Design for eCom website

[shadowjoe]

Hello, fellow entrepreneurs! I want to ask a question about the design for an eCommerce website. Do you conduct design on your own or do you prefer to outsource this part of the work?
I read here that many people recommend using various free and not only tools to design everything on your own. But I think I don't have the right taste and the understanding of current design tendencies to do this work on my own.
Actually why I ask is I found an opportunity to get a design at a price that is lower than the average designer's salary. It's a subscription design service called Awesomic. Now I have a dilemma. What's better? To keep trying to do everything on your own and maybe someday master design skill (at least at a somewhat adequate level) or give it up and just start working with professionals?
Or maybe there are other ways I overlook it?

I'll be much obliged for your replies and recommendations!

 

[fisicx]

There is no one answer. Everyone will have different skill sets and selling different products to different groups of people. Awesomic may work for you or it might be the wrong service provider. There are way too many variables to give a meaningful answer.

However, the sort of designer you find on Awesomic are more likely to be bottom feeders. Goode designers won’t we advertising their services on a site like that. In any case, you would still need to find a developer to turn their design into a website.

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

Hello, fellow entrepreneurs! I want to ask a question about the design for an eCommerce website. Do you conduct design on your own or do you prefer to outsource this part of the work?
I read here that many people recommend using various free and not only tools to design everything on your own. But I think I don't have the right taste and the understanding of current design tendencies to do this work on my own.
Actually why I ask is I found an opportunity to get a design at a price that is lower than the average designer's salary. It's a subscription design service called Awesomic. Now I have a dilemma. What's better? To keep trying to do everything on your own and maybe someday master design skill (at least at a somewhat adequate level) or give it up and just start working with professionals?
Or maybe there are other ways I overlook it?

I'll be much obliged for your replies and recommendations!

Awesomic is like Fiverr - a race to the bottom.

You’d be better placed to get a real designer who has experience in ecommerce, or better yet a team so the design can be built with the designer and developers working together. Ecommerce isn’t the same as building a standard site. It’s about your brand, messaging, what converts etc for maximum sales.

 

[Wesley Cude]

It really depends on your skillset and the time you have available. Personally, I would find a premium theme from themeforest.net, that matches your requirements in terms of functionality and design as closely as possible.

I wouldn't look to modify the design too much, simply replacing the written content and imagery with your own. To set up the theme, if you are unable to do this, I would pay someone to set this up for you and install the demo data to look like the theme. You can find someone to do this cheaply on Fiverr, People Per Hour or Upwork.

 

[antropy]

Actually why I ask is I found an opportunity to get a design at a price that is lower than the average designer's salary. It's a subscription design service called Awesomic.

And let me guess, you're their online marketer posting spam

Paul.

 

[antropy]

Personally, I would find a premium theme from themeforest.net

The code quality on their is absolutely shocking.

Paul.

 

[UrbanRetail]

The code quality on their is absolutely shocking.

Paul.

I agree, but for someone starting out it’s acceptable I think. That or Shopify.

 

[Wesley Cude]

And let me guess, you're their online marketer posting spam

Paul.

Ha, that makes total sense.

 

[antropy]

I agree, but for someone starting out it’s acceptable I think. That or Shopify.

It's never acceptable to have non-working themes, especially for someone who doesn't know how to get it resolved.

Paul.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Hello, fellow entrepreneurs! I want to ask a question about the design for an eCommerce website. Do you conduct design on your own or do you prefer to outsource this part of the work?

I want to ask you a question, well several actually.

What's your business and marketing plan; e.g. what products are you selling online, who are your customers/competitors, what features and functionality does the site/businesses operation need, how are you going to market it, and why would someone choose your site/products?

Who does the design is irrelevant, it's only a tiny part of the process.

I'd recommend avoiding pay per hour/job sites for any design/web work, as you'll end up with something that you have no idea of the quality of, plus managing it and developing it will be an ongoing nightmare.

 

[Peter Morris]

And let me guess, you're their online marketer posting spam

Paul.

LOL! Exactly what I'm thinking right now!

 

[UKOnlineServices]

Unless you want a mess out of a website, I would avoid such services. Get someone - an individual or a team - who will plan, design and develop your project form start to end. That gives you at least a fair ground to expect value for your money.

 

[Talay]

From the other side, as someone who tried to make a home grown source work, tried the options from Godaddy, Wix, some others etc. and was heading down the shopping car idea, I bit the bullet and got in someone who knew what they were doing.

OK, that is not a perfect solution cost wise as you are committing to some quite serious outlays if you want bespoke development but it is that or learn how to do it and then commit to maintaining it permanently. I'm not sure that makes much sense for your average small business.

How far you push the spend and whether you need Google Adwords managed is another argument and one which will require deeper pockets.

 

[gpietersz]

Do you really need a custom theme?

An off the shelf theme with your logo on it is enough for most people, especially whey starting up.

If you tell us what software or platform you are using there is probably someone here who can make specific suggestions or guidance.

I think people tend to overthink and over-spend on design - its bike-shedding.

 

[Anthony Phillips]

Design and development are two separate things , your designer will produce a wireframe design (look and feel) , and when you are happy with that your developers will take that and produce the programming behind it.

Now, the scale, functionality, features, backend control and other factors of the ecommerce store you want will generally determine where to start, and how much it will cost.

If you are creating a big system where you have to have total control of everything top to bottom and exactly the way you want and specify it and ability to make systemwide changes how and when you want, you will be better off with a custom development done a high level programmer/team, that option is £££££ and time, and if you are not familiar with systems, programming and processes , you may be out of your depth.

The other option is platforms that are already out there which may be subscription based (or cheap or free or single payment) , where you add in your own theme/logo/payment gateway etc, you can also use designers/programmers to do that for you if easier. Costing £ to ££££.

It really depends on your level or knowledge, how much time you really want to spend doing it, skill, willingness to learn, and cash.

Whilst alot of the time people can fumble their way through free platforms and themes it doesn't mean they will really be very effective, personally I prefer to pay professionals to do something right, than me waste huge amounts of time to do it average.

 

[fisicx]

The fact that the op has never returned suggests they only ever wanted to promote awesomic.

Thread closed