[Shopify experts] Can a development store be ranked?

[Evening]

Hi, I heard shopify development stores were free, but you couldn't use the checkout as long as you don't choose a plan. But my question is, do any of you know if ranking such sites is possible? I know you can get your own domain name.

How is SEO on these sites? I could for example use it to rank through a blog, then if I get some good traffic, I could just choose a plan or monetize the traffic

Thanks in advance for you answers

 

[Evening]

Bump

 

[exonerate]

Hi, I heard shopify development stores were free, but you couldn't use the checkout as long as you don't choose a plan. But my question is, do any of you know if ranking such sites is possible? I know you can get your own domain name.

How is SEO on these sites? I could for example use it to rank through a blog, then if I get some good traffic, I could just choose a plan or monetize the traffic

Thanks in advance for you answers

I can't answer your question as I've never ran a store on development mode. I suppose there is no reason you can't rank a development store, but honestly this isn't my field of expertise.

What I wanted to ask is why anyone would bother to rank a development store on Google?
Do you want to save the few bucks and start with a free version? If so, I'd suggest not even trying.

 

[Evening]

An account with 0 followers can get millions of views on a single video, which is quite difficult on platforms like YouTube, or Instagram. TikTok automatically pushes your content, no matter how big or small your account is. I started posting my artworks there, instead of me dancing to trending songs.

Took me less than 2 months to get over 150k followers. Some of them followed on Instagram, since it's linked there, and some % of them are potential clients. That's how the platform helps me grow as an artist/designer. I also live stream on TikTok, which is monetized.

You can do pretty much the same thing with affiliate marketing, and linking to your YouTube channel, instead of IG. There are multiple ways to use the platform for your business.

I can't answer your question as I've never ran a store on development mode. I suppose there is no reason you can't rank a development store, but honestly this isn't my field of expertise.

What I wanted to ask is why anyone would bother to rank a development store on Google?
Do you want to save the few bucks and start with a free version? If so, I'd suggest not even trying.

Yep, could be a great tool for experimenting. Why not bothering. If it actually ranks, I can’t see no reason to not try since it completely Free and, IT IS a legit website. Just not an ecolmerce website.

And you can always choose a plan to make it a 100% functional shopify store.

 

[exonerate]

Why not bothering

It's probably a pain in the ass.

Invest a few hundred bucks if you want to start anything. Saving money is good, but being cheap when starting some project isn't wise (on some ends).
You won't make a fortune when saving $30/month - from nothing comes nothing.

Sure, it's possible to start a fully functional Shopify website with $0, but why make it 10x harder (if not more) if you just need to invest $100 to reduce lots of stress, problems and maybe a good chance of success.
As stated in my extensive introductory thread, I wouldn't suggest anyone to start a Shopify store below $200 - $300.

 

[bhcg101]

Am I missing something... if it's a site, you should be able to rank it period. Is there something out of the ordinary in this kind of thinking because it's a "development site" ?

 

[Evening]

Am I missing something... if it's a site, you should be able to rank it period. Is there something out of the ordinary in this kind of thinking because it's a "development site" ?

I really don't know,I wanted to be sure. Maybe they blocked something to prevent Google to index dev stores. I mean, it's basically a Free website with free hosting.

 

[bhcg101]

You could try running the site through something like Screaming Frog SEO to see if it gives you a 200 code or see if it tells you that the link is not indexable.

 

[Evening]

You could try running the site through something like Screaming Frog SEO to see if it gives you a 200 code or see if it tells you that the link is not indexable.

Oh thank you!

That's the kind of answer I needed. So 200 is telling me it's indexable right?

 

[bhcg101]

Oh thank you!

That's the kind of answer I needed. So 200 is telling me it's indexable right?

No problem.. however, A 200 status can still show "okay" on status and further inform that it is indexable or non-indexable. You can download a free version of the software on their website: www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider and input the link you'd like to check yourself.

 

[Evening]

No problem.. however, A 200 status can still show "okay" on status and further inform that it is indexable or non-indexable. You can download a free version of the software on their website: www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider and input the link you'd like to check yourself.

Yes thank you bro

 

[INCC]

Development sites rank exactly as regular sites. Shopify offered 50 free transactions with development sites but this is over now.. if you have development sites that were created couple months back then this offer still applies for you but its not available for new sites.

You can first build the development site, open it and start doing SEO - when the site starting to rank and organics are coming in, then you can switch to paid version and activate your payment gateway.. at least this is how I do.

 

[bhcg101]

Yes thank you bro

You're welcome, hope that helps.

 

[Evening]

Development sites rank exactly as regular sites. Shopify offered 50 free transactions with development sites but this is over now.. if you have development sites that were created couple months back then this offer still applies for you but its not available for new sites.

You can first build the development site, open it and start doing SEO - when the site starting to rank and organics are coming in, then you can switch to paid version and activate your payment gateway.. at least this is how I do.

THIS.

that’s exactly what I planned to do. Now that I have the info, I can start.
Ty

 

[Maxim Fadeyev]

THIS.

that’s exactly what I planned to do. Now that I have the info, I can start.
Ty

I may have a tip for you

I tried to enter dropshipping biz nearly two years ago. It was my first experience in building websites and IM overall. So I contacted Shopify's customer support a lot. Like a lot.

Here is a good take away from that: they can prolong your trial period x2-3 times if needed. I think they saw that I'm struggling to build my store and tried to help me as they could. All you need to do is ask

 

[Evening]

I may have a tip for you

I tried to enter dropshipping biz nearly two years ago. It was my first experience in building websites and IM overall. So I contacted Shopify's customer support a lot. Like a lot.

Here is a good take away from that: they can prolong your trial period x2-3 times if needed. I think they saw that I'm struggling to build my store and tried to help me as they could. All you need to do is ask

Already experienced this

They told me they are allowed to extend to max 3 months.

 

[Evening]

Can't create a dev store what

I don't know if its a bug or intentional.