Ecommerce website design specialists

Your Ecommerce design company doesn’t have to be local to you, but it is usually beneficial to use a designer located in the same country.

Different working hours can cause delays in responses which could cost you sales.

No one wants to use a website designer that will be there one day and gone the next.

To give yourself the best chance of avoiding this it is advisable to use a designer that is well established.

We often receive enquiries from clients who aren’t able to get support from their original designer as they are no longer trading.

Your online store is nothing without online payments, so check which providers your designer is able to work with.

Are you happy using a simple PayPal checkout, or would you like a fully integrated card payments service?

Make sure your designer can support the way you want to do business online.

Ask your designer if they will provide you with a custom design service based on your requirements, or a shop template already created that is open for anyone to use.

It may well be cheaper to go with a template, but if you’re looking to rise above your competition you will want to ensure your shop doesn’t look exactly like them.

Using another shop as inspiration to create your own store is a good idea, but copying them is not.

You need to understand how easy to use it will be for you to manage moving forwards. Will you be able to add and edit your products yourself, or will it be complicated so even minor price changes require the help of a designer?

Another factor to consider is what happens in the future if you want to move to a new Ecommerce platform. Can your products be exported from one to the other, or is it a fully hosted service that can’t connect with something else?

More questions that lead on from this one:

• Is the platform regularly updated?
• Is it secure enough to handle online payments?
• What Ecommerce features does it offer?
• Is it SEO friendly?

Make sure you fully understand the Ecommerce solution you are looking at. As your store advances, will your platform advance with you, or will you need to start over again?

This helps you to understand how you will get your initial ideas across and then end up with a kick ass store.

• How do you submit your Ecommerce brief to them?
• How do you send them your website content?
• Who is responsible for adding the product listings?
• Can you make changes if you don’t like something?
• Will they connect your site to your preferred payment providers?

All Ecommerce websites need to be stored on a server to be accessible to your customers. The server connects your users with your payment provider enabling them to place orders.

Does your Ecommerce designer provide this kind of hosting? If so, who do they host with? How reliable is it? Is it secure to enable taking payments?

Ask to see some other Ecommerce sites they host, you’ll get a good idea of the speed you can expect for your online store.

If you’re not web savvy you’ll no doubt need support at some point in the future after your new store goes live.

So, it’s important to understand whether you are just purchasing a Ecommerce template, or whether your designer will be there to support you throughout your store ownership journey.

Do they provide a support contract that allows you to contact them and ask for help managing your products listings, or if you see an error on your site and don’t know how to fix it?

There’s no point creating an online store if nobody can find it and buy your products.

If you’re not an Ecommerce marketing whizz you’ll need help getting your store in front of people. A new store doesnt just land on the first page of Google, it takes a lot of work over time to build your online reputation.

Consider the following:

• Does your web designer have experience with Ecommerce SEO (the process of ranking higher on Google)?
• Are they creating your store in SEO and mobile friendly formats?
• Can they help you generate sales using social media?