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12 minute read

12 minute read

Bigcommerce Custom Design – How to Customize Bigcommerce Themes and Templates

Customizing BigCommerce Templates To Maximize Conversions

As one of the most experienced BigCommerce development companies, Optimum7 has completed roughly 200 Bigcommerce Custom Design projects over the past 24 months involving BigCommerce developmentmigration, and conversion optimization for product pages and category pages. Many Bigcommerce businesses ask, “Do I need the redesign?” They are looking at redesigning or repurposing a product page to attract more customers. Despite the financial goal, they’re not really making these decisions based on analytics or statistics.

The marketing team’s job is then to ask the following questions: “What do you want your average order volume to be? Does this affect your lifetime value? Are you trying to upsell pre-checkout or post-checkout offers to your clients?” The answers determine a product page or a category page from a usability standpoint. If you are just selling a wallet without customization options, the Bigcommerce theme design of your page should be different than someone who sells the wallet with personalization and engraving options.

What Is A Bigcommerce Theme?

A Bigcommerce Theme or Template is a pre-built site design that makes sure your customers have the best possible experience. Bigcommerce templates are designed to give you an easy way to promote and sell featured products effectively on both mobile devices, desktop computers, or tablets of all sizes!

Using an eCommerce theme can be a cost-effective option for an online business. With the right themes, they are able to eliminate web design and development costs as well as marketing expenses. This means that these companies have more funds which could result in better customer service or higher quality products being offered at competitive prices–something worth considering!

How to Choose A Bigcommerce Designer That Best Suits Your Business

When designing a BigCommerce stores for online businesses such as fashion stores and bag stores, there are many features to consider. Designing the perfect BigCommerce shop can be challenging because each company’s needs differ greatly. Not every template is built the same way and not all websites have similar functions; as such, it’s important you look at various eCommerce platforms before deciding on one that will work best for your brand or industry.

When looking at different templates be sure that they have fully responsive eCommerce, product page features such as cross-sells or upsells, and an auto-updated shopping cart with modern and clean designs – these are just a few things you need from a good online store template! Other great features include mobile optimization so that no matter what device people use they can browse smoothly without trouble; customization like themes where users can choose between free ones available online or paid versions; free customer support in case something goes wrong on their online shop. And finally, affordability should also come into play.

Why You Should Choose BigCommerce Themes

BigCommerce is one of the most popular and successful eCommerce platforms. With a BigCommerce theme editor, you can create a small online store or launch an impressive inventory with just a few clicks! It’s easy to use too – no need for coding knowledge because all tasks are done via the frontend web interface.

This means you get more time to work on your online business instead of building it from scratch! Most eCommerce themes and a BigCommerce theme editor offer virtually limitless choices when it comes to building a successful eCommerce website; they offer expert customer service available around the clock worldwide so any issues are always resolved quickly.

BigCommerce themes offer high-quality fully responsive templates that come loaded with a host of features to help you create your online stores and projects. The dynamic and functional layouts are fully customizable, permitting you to build a conversion-oriented online store for any niche: Fashion, Beauty, Holidays Gifts Flowers Electronics, etc.

Advantages of BigCommerce Themes

The best Bigcommerce themes are simple to use and offer you access to many features. Besides color scheme, multipurpose themes, responsive design, drag-and-drop page builder, BigCommerce apps, Google fonts, social media integration, etc., you can quickly create landing pages with the help of pre-designed pages for your business.

Affordable Than Other Options

BigCommerce themes are an excellent option for many brands, and they vary in price depending on the tool you plan to use them with. Most of these affordable kits offer all-inclusive packages that save time and money because everything is included – from design to layout to marketing tools. And if you want a new look quickly, just update your right theme.

Offers Many Options

The process of finding a design that both matches your brand and delivers the UX benefits you desire is not straightforward. Fortunately, your options are many. Free themes help bridge this communication gap among designers, developers, and marketing teams so that they can better align on functional UI components as well as message delivery through well-designed visual interfaces. If you want to fully house your website design, content, and product selection in a single platform so that they can interact seamlessly, BigCommerce theme is the perfect place for you.

Provides Automatic Updates

Building your website design with the latest themes ensures you’ll be up-to-date on relevant technology and modern design standards, which can help make you more efficient and effective while improving conversion rates.

Things You Should Consider With Bigcommerce Themes

As you may have noticed, every theme is made differently. If you’ve chosen a generic one, this could lead to your site looking similar to a competitor’s- so be sure to choose carefully and take note of the customization options.

Customization Options

Pre-built designs come with limitations. Depending on the theme, you may be limited to UX functionality. Review your storage and retrieval options before continuing building your site.

When Should Custom Bigcommerce Design or Development Be Pursued?

Customizing a Bigcommerce template is not for everyone–depending on your needs, you may have to pursue custom development. If you want a never-before-seen design that’s completely unique, you’ll need to either hire an expert or create the code yourself. This may be more expensive, but there will truly be nothing like it out there.

If your business has many complexities, you’ll need to consider custom development. This will give you the capability for customization in both functionality and marketing features. With customized functions, there are no limits as to what can be done.

Customizing BigCommerce Themes for Conversions

What are some of the issues that you hear from customers from a design or conversion optimization standpoint?

First, marketers have to look at the clients’ business data. Without doing that, it’s really hard to assess their current situation. Customers often make inaccurate assumptions. They say, “Oh, my product page doesn’t look good” or “The page is not converting very well. It could be doing better.” The marketers have to go in and look at your data.

Consider this example: the team looks at your data and sees that 95% of your traffic comes from a mobile device. Your product page on a mobile device is not user-friendly and the “Add To Cart” is way down below the fold. A customer has to jump through hoops to make a selection. That’s going to hurt you tremendously. The marketers have to look at your analytics, see where the traffic is coming from, and position the website to go after your target demo and their sources.

The Best Bigcommerce Themes; BigCommerce Blueprint to Stencil Template Upgrade

Most business and shop owners do not understand the difference between design and functionality. A design element is placing the “Add to Cart” button above the fold, as close to the top of the page as possible. The design features sticky calls to action for a mobile version because, on those devices, people have even less of an attention span. A potential audience needs to see “Add to Cart”, “Call”, “Contact Us”, and “Chat With Us” prominently.

Functionality, in contrast, is providing somebody with a step-by-step process to select those options. The team looks at the possibility of differentiating design with functionality. You’re differentiating from a planning standpoint. When you’re executing, however, the design needs to support the functionality.

Talk to us about how the eCommerce theme design complements functionality and why it’s so important.

Complex functions are a priority. Customizable features on the backend are fairly complex; the different possibilities and variants become a mess thanks to the data. You need to get that data and simplify it on the front end. Make it as easy as possible for a user to go through, add any type of customization to their product, and continue to check out. This is going to vary based on the screen size and the device used. The way that this functionality works on the desktop is going to be different than the way that it does on mobile.

When you are reconciling design and functionality, designing for the device is the main focus. Every single functionality and page that you create needs to be designed individually for each and every screen size that your consumers are possibly using. So if you don’t do that, you might have great functionality that works on desktop but becomes a disaster on mobile.

Unfortunately, many people, including developers, don’t pay attention to conversions. Our offer at Optimum7 is that we never do something as a task. When we are making a redesign, it needs to be supported with facts. When the team looks at your product and category pages; implements a search and filter functionality, and adds any upsell functionality, the marketers think only about conversions.

A client may complain that functionality doesn’t look pretty. What do you say to that?

Emphasize the following: “Who cares if it’s pretty or not? This is going to make you money. This is going to convert.” A charismatic businessman can prove that’s going to push conversions.

What if the client refuses to listen?

Look at the data. See how the numbers come back, and how it converts. The conversion rate percentage of the increase that we get will justify the way that it looks. If we want to make it a little bit prettier, we’ll make it a little bit prettier. Did the redesign get worse in terms of performance? If it did, we’re going to make it look ugly again so we can get those numbers back. If not, then we’ll leave it as is.

Test as much as you can, but not endlessly. Perfection is the enemy of progress. Launch the functionality, and see the data arrive. Marketers can tweak the design and make it pretty along the way. If we wait until we think it’s beautiful, it might never go live. Then you spend too much money on functionality that no one’s ever using. And we see that often.

Most business owners look at their websites and become attached to design. If you’re a business owner, especially in an eCommerce platform, you need to detach yourself. The fact that you think it’s pretty or ugly makes no difference. This website is not created for you. It’s created for your audience. The data, analytics, conversion rate, average time on site, and cost per acquisition reveal the strategies for change.

Importance of a Mega Menu on your Online Store

When working with Bigcommerce stencil themes, it is essential to understand the stencil framework as well as the blueprint structure. Most of these hard-coded settings are essential in having a site that loads fast compared to other eCommerce themes. When you work with a premium responsive theme, your online stores should have a mega menu. This is especially essential if you have hundreds of products.

Your Bigcommerce store without a custom mega menu might not be user-friendly. You want to be able to showcase your selection of products in a visual manner on ALL of the pages of your site. It allows you to do this and maximize engagement.

If your eCommerce website or eCommerce platform does not have it, and you have hundreds of product features the usability of your custom theme will suffer. Your Bigcommerce theme upgrade should definitely take this into consideration. (Free theme or paid theme)

A visual menu also allows you to highlight complex search filtering and product filtering on an eCommerce website. You definitely will also need the Search and Filter Functionality, however, a custom design will also make sure that Google AMP pages load properly.

Your eCommerce store layout structure is, therefore, incredibly essential. Most Bigcommerce templates that have a responsive theme enable your online shop for maximized site performance as well as a clean and fresh design.

Your Bigcommerce site and theme can have a page builder with social media widgets, full-width images, a brand carousel, and other unique features. Implementing Google Analytics will also allow you to track online sales and the effects of your BigCommerce template and website design.

Optimizing your site for mobile users is key. A modern design with the right theme editor, advanced search, and product filtering will work with a clean layout that is fully responsive design and optimized for mobile devices.

BigCommerce Theme Customization Prices: How Much Does a Bigcommerce Template Design Cost?

What can a customer typically expect to pay for template customization that’s optimized for conversions?

Clients and prospects hate this answer, but it all depends. From a BigCommerce theme customization standpoint, many websites use the old version. We always try to put them on the new Stansel online stores template because it’s a lot better, a lot more optimized.

If you want minor changes, you’re looking at a few thousand dollars. These include editing your product page, header, or footer. If you want something more detailed, it could go as high as fifty thousand dollars depending on your products and the functionality. During an execution, design and functionality need to happen simultaneously.

What about clients who complain about the seemingly high functionality fees?

UX and UI need to be seen as an investment if you’re going to be redesigning. You will see a return on the costs due to optimizing for conversions. So what we tell these online store owners is you can’t look at it as an expense. This is an investment while optimizing for conversions. Therefore that $7,000 that you’re investing in optimizing your user experience and user interface will earn back your money with compound interest.

People are concerned about the initial investment and don’t look at the return. The proper response is, “Talk to our previous clients about their experience.” If you’re working with another company for design or redesign or template customization, ask for referrals from their other clients.

Whatever you were spending on your conversion optimization, design, or branding, you’re killing multiple birds with one stone. You’re making your brand a better brand while building more trust and authority. You’re building better functionality and design while increasing your conversion rate, usability, and trust. Don’t look at it as an expense. Look at it as an investment because this will pay you back if it’s executed and planned with finesse.

Frequently Asked Questions: BigCommerce Themes Template Design

Is It Possible to Customize BigCommerce Responsive Themes?

It is not only possible but also necessary. For the best user experience, you should make modifications to suit your needs. Responsive website designs allow for an optimal mobile experience. The theme will work correctly across devices and screen sizes. BigCommerce recommends a theme that has cross-browser compatibility as it ensures that the style of your store is up to date with current world browser requirements.

How Many Themes Does BigCommerce Offer?

It provides a 12-Bigcommerce free theme selection, including variations on those themes. Variations mostly consist of the layout and size of page banner images, with the theme color changes too. There are a lot of free Bigcommerce theme options in BigCommerce for those who do not have enough coding experience.

What Is Stencil BigCommerce Theme?

BigCommerce Stencil (Multipurpose BigCommerce Theme Base) is BigCommerce’s newest theme platform that incorporates the latest best practices in technology, design standards, conversion rates, and SEO. With it, you can build a stunning storefront that engages shoppers and encourages checkouts on any device. There are many eCommerce site templates from which to choose or for those that have more specific needs, they can build a fully customized site with all the bells and whistles. A stencil Bigcommerce theme is one of the best options in the market.

What Are the Benefits of BigCommerce Stencil Framework and BigCommerce Premium Templates?

BigCommerce’s Stencil Framework and BigCommerce theme engine are compatible with the company’s page builder, as well as its online store templates. The Stencil-based templates are a good option for those who don’t have coding experience and want to design their site from scratch. Stencil Framework provides ease of use for those who do not have coding experience.

How Can I customize a BigCommerce Template Design and BigCommerce Theme?

One way to personalize your site is by using a page builder. Go to the storefront menu and select my themes and customization; opening the builder for modifying various elements. The first course of action is to edit the code.

Another option is to modify the code. Go to the website design interface, choose my themes, then select edit with the builder. Once there, go straight for theme files by selecting theme styles and clicking on edit theme files or using legacy blueprint themes by going to the online store menu>my themes and choosing legacy blueprints.

How Many Custom BigCommerce Themes Can Be Uploaded to a BigCommerce Store?

A total of 20 custom themes may be uploaded to the My Themes section, including any new themes created via Make a Copy. Custom themes can be deleted to make room for more uploads up until you reach this number.

Where Can I Host My Theme?

You have two hosting options when it comes to your theme: eCommerce platforms or CMSs such as WordPress. Depending on which platform you plan to use, one may be better than the other. Popular eCommerce platforms with customizable themes are BigCommerce, Shopify, OpenCart, and WooCommerce.

WordPress eCommerce themes are the best-selling CMS.

When using WordPress, you’ll need to suffice with eCommerce functionality to host your websites – like BigCommerce or WooCommerce. BigCommerce will host your site for you, and WooCommerce offers a similar service but is much more costly because it requires an investment in hosting.

What Are Product Templates?

Product templates allow customers to design their own print-ready files. Customers will find information about the size of the finished product, how it should be laid out, what needs to be cleaned up before printing, and any folding or mailing guidelines needed while designing.

How Can I Create a Product Template?

Add an image or text to a product by clicking directly onto the design element. Once you’ve clicked on the design element, scroll down on the right-hand side and click ‘More options’. Activate the ‘Make this a template object’ switch.

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