Setting up your domain

A domain name is a custom web address and your unique identity on the internet. eCom stores with a custom domain have their website indexed faster by search engines.

1. Login to your eCom Back Office and click Settings.
2. Click Domain in the column titled Website settings.
3. Click Add domain.
4. Enter your domain including the sub domain. For example, www.yourdomain.
5. Select the top level domain that matches your domain. For example, .com.
6. Click Save. Note the value on this screen, for example: 123456.shoplightspeed.com or 123456.webshopapp.com.
7. Login to your domain provider and create a CNAME record pointing to your eCom store.
   • Use the name of the CNAME is the subdomain, like www.
   • Use the value you noted in a previous step as the target.
   • The TTL (Time to live) can be set as the default value.

Learn more about setting up your domain.

Creating URL redirects

Preserve your previous eCom store's search engine ranking by creating redirects. Only create redirects if you're continuing to use previous eCom store web address/domain. Redirects refer traffic going to a page on your previous website to the equivalent page in Lightspeed eCom. Skip this step if you did not have a previous eCom store.

1. Login to your eCom Back Office and click Settings.
2. Click Redirects in the column labeled Website Settings.
3. Click Add redirect.
4. Enter the page location of your previous eCom store's page in the field labeled URL. For example, /About-us.
5. Enter the full web address of your new eCom Store at that page on your future domain. For example, https://yourdomain.com/service/about/.
6. Enable the switch labeled Set redirect as permanent.

Learn more about setting up redirects.

Create a final test transaction

Now that your eCom store is live, make sure your checkout is working a final time.

1. Access your eCom store from the Home screen in your eCom Back Office, click View Store.
2. Find a product as if you were a customer and add it to your cart, open your cart and click Checkout.
3. Proceed through checkout and test to make sure each stage is correct.
4. Read Testing your checkout to learn how.

Verifying ownership of your domain in Google Search Console

Verify your ownership of your domain in the Google Search Console. In the future, the Google Search Console will allow you to check the indexing status and optimize the visibility of your eCom store.

1. Login to the Google Search console.
2. Add your URL and verify your ownership using the HTML tag method. Copy the tag and paste it in your eCom Back office under Settings > Web Extras > Google Search Console > Meta tags.

Learn more about Google Search Console.

Connecting Google Analytics

Begin tracking the traffic on your website. Google Analytics has many tools to help you build a successful website. Keep an eye on your analytics to learn about your traffic sources, flow, content, and conversion.

Prerequisites:

• Your eCom store's domain must be live.
• Have a Google account.

Then, you can connect Google Analytics.

Submit sitemap to Google

Boost in your search engine ranking as early as possible by submitting your sitemap to Google.

Prerequisites :

• Your eCom store's domain must be live.
• Have a Google account.
• Google Search Console must already be configured.

To submit a sitemap:

1. Access the Google Search Console's Sitemaps tool.
2. Click Search property in the sidebar and select your eCom store.
3. Copy your domain and add /sitemap.xml at the end. For example: www.yourshop.com/sitemap.xml.
4. Paste your sitemap path under Add a new sitemap.
5. Click Submit.

Learn more about updating Google Search.

Marketing your site

Now that your new eCom store is live, you can:

1. Announce the new shop on social media.
2. Send out newsletters to existing customers.
3. Promote your online shop in your retail location.
4. Have a launch sale and discount specific products or shipping.

After the initial launch:

1. Build an email list, offer a discount coupon for newsletter signups.
2. Start blogging and write interesting articles to increase search engine ranking.
3. Experiment with Google Ads, Google Shopping, and Meta Ads and create an advertising campaign.