Are you guys actually doing "web design"?

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tfnaq

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There are lots of great methods there, and I am excited about trying them out.

Lots of people here talk about selling website design services to businesses. Are you guys actually coding/designing these sites? or are you buying wordpress templates and customizing them for your clients?

The latter seems a bit easier, but is it legal to say you are designing a website but you are actually using a template?

Any input is appreciated
 
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tfnaq said:
There are lots of great methods there, and I am excited about trying them out.

Lots of people here talk about selling website design services to businesses. Are you guys actually coding/designing these sites? or are you buying wordpress templates and customizing them for your clients?

The latter seems a bit easier, but is it legal to say you are designing a website but you are actually using a template?

Any input is appreciated
Click to expand...

I use Wordpress, but I generally prefer to design the template from scratch using CSS. It depends what the clients want, but I'll always let them decide if they want a template or not.
 
You can code and design from the scratch. I design websites using photoshop, check the Udemy course about that.
Selling customized wordpress themes is a quick way to make money, but you can't charge very much, since you are limited by the theme features. One solution for this is to use Wordpress theme frameworks, like Thesis...
 
I actually provide both options. I am completely honest and upfront about weather I am using a template or not. 90% of my clients don't have $3,000 to drop on a custom coded/designed site. So I offer template/theme options as a cheaper alternative. It's also in my contract whether or not I will be using a template.
 
Hi There,

I will be glad to assist you with website design and your questions in this matter.


tfnaq said:
There are lots of great methods there, and I am excited about trying them out.

Lots of people here talk about selling website design services to businesses. Are you guys actually coding/designing these sites? or are you buying wordpress templates and customizing them for your clients?

The latter seems a bit easier, but is it legal to say you are designing a website but you are actually using a template?

Any input is appreciated
Click to expand...
 
Greetings !

It all starts on clients budget and how fast client need website and what functionality they need ...these days every one wants site done fast with max functionalities so me like we prefer templates wich suites to client and we later max including plugin as per clients requirements since we have team to code so we always finish the WP based site in say 3-4 days time frame which is more of clients meet and so responsive as well ...other wise coding from zero cost more and time consuming ...hope most of the guys agrees :)

cheers !

regards
Adroit
 
These days there's not really any reason to design a site from scratch. There's nothing wrong with using a theme, but if clients are looking for something customized, a good option is to use a front-end framework for WordPress or HTML. Some examples you might have heard of are Bootstrap, Boilerplate, Foundation, Bones, and Roots. Reputable web design companies often use these (I've seen WordPress themes being used too). Work smarter, not harder!
 
Depends on their budget, but most of the time it's 100% custom designed.
 
I used to build everything from scratch. The problem with that is there's always somebody who can spit out a design twice as quick for half the price.

While I was still taking design clients, I pretty quickly decided to work from templates. Basically quadrupled my income immediately. As far as I can tell, there's nothing illegal or unethical about it.
 
^as above
I was doing "basic" custom designs in Dreamweaver but so many clients know about Wordpress now it's simpler to get a template, configure it to their colour scheme, add the plugins they want and write them a basic "This is how you update your website" document.

Half the time they can't be arsed to do it themselves and come back to you for updates anyway.

You'll find no-one wants an 'out of the box' template anyway, they always need configuring to their colour scheme, uploading images etc etc so anything you charge on top of the template cost (unless you find it for free ;) ) is for your time and expertise and therefore not unethical.
 
i just scrape any html design i found similar to mi clients niche
and i start dreamweaver on it
 
Hi,
If you have plenty of time for your design you can start from scratch.If your are a busy web designer you should use template whether it is Wp or Framework.It saves time and let the developer reuse stuffs.We don't need to invent the wheel.
 
so what makes you think that, lets say, using a premium theme and then build a nice webiste with it isn`t webdesign ?
you didn`t code it - ok. but you are not talking about coding here but webdesign.
or do you think any webdesigner first off creates an own font to use on a website?
 
Here is my formula. I use 3 software from start to finish.

Photoshop (For images, titles graphic work)
Artisteer (Template creation)
Dreamweaver (For final editing, manual code tweaking and uploading)
 
If you cannot write code in HTML and CSS fluently and to standards you should not be selling websites.

I'd also add a medium ability in javascript and an understanding of PHP to that list.
 
Design - To Me (I don't sell website anything)

I believe that to design a website can mean a number of things.
The Primary goal of that website is to convert. You may want conversions to an email list or coversions to your store.

You may want more people to check out more blog post from you.

If you are good at visually making people online transition to opening their wallet/signing up for email/or reading more content then you could be a designer.

The key factor for me is where the person is 3-4 months later. I fired a group I used for a lot of design because they never followed through a project to get it converting. It was pretty. It was great. It converted like torn sandals... Floppy and just the biggest nuisance to pay for and have that much traffic and fail so EPIC!

SO To Me - Design is this:
Making a Website-
visually desirable
optimized for conversion based on that sites Goals
Testing to see what works and adjusting
Communication to the "client" is paramount and clear
Clear upfront on all charges and Goals of the design

I think a lot of people are confused with the build a site/make graphics for a site/follow your instructions and make a site...

Designing and a Great Designer can make you a lot of money - Black/Grey/White Hat
 
Personally I don't see templates as a cop out. They are a good base for building a site.
BUT I don't think you have to have the ability to build a site from scratch when neccesary in order to make it as a pro website builder.
 
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