Since its inception in 2008, Magento has grown significantly. The fact that it now boasts 13% of the eCommerce market is clear evidence of that.
This number is projected to grow over the coming years. Magento is thus a highly lucrative platform for a rising number of theme designers.
However, most of these people struggle with the theme design process. And one of the key reasons is being unaware of the best practices.
In this discussion, we would cover seven of these. Do stay tuned.
1) To be proficient in the relevant programming languages
HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python are among the top languages used for theme design.
A deep understanding of these would help you create a theme exactly the way your client wants.
You will be more aware during the design process as you will know the pros and cons of that particular language you are using.
So, it will make you capable of designing a website that will be straightforward and, most importantly, convenient for the developers to build.
2) To have an in-depth understanding of the magento platform
It is another essential prerequisite that you must keep in mind. You don’t have to be a Magento theme guru.
But you should be familiar with the fundamental aspects of the platform to carry on the designing task.
All platforms like Magento have their own features, process, and functionalities. All of these make a custom theme design unique from others. Having a clear idea about the platform you are working on can be indeed useful.
So while using the Magento platform, you must have an overall understanding of the features, functionalities, benefits, and limitations. Knowing all of these, you will be able to design the theme so that there won’t be any complications while working on the theme for the developers.
3) Knowing the ultimate goal of creating the theme
You are designing the theme for the clients, so you need to know their ultimate goal. It is essential to remember to serve them well.
You have to make sure your design aligns with the ultimate goals of the customer. Only then you will create an impressive design that serves the purpose of it.
Your design needs to meet the expectation of your customers to sustain in the competitive market.
So know in detail what the customers need then try to define the ultimate project goal.
Remember that you are not creating something for yourself; instead, you are creating a product for your customers. So many people will use it for different purposes, and your customers will earn from it. You cannot ignore the end goal here.
4) Implement breadcrumbs in your theme
While browsing through a website, the visitors need to know where they are. You cannot afford to let them get lost while navigating through your site.
Whether they are on a category or product page, they must have a clear idea about it. Any sort of confusion in here would lessen the session time of your website. It would affect the ranking of the site. Ultimately, the conversion rate would suffer in the long run.
So it is better to create a well-designed breadcrumb for your Magento theme.
5) To make the theme responsive
About 60% of the global web traffic is from mobile devices. Thus, it is a ranking factor for major search engines.
Thus, it is imperative that your theme is responsive. That way, websites built using your theme retain their functionality on all devices. They would also have a better chance of ranking for target keywords on Google (and other search engines).
6) To pay attention while using colors
When it comes to conversion, colors have a tremendous psychological impact on the customers.
Designing the website elements with different colors is a good practice. For example, any popup form will have a different color from the base color of the website.
If you don’t choose a different color, it will fail to get visitors’ attention. So, there would be lower chances of converting the traffic into leads.
It is thus crucial that you pay attention to the small details when choosing the color palette for your theme. Reading up on color psychology would help you make informed choice during the design process.
7) To design a winning homepage
For a website, undoubtedly, the homepage is the most crucial page. This is usually the first page visitors land on from engagement ads.
It gives the first impression to the visitors. So it would represent your brand and eventually build trust among potential customers.
The fact is, most visitors would make a purchase decision based on how a home page makes them feel.
It is thus crucial that the home page format of your theme helps convert a significant portion of the site visitors.
CTA placement, sliding speed of the featured images, and image positioning at the optimal real estate are among the key things a designer must pay attention to.
During the design phase, each component of the home page should be a/b tested. This way, you would know what is working the best. It would help avoid resolving mounting issues down the line. Besides, site owners using your theme would enjoy higher conversion and revenue!
Recap
Let us go over the best practices once more.
Those are:
- Gaining proficiency in the relevant programming languages.
- Having a solid understanding of the Magento platform.
- Being clear about the ultimate goal of the theme, you are designing.
- Implementing breadcrumbs in your theme.
- Designing your theme to be responsive.
- Data-driven choice of color palette for your theme.
- Enhancing the home page format of your theme to maximize conversion for the site owner.
Wrapping up
By following all the above mentioned best practices, you can create a well-functioning and eye-catching Magento custom theme. All these best practices must be kept in mind while designing each element of your theme.
Stay updated and keep working on your skill. It would help you make your themes even more lucrative to people wishing for ecommerce websites.
Author bio:
Ryan Aslatt is a content marketing professional at WebCommander, an Ecommerce web design agency in Australia. He has been helping businesses grow by developing content marketing strategies since 2011. When not busy, he likes to research on current web design trends and online marketing strategies.
