Web Design Recommendation

[FilterFlair]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to the forum so apologies if this isn't allowed but I have been looking through posts for the last couple of days looking for recommended web design companies and haven't been able to find any so far.

I've been reading a lot of information and from that I am looking to have a Magento based ecommerce site designed from scratch, I've got a budget for the initial set up of the website of approx £4/5k. Not sure if people might think Magento might be a bit overkill for a start up but I'd rather start strong with a good foundation.

If anybody could recommend any designers or companies who they rate then that would be greatly appreciated, and if anyone has any thoughts on anything i've written above then i'd be interested to hear them

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 243860]

That's a healthy budget and there should be a great deal of UK agencies willing to get involved. Have you tried looking at official Magento partners?

You could save a fortune taking the work offshore using a company such as elance, odesk or freelancers to source your development.

 

[pbeard18]

Try and look locally. Local ads etc...

Look for testimonials on their websites, and look at their portfolio. There are hundreds of web designers/developers to choose from, wherever you live.

You could try the Webdesignerforum too

 

[Will_Authentic_Style]

Magento might not necessarily be the best option for your site - there are some other options out there too which might work better with the budget. I think many larger agencies will charge a lot more than £5k for a custom Magento site.

I'd recommend getting in touch with a few companies and see how they respond to your enquiry. You should get a good feel for working with them if you let them guide you a little on the best platform to use. Woocommerce could be one alternative option as that's pretty customisable too.

 

[Faevilangel]

@zigojacko @Cameron Ziafat and @edmondscommerce are the guys I have used for Magento work, all brilliant at what they do.

Budget is healthy but it depends on the exact requirements and the developers rates, have a speak to the guys above and they will be able to give you an idea on costings and time scales.

 

[TMGG]

Are you already trading or is this a totally new venture? If the latter then better to get a basic website up and running first and save your money.

 

[zigojacko]

You could save a fortune taking the work offshore using a company such as elance, odesk or freelancers to source your development.

I'd never recommend offshore outsourcing for development work in Magento. This almost always ends up in disaster with someone handling the project that has no idea how to work with Magento and treats it like a standalone PHP application (stereotypically of offshore developers, shame on me).

 

[Cameron Ziafat]

Yeah I agree, although I detest it, I'm aware going offshore can work if you are diligent, but with Magento you need someone who really knows what they're doing.

 

[Paul Norman]

I would agree with approaching the three guys mentioned above in the first instance. All have been knocking around here for more than a few minutes and you will get a fair rate/deal/service from them by reputation.

I would counsel strongly against going offshore, and with the budget you mention there is no real incentive to do so.

 

[antropy]

I've been reading a lot of information and from that I am looking to have a Magento based ecommerce site designed from scratch, I've got a budget for the initial set up of the website of approx £4/5k. Not sure if people might think Magento might be a bit overkill for a start up but I'd rather start strong with a good foundation.

£4-5k isn't really enough for a Magento site, here's why: www.antropy.co.uk/blog/the-lure-of-magento/

Feel free to get in touch if you want to discuss some other options.

 

[ukbf0001]

OMG 4-5k to spend - save your money firstly.
Are you sure what you have to sell - will actually sell ?
Have you tried it ?
FFS dont waste your money on magento - unless you are a major high st company, you can do so much more - with a lot less budget.
Ecwid - loads into any website or ANY CMS (Wordpress / Joomla / Drupal etc) it also loads directly into FaceBook (it is the #1 ecommerce app for FB) - so you can sell directly from with FaceBook or for your website - and because it is cloud based - you can copy / paste the code into any website anywhere - so you have one shop - but you can sell from multiple domains.

Read that all again - and do NOT waste your budget on a magento build website

 

[ADNattan]

I've worked with a designer and developer that I'm happy to recommend. The designer, Chris, handled my website (see my signature) and the developer, David, has a good grounding in Magento if that's the road you choose to go down.

If you're interested, I can provide you with their contact details. Just drop me a message.

 

[Paul Norman]

OMG 4-5k to spend - save your money firstly.
Are you sure what you have to sell - will actually sell ?
Have you tried it ?
FFS dont waste your money on magento - unless you are a major high st company, you can do so much more - with a lot less budget.
Ecwid - loads into any website or ANY CMS (Wordpress / Joomla / Drupal etc) it also loads directly into FaceBook (it is the #1 ecommerce app for FB) - so you can sell directly from with FaceBook or for your website - and because it is cloud based - you can copy / paste the code into any website anywhere - so you have one shop - but you can sell from multiple domains.

Read that all again - and do NOT waste your budget on a magento build website

My first website for my e-commerce business cost £9000.00. I am extremely thankful that I invested at that level, because that site was at least partly responsible for the rapid growth that we enjoyed.

Of course, you do need to be confident that your product can potentially sell at the level required to give you a return on your investment. But 'going cheap' for your site, if you are into E commerce, is, in part, to set a glass ceiling up on day one of your venture.

Obviously, we all have products that we want to advocate. I have an Ecommerce system I would promote. But I rarely do, at least not on here. My response to these comments about Magento come from someone who is not promoting it - it is a rival of ours. But it is a good product. And good value for money.

 

[FilterFlair]

Wow thanks for all the feedback, I understand some people saying it might be best to start small with a cheaper option but i'm just worried about 'buying cheap, buying twice'. With the money there to put into at the get go, I would rather go full throttle from the start and give myself all the potential to grow quickly.

The market I am going into is domestic water filtration products, things like Brita under sink filters, Coffee machine filters, water cooler filters etc.

I currently work for one of the UK distributors of a lot of the main suppliers so I have a good understanding of the market, I deal with commerce customers on a daily basis so I briefly know how they operate and what kind of margins they work on.

One thing that I would be interested to know is what sort of budget I would be looking to pump into marketing, ppc and seo on a monthly basis to really give me a good footing.

I see a lot of poorly designed sites that do well for themselves, so I want to have a very good, professional looking site that I hope will give me a good head start.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi FilterFlair,

Welcome to the forums.

It's great that you're willing to invest to build a strong website and business, the more money and time you put in - if done right - will pay off later as you say.

Regarding Magento we normally recommend OpenCart instead unless you have a specific need for Magento (e.g. particular functionality or compatibility with other software).

OpenCart is lighter weight, easier to use, and can still handle a large number of products well so you can have a professional eCommerce store.

It will also run well without the need for a VPS or more expensive hosting.

Getting an OpenCart store developed will likely cost a fair bit less than the equivalent Magento store, and that money saved can be used for marketing instead - driving potential customers to your store - which will ultimately determine the success of your business.

It should also be easier to administer and manage.

If you're looking for a developer I'd be happy to recommend one of our clients and UKBF member @shaunb

On the hosting side we'd be happy to help, and provide specialised eCommerce hosting.
Make sure you choose a good UK web host that will provide the support and advice you need as a new business.

Regarding marketing, PPC and SEO, others will be better qualified to answer but the more you spend the better. You could comfortably allocate thousands of pounds per month for this, depending on the competition and your growth plans.

If you haven't already then I'd recommend securing your domain name, social media names and so forth as soon as possible. You can also get a basic web hosting package from us or another decent web host to secure this, and start getting traffic to your domain. You can quickly add some information and even a blog if you intend to run one (and keep it up to date!), which will all help with SEO and presence down the line.

You can also tender for design and development work in the Tenders forum.

I hope that helps.

If we can be of any help then feel free to get in touch.

Best of luck with the new business,

Dan

 

[ryedale]

I'll second that with regard to OpenCart

We find it very flexible to write custom code / styling for and adapt to suit any purpose and it is far simpler to maintain.

Good luck with the business venture - hope it goes well.