Whether you’re in the process of setting up a new Shopify site or want to customize your theme to take advantage of the latest eCommerce trends, you will undoubtedly run into design issues, technical glitches, or marketing questions at some point — many beyond the scope of your expertise.
There are many options you can turn to when you need help. Keep reading to learn more about the types of official Shopify support, as well as other places you can go to like DIY YouTube videos, blogs, forums, and even hiring freelancers. But before moving ahead, we suggest bookmarking this page for future reference!
Official Shopify Support Options
As part of your monthly Shopify fee, you gain access to a wealth of support options to keep your site running smoothly.
Shopify Gurus
Should you encounter any issues with your Shopify site, the first resource we recommend trying is the Shopify Help Center. There you can contact a Shopify Guru directly by phone, email, private chat, or Twitter any time, day or night, 365 days a year.
Shopify Gurus are available to answer any questions you may have regarding your Shopify plan. Also, they can quickly direct you to other necessary resources that can help you resolve your problem.
Shopify Manual
The Shopify Manual provides all of the essential documentation for setting up and running your Shopify site. Shopify Gurus will likely point you to these documents when answering your questions, which shouldn’t be a problem as each guide is comprehensive and accompanied by easy-to-understand screenshots to help you along your way.
Official Shopify Forum
Shopify’s help forum is huge! And truly an excellent place to find answers that like-minded account users have also had questions about. The forum’s threads cover the full range of Shopify troubleshooting as well as comprehensive questions across eCommerce topics.
You may not realize it until after signing up, but this is by far one of the biggest benefits of using Shopify. Imagine the insights a thread of over 30,000 posts can provide. If you encounter any small issues or niche questions that the Shopify Manual doesn’t cover, you will most likely find the answer here.
Official Shopify Blog
The official Shopify Blog is somewhat of a hybrid between Shopify Gurus and the Shopify Forum. It offers advice on big-picture marketing ideas, practical how-to information on implementing eCommerce best practices on Shopify, and profiles of successful businesses across industries.
Shopify Expert Directory
The Shopify Expert Directory helps you easily find and hire a freelance specialist that has been vetted by Shopify. Experts can help you with sales strategy, marketing design, SEO, and much more. One thing to keep in mind is that there are many qualified Shopify Experts to choose from in the directory. Since it can be a little overwhelming knowing how to choose an expert, the Expert Services page lets you filter out non-relevant skills.
It’s important to note that Shopify Experts are not employed by Shopify, but they have been selected by Shopify to partner with, which definitely adds a level of trust to hiring them. Also, because they are independent contractors, you will be charged for using their services.
Shopify YouTube Channels
If you’re a visual learner, YouTube is the perfect place to build your Shopify knowledge and skills. It’s filled with countless mentors and gurus waiting to guide you through the hurdles and challenges of being a successful eCommerce entrepreneur in the 21st century.
Official Shopify YouTube Channel
On the official Shopify YouTube channel, you can find high-production videos that provide short-and-sweet tips, strategies, and techniques covering:
- Fundamentals of getting started with Shopify
- General guides to starting an online business
- Shopify success stories and failures to learn from
Whether you’re looking for practical advice or inspiration, this is one channel that every Shopify user should subscribe to.
Casual eCommerce
Casual eCommerce is a channel aimed at providing information that helps you achieve success as a Shopify merchant. The channel’s content is valuable, condensed, and easy to digest. There’s no better way to sum up what it offers than with the channel slogan:
No courses. No BS. Just tutorials.
Sebastian Ghiorghiu
Tutorials are always helpful, but highly successful Shopify entrepreneur Sebastian Ghiorghiu has created a YouTube channel that offers his insights on success through personal videos. He’s an expert in the field of Shopify, and with a huge fan base of over 224K subscribers, his advice is well respected when it comes to building a successful Shopify site.
Online Shopify Courses
Shopify has their trusted gurus and YouTube is home to a number of Shopify channels with large followings, but if you search for “Shopify course” in Google, you will find countless entrepreneurs selling their own courses with wild promises of success. While we find it difficult to trust the credibility and effectiveness that many independent Shopify courses claim to offer, there are a couple of trusted digital learning platforms that are known for their high-quality online courses.
Udemy Shopify Courses
Udemy offers many Shopify courses, with each providing hours of actionable content, as well as downloadable documents and templates, certification, and life-time access. Prices vary by course, but Udemy often has limited-time discount offers for new customers, so it can be quite affordable to try a course out. Each course is also rated by customers, which adds a level of trust that most independent Shopify courses can’t provide.
Lynda Shopify Courses
The total number of available Lynda Shopify courses is far fewer than Udemy, but that is the only downside. What you get with Lynda for an affordable monthly subscription is access to all Shopify videos (and every other course on their website) each tailored for industry professionals.
Shopify Support Communities
There are several independent Shopify communities online that have come together to support each other’s success in the digital realm. It’s important to note that while community members freely give advice, it’s often best to do a Google search before asking basic questions that could be easily answered elsewhere.
Shopify Facebook Groups
With a Facebook group you get direct access to a community made up of thousands of Shopify business owners who like you, have probably faced the same challenges and questions.
There are a number of Shopify communities that have grown over time on Facebook. While we can’t provide any specific recommendations on groups to join, it would be worth your time to find one or two with a smaller community of entrepreneurs that are well moderated to gain and share knowledge. Several are private groups that you must request access to join, which can be good if you would like to stay private about your business.
Having said that, you should not blindly follow all the advice given on Facebook. By all means, take the advice as a starting point, dissect it, research it, and see if it’s relevant to your business and strategy.
r/Shopify Subreddit
If you’re not familiar with Reddit, it’s the world’s largest online forum with groups covering a seemingly endless number of topics, including Shopify. It’s in many ways similar to the Facebook communities previously mentioned, but with Reddit, each user is anonymous. With this anonymity, you will likely get some harsh criticisms and a lot of joking going on, but most of the 75 thousand members of the r/Shopify subreddit are quite genuine in wanting to help.
Freelance Shopify Developers
Certified Shopify Experts are definitely a great resource. However, hiring experts through the official Shopify channel sometimes comes at a hefty price.
Finding a freelance Shopify developer on platforms like Upwork is a great alternative. There are hundreds of full-stack Shopify freelancers that are competing with each other to get your project. The best part about using a freelancer platform is that you can call the shots by setting up a project and budget, and then letting qualified freelancers send you offers.
Seeking Out Shopify Support Will Make Your Business Grow
Whether you’re new to Shopify or a seasoned eCommerce entrepreneur, we’re sure that one of the Shopify support resources listed above will be crucial to your success at some point. There are many free and paid options available but with today’s interconnected digital world, the most indispensable support may very well be engaging and sharing information with like-minded entrepreneurs on social media and forums.
It’s also important to remember that your website is the face of your brand and any money you spend optimizing your website through the use of a Shopify Expert or qualified freelancer should be considered an investment into improving customer experience and satisfaction.
