Trust copy and policies before your first visitor

Do this today

Create or finish four pages and link all four in the footer. Use an email you actually read. Do not paste a generic generator and leave the brackets in.

• Time: 30–45 minutes.
• Pages: Contact, Shipping, Returns, Privacy.
• Then complete one test order on your phone.

1. Contact

Put a real email in the footer and on a dedicated contact page. If you have a phone number you will answer, add it. If you will not answer it, omit it.

A contact form with no inbox behind it is worse than a visible email address.

• Use get-in-touch language only if you will reply within a working day.
• Link the same email on the contact page and in the footer.
• If you are a sole trader, say that plainly. It is more trustworthy than a fake department name.

2. Shipping

Say where you ship, how long it usually takes, and what happens after the order. Ranges are honest. ‘Fast worldwide shipping’ with no origin is not.

• Origin: where the parcel starts.
• Timing: a range you can keep.
• After the order: confirmation email, then a dispatch note when it leaves.
• If a product is made to order, say the extra days before it ships.

3. Returns

First-time buyers look for the way out before they look for the brand story. State the window, who pays return postage, and how a refund is issued.

Example: 14 days from delivery. Buyer pays return postage unless the item is faulty. Refunds go back to the original payment method after the item arrives.

• Digital products need a different line — say whether a file can be refunded.
• Do not copy another store’s 30-day free-return policy if you cannot afford it.
• Repeat the short version on the product page.

4. Privacy

Checkout collects a name, address, email, and payment details through Shopify. Say that. Say you do not sell the list. Link to Shopify’s customer privacy terms if you use their checkout, and describe anything extra you collect (email list, quiz, support inbox).

• What you collect at checkout.
• What you collect if someone joins the optional tips list.
• That you do not sell the list.
• How to ask for deletion: the same contact email.

Common stall

The stall is leaving Shopify’s placeholder policy text live, then sending warm traffic. People notice. Write four short pages, link them, test checkout, then do Day 6.

If you want the store shell built for you, email with the subject SETUP. The policies still have to be true for your product.