How to Sell Website Templates
All businesses need a website these days, but most business owners are not web developers and lack the expertise to create a polished and professional looking website. That’s where website templates come in. Website templates make it easy for anyone to create a professional-looking website without the need for any technical skills or knowledge. Naturally, selling website templates has become a lucrative business opportunity for those that do have the skills and experience. You can throw in WordPress hosting offers for your clients as well to help sweeten the deal.
Platforms to Build Templates For
There are several types of software that you can create website templates for. Some of the most popular ones include WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace. WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, with over 40% of all websites on the internet built on it. Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform used by businesses of all sizes, and Squarespace is a website builder that is known for its ease of use and stunning templates.
Other software you can create templates for include Joomla, Drupal, Magento, and Prestashop. These platforms are not as popular as WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace, but they still have a significant user base, especially among developers and e-commerce businesses. However, if your goal is to make a living buy building templates then you may want to consider sticking to the more popular platforms.
Online Marketplaces for Website Templates
One of the best ways to sell website templates is to use online marketplaces. These platforms are designed to help sellers connect with buyers, and they offer a range of features to help sellers promote their products, manage their sales, and receive payments. In other words, marketplaces are a great way to get your templates in front of a lot of eyeballs.
Some of the most popular online marketplaces for website templates include ThemeForest, Creative Market, and TemplateMonster. ThemeForest is the largest marketplace for website templates, with over 47,000 templates available for sale. Creative Market is another popular marketplace, with a focus on design assets such as graphics, fonts, and templates. TemplateMonster offers a wide range of templates for different platforms, including WordPress, Shopify, and Joomla.
One of the main benefits of using an online marketplace is that they will handle the payment processing for you, so you do not need to apply for or set up a merchant account through a bank. They will take a percentage of your sales to cover their own fees so take that into account when pricing your templates. The fees vary depending on the marketplace so you’ll need to do some research on what those. are.
Best Practices for Selling Website Templates
As for all business ventures there are some best practices to follow when comes to selling website templates. Here are our top recommendations:
Choose the right platform: As we mentioned earlier, there are several online marketplaces for website templates. You should choose the platform that best suits your needs and target audience. Look for a platform that has a large user base, offers good support, and has a fair pricing structure.
Create high-quality templates: Your templates should be of high quality, with clean code, attractive design, and easy-to-use features. Make sure your templates are responsive and compatible with different browsers and devices. Your templates should also be easy to customize and edit, so that buyers can make them their own.
Offer good customer support: Good customer support is essential for building a loyal customer base. Make sure you are available to answer questions and provide assistance to buyers who need it. You should also have a clear refund policy in place, in case buyers are not satisfied with their purchase.
Price your templates competitively: Pricing is an important factor when selling website templates. You should research the market and see what other sellers are charging for similar templates. Set your prices competitively, but also make sure you are earning a fair profit for your work.
Promote your templates: To increase your sales, you should promote your templates on social media, forums, and other relevant platforms. You can also offer discounts and special promotions to attract new buyers.
If you do things right and put in the work, selling website templates can be a very profitable business. If doing things like coming up with designs and choosing colours is something you love to do, then why not get paid for it?