Become a Shopify Web Design Pro: How To DIY Your Shopify Store

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There’s no one right way to build an online store. It’s easy to think that hiring a web development professional is the best route, but here's something you may need to hear right now: You are capable of learning how to design a Shopify website on your own.

Once you get into a DIY mindset and learn the basics, you’re empowered to bring your own ecommerce business to life. Instead of outsourcing costs and figuring out how to communicate your vision to another person, doing it yourself means less overhead, more confidence boosts, and an online store that reflects your entrepreneurial spirit in more ways than one.

Shopify's ecommerce platform makes it simple to become your own web-building pro. Read on to learn how to design a Shopify website for your online store—without the help of any seasoned professionals.

Why DIY your Shopify store?

When you DIY your Shopify store, it can help you:

  • Launch more quickly
  • Launch more quickly
  • Save more money

You can build a version of your store yourself, even if you’ve never built a website before, much less an online store. “My business partner has a business and marketing background. I have a theater degree,” says Kiersten Hanly, co-founder of skincare brand, Scrub Inspired.

“We are the perfect example of people who have no idea what they’re doing regarding technology, but we could do pretty much anything with the resources that were made available to us.”

You can build a version of your store yourself, even if you’ve never built a website before, much less an online store. “My business partner has a business and marketing background. I have a theater degree,” says Kiersten Hanly, co-founder of skincare brand, Scrub Inspired.

Those resources included everything they could get their hands on, from Google searches to forums to help docs and more. After trying to tackle problems, Kiersten mentioned that chatting with Shopify’s support team was also a great way to find answers and help when needed.

Know when to get expert assistance

Just because you’ve chosen to DIY your ecommerce website doesn’t mean you’re out on a limb by yourself forever. It’s exactly the opposite: Since you haven’t committed a huge chunk of your business budget, you have more flexibility to hire experts for specific sections of your store or your project.

It’s how Scrub Inspired worked with a branding design pro when the team wanted to rebrand.

“When the business was growing, our next step was a rebrand. We wanted to figure out what our product looks like and who we're selling this to, and use that information to inform all of our visuals,” says Kiersten.

“That’s the first time we discussed with a designer, who worked with us on our brand. Building out our entire branding guide meant that when we used a website builder to design a website, we knew what colors we should focus on. We knew who our target market was. We knew our buyers' paths to go down on the site.”

Building a website yourself might involve learning, whether from Google or your friendly neighborhood Shopify Partner.

A good approach is to do it yourself to start with. Hiring a pro can feel reassuring, because you know they know what they’re doing. But you’ll still do some work, since you’ll spend time with them so they understand what you want, and afterward you’ll need to rely on them for any changes.

If you don’t know how to change products in your store, you’ll have to call your web development team whenever you need a tweak. Getting clear on the basics of how your store works is a good investment for a small business, whether you DIY forever or bring in pros later in the process.