More and more, our lives are spent online. We work there, we play there and most of us over-share there. In this ever-increasingly digital world, you need a website that isn’t just eye-catching. It has to be continually adapting to trends and search engine algorithms.
Sure, you could probably use a DIY website builder, but can you update content, optimize your store for mobile devices, and perfect a unique and functional design? No one but a professional web designer and Shopify Expert wants to tackle that to-do list.
When you hire a Shopify expert, the burden of building your online store is on them. You can focus on running your business and skip learning the ins and outs of SEO. You already have to be your own CEO, accountant, and marketing mastermind. Shopify experts understand your company’s needs and will help take some of the work off your plate.
What Does a Shopify Expert Do?
When you hire a web design agency that has experience with Shopify, you can be confident that all the elements of your website will work cohesively from the beginning. To be competitive, your website will need more than just some code with a few stock images and boring text.
A Shopify expert has all the skills and resources to get you making sales in less time and for less money than you’d think. Let me explain what Shopify experts – slash – web designers do in real life.
They Innovate
Professional web design agencies work with cutting edge technology, and they’re always looking to the future. A year from now, or maybe three, your website will need to look fresh and function with new apps, keyword search technology, and payment options. When you work with a web design agency, you’re hiring someone to take care of the future for you.
Finding ways to stand out to the crowd of mobile-shoppers doesn’t stop with the launch of your website. A Shopify Expert can help you plan ahead to avoid being left behind in the digital world to come. Planning ahead will help you avoid expensive re-designs later on, saving you big bucks! We’ll talk more about that later.
With a quality agency, help doesn’t end with the launch of your shiny new website. A true Shopify professional will be there for you post-launch to troubleshoot and provide site management. You should expect design support, third-party app integration, new feature recommendations, and updates on Shopify theme functionality.
Provide Quality
The single most important reason to hire a web designer is quality. Yeah, there are a ton of cheap or free website templates, but they’re overly simplistic. The distinctive, first-class digital storefront you expect (and deserve!) isn’t going to be made with one of those.
A professional designer will use their custom process to create your vision. Images, plugins, headers, and codes probably sound like gibberish to you, but your designer will have a plan. A design method geared towards leveraging consumer behavior to create the best possible buying experience is second nature to Shopify pros. It’s literally their job to give you a dynamic and attractive website.
Shopify has paved the way for anyone with a great concept or innovative product to take advantage of the massive online shopping market. There are hundreds of people setting up their own store, so you need to stand out, and you can’t do that on your own. If you want a polished storefront with an authentic theme and a design engineered to convert search queries into sales, you want to work with a Shopify expert.
Increase Visibility
It doesn’t matter how fresh your website is if nobody can find it. SEO, or search engine optimization, should be in the vocabulary of every business owner with a website. It isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a keyword. Pun intended.
If you want your Shopify store to be competitive, you need a web design agency that knows their way around SEO and can stay current with its evolution.
With SEO optimization, your website will appear in all of today’s top search engines (think Google). Great designers will help them find you with SEO and bring them in with distinctive design. Then your great products will keep them coming. Remember, the closer you are to that coveted number one search spot, the more sales you’ll make.
Save You Time and Money
Small business owners like yourself have a lot more to do with their time than learn to build a haphazard website. You know, like curating merchandise, advertising, and making those crucial sales. Sure, it sounds like a great idea to use a cheap and easy template. But in the long run, it’ll cost you.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. How is hiring an expert going to SAVE me money? It’s like that old saying; sometimes you have to spend money to make money. You can give it a shot on your own with one of those big-name templates, but they’ll leave you frustrated with their basic features and limited room for expansion. Maybe you’ll ask a friend who took some computer classes for help. A week or two later, she gives up, and you’re out the cost of the website tool and all the sales you could have made in that time.
When you hire a web designer, you can launch today (or at least this week) without the hassle. No matter what custom features you want, a professional designer with a Spotify experienced agency will have built it before. They know precisely how to get you making sales fast.
Did you know it takes an estimated 50-60 hours to build a website? And who knows how much to update and maintain content. That’s a full-time job on top of your full-time job! To save yourself some time – because time is money – a professional design agency can set you up with a content management system. That way, if you don’t have the funds to keep a webmaster around for important updates and curating, you can handle it yourself – quick and easy!
When is it time to look for an agency?
Since we’re talking about costs – remember, you get what you pay for. Quality experts don’t come cheap. While you’re crunching numbers and creating a business plan, make sure you factor in how much you can spend on development. It’s vital to know how much you can budget for website design before you hire a pro.
If there’s room in your budget, now is the time to start hunting for your Shopify design pro. A quick google search will probably send you down the rabbit hole of showy, ostentatious websites, full of promises of outrageous success. When you’re sifting through all these “experts” it’s essential to read between the lines. Look for fully functioning websites, examples of specific design tactics and references or samples of their work. Be confident that your Shopify expert can deliver precisely what they’re selling.
Finding “The One”
References are essential when you’re looking for “the one”. Shopify Experts are motivated to provide top quality services to keep their customers happy. Your business growth and success benefits them! A happy customer is a referring customer. Here are a couple of foolproof ways of finding the expert that’s right for you:
- Ask Around: To start your search, just ask around. Reach out to fellow Shopify owners or entrepreneurs who have website content that attracts you. Most established business owners have hired a web designer and can point you in their direction…or at least away from the sketchy ones. Even if your best friend or cousin Frank touts a specific designer as the best around, do your own research. Check out past projects listed on their website and follow their social media presence. Make sure their reviews and feedback align with what your buddy had to say about them.
- Try a Referral Network: If you don’t get any great recommendations or no one seems like the perfect fit, take your time and shop around. Professional referral networks vet their members, saving you some detective work. Shopify has its own expert directory. You can search locally for someone familiar with your demographics or nationally to find the best price point. The expert directory makes finding “the one” less of a hassle.
Whether you’ve chosen a local expert or not, having a pre-game meeting is a good idea. Either through a face-to-face in a coffee shop or via Skype or Facetime, get together to explain your vision and discuss their past work. Something as simple as discussing your goals can help you get a feel for how well you’ll work together. Any designer making promises that sound too good to be true is a red flag.
At the onset, most people underestimate how much work really goes into creating a successful online business. Hiring people to help with the design and marketing isn’t all you need for a thriving website. You need a solid business plan, dedication, and employees that have as much follow-through as you.
Finding people you can work with that have the experience and creativity to help you make your business succeed isn’t easy. Hiring the right web designer is even more important. Their expertise is a significant component of whether your Shopify store will sink or swim.
Be Different by Design: Hire a Shopify Expert Today!
When you hire a Shopify expert, you’re getting all the experience you need to give your business a head start. At ShopStyleDesign, we realize that you need a realistic and affordable Shopify solution that doesn’t compromise on quality.
Our projects aren’t just another number; they are a unique partnership. We bring the most value to your budget and work to improve your eCommerce online presence. From website development to completely redesign, search engine optimization (SEO), or business strategy, our experienced Shopify team has the expertise to bring your business vision to life. Contact ShopStyleDesign to hire a Shopify expert today!
