"Shopify," the e-commerce platform, isn't just for selling products—it also comes with a rich set of content management features. This article explains the CMS (content management system) capabilities actually built into Shopify and how to make the most of them. Get a better understanding of how Shopify lets you publish content and manage your site without any programming knowledge, and put it to use in running a more effective online store.
What Is a CMS?
A CMS (content management system) is a system that lets you easily add, edit, and manage website content without specialized programming knowledge. Anyone can operate it intuitively, creating and updating pages without touching complex HTML/CSS directly.
Does Shopify Have CMS Features?
Shopify isn't just an e-commerce platform—it also comes with a rich set of CMS features. This lets it broadly support not just listing and selling products, but also content publishing and branding your site as a whole.
What You Can Do with Shopify's CMS Features
Customizing Your Design Theme
Shopify lets you choose from and customize a wide variety of themes (design templates). Advanced customization using HTML and the Liquid language is also possible, letting you build a highly distinctive site that matches your brand image.
The blog article below explains Shopify themes in detail. Please use it as a reference.
With the theme editor, you can intuitively change the placement of parts and content via drag-and-drop while checking the appearance on the web. Since you can see a real-time preview, it's easy to make fine-grained edits.
The blog article below introduces how to customize a theme using the theme editor. Please use it as a reference.
Creating, Editing, and Deleting Blog Posts
Shopify's built-in blog feature makes it easy to publish the latest updates, columns, and product introduction articles. You can also use tagging, category management, and comments, which helps with SEO as well.
The blog article below introduces how to create a blog post on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
Creating, Editing, and Deleting Products
On Shopify, you can easily manage basic information such as product name, description, price, and inventory count, as well as variant (option) settings such as size and color. It also offers "collections" for grouping products, and "tags" that make it easier for customers to find products. Product images and videos can be uploaded through intuitive operations as well, making it easy to build an appealing product page.
The blog article below introduces how to create a product on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
Customizing Various Pages
Shopify's page editor lets you create and manage static pages such as "About Us," "FAQ," "Legal Notice Under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions," "Privacy Policy," and "Terms of Service." With template- and block-based editing, inserting text and images is simple as well.
The blog article below introduces how to create a privacy policy and terms of service.
Benefits of Making the Most of Shopify's CMS Features
Increased Site Value
By strengthening your content—such as unique information sharing and telling your brand story—you can expect to increase your shop's own value and trustworthiness.
Enriched Page Information
By adding not just product details but also usage guides, Q&As, columns, and more, you can address customers' concerns and questions.
Boosting Traffic Through SEO
Making use of your blog and static pages makes it easier to implement search engine optimization (SEO). Publishing keyword-conscious content helps you expand your reach to new customers.
All the Features You Need, All in One Place
In addition to product management, order management, and customer management, you can handle everything from site content to blog operations in one stop. There's no need to integrate with an external CMS.
Intuitive Operation
The admin dashboard is designed simply, making it a hallmark of Shopify that even IT beginners can operate it intuitively.
Powerful App Integrations
The Shopify App Store offers a rich selection of free and paid apps, letting you add CMS functionality and other extensions.
Flexible Customizability
From editing templates to introducing your own apps, you can freely customize to best fit your own operational style and customer experience.
Reducing Effort with AI
By making use of Shopify's AI feature "Shopify Magic," you can streamline the work of automatically generating product descriptions and blog posts. You can also easily generate images—such as product photos and blog banner images—by using "Sidekick." This can significantly reduce the effort of day-to-day operations while aiming for higher-quality store management.
Features and Apps That Make Shopify's CMS Even More Useful
Metafields and Metaobjects
"Metafields" let you add custom fields (such as a specifications section or ranking information) for each product or page. For more complex data management and display, "metaobjects" are also available.
The blog article below explains metafields in detail. Please use it as a reference.
Shopify Translate & adapt
This is Shopify's official app for multilingual support, letting you easily create content in multiple languages, including English. By automatically translating and manually adjusting the various content you've created with Shopify's CMS features, it supports running a global e-commerce site.
The blog article below explains Shopify Translate & Adapt in detail. Please use it as a reference.
RuffRuff Author Profiles
RuffRuff Author Profiles is a Shopify app that lets you add an "author profile" to blog posts and product pages. It helps improve content credibility and brand strength.
With Shopify's native CMS features, only registered staff members can be listed as an author for blog posts, and there's no way to register an author at all outside of blog posts. By using RuffRuff Author Profiles, you can register staff members who aren't in the system, and add author information to product pages and other page types as well.
The blog article below introduces the benefits of showing author information on Shopify and how to display it. Please use it as a reference.
RuffRuff Product & Blog Tags
RuffRuff Product & Blog Tags lets you display, in an easy-to-view "tag list," the tags applied to blog posts and products created with Shopify's CMS feature. It strengthens navigation, making it easier for customers to find blog posts and products.
The blog article below introduces the benefits of showing a tag list on Shopify and how to display it. Please use it as a reference.
RuffRuff Table of Contents
RuffRuff Table of Contents can automatically generate a "table of contents" for long-form content in blog posts and products created with Shopify's CMS.
This dramatically improves usability, making it more comfortable for readers to grasp content and scroll through it. It also helps content creators organize their information.
The blog article below introduces the benefits of showing a table of contents on Shopify content and how to display it. Please use it as a reference.
[Bonus] What to Do If Shopify's CMS Feels Hard to Use
Some people may find Shopify's CMS features hard to use. In that case, we also recommend using external tools such as Notion or Shopify apps.
Using Notion
If you prefer the writing experience of Notion, we also recommend writing your blog posts and product descriptions in Notion.
By copying and pasting content created in Notion into Shopify's editor, you can carry over headings, tables, text links, and other formatting directly (migrating it) into Shopify's editor as is.
⚠️ Note, however, that images alone cannot be pasted this way.
Using Editor and Other Shopify Apps
There are several Shopify apps that serve as editors for writing blog posts. Some Shopify apps let you build content via drag-and-drop, while others offer a Notion-like editor, so it might be worth exploring for one that suits your preference.
Using an External CMS Service
If Shopify's built-in CMS simply can't meet your requirements, you can also integrate an external CMS (such as microCMS or Contentful) with Shopify. Using APIs or embedded-page features, you can take advantage of an external CMS's flexibility. This can also be helpful if you decide to migrate away from Shopify and are already using an external CMS service.
In Closing
Shopify offers robust functionality not only for building an e-commerce site but also as a CMS. It has everything you need, including theme customization, page and blog management, multilingual support, and further extension through apps. Actual operation and customization can be carried out safely even without specialized expertise, by following Shopify's official help resources and app store guidance.
Continue to make use of official documentation and reliable sources of information to run your Shopify store as effectively as possible.
