right For You?
We conclude that the setup of Shopify is clean, intuitive, and fairly easy to use, containing all the tools you need to create a bustling online store. If your booster club focuses on ecommerce, or if you would like to move toward expanding your ecommerce, Shopify is a great option. However, we do not recommend it as a primary website-building tool for your booster club marketing.
Some alternative options include Wix and WordPress, both popular platforms which offer a wide array of templates for websites, ranging from business to personal sites and everything in between. Just like Shopify, these tools are fairly easy to use and intuitive. Because of this, we recommend using one of these platforms as your primary booster club management site. If you’d like to develop your booster club’s ecommerce, you might also consider setting up two sites, using both a booster club Shopify website as well as another platform. From there, you’ll be able to monitor the effectiveness of both and perhaps link them together. This is certainly more work, but it has been done.
As always, the first step in a new endeavor is determining your end goal before you begin. Keeping in mind your vision as you build your booster club site will help you focus your efforts on whatever platform you decide to use.
