How to become a Shopify Developer?
Introduction
Sales and Marketing have been around for a long time, ever since man learnt to sell their products. Over the years, the selling strategies have changes, modified and personalised, and so many new modes of advertising have come forth. When Internet usurped the world, everything changed once again, and suddenly things became easier, transparent and competitive. Slowly, online businesses boomed and with it came the different techniques of developing online websites. With Shopify, there was a huge difference in the way people opened their online shops.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a leading SaaS cloud-based e-commerce platform and is used globally for building shopping websites and other e-commerce sites. Many big businesses have already shifted from BigCommerce and Magento to Shopify, making it easy for them to sell quickly and effortlessly. The best thing about Shopify is that it suits every kind of business.
The easiest part about planning an online store is that once you have a fully functional website, you can just get it running and reach out to your target segment. But the development of the store is not so easy, which is why you need a Shopify developer.
If you are planning to become a Shopify developer, then it is a good career move, because it is one of the most demanded jobs in the field of software development.
Becoming a Shopify developer
So, who is a Shopify developer? A developer who build e-commerce websites using Shopify platform. So it is mainly a frontend developer, who has a sharp eye for detail, with excellent detailing in graphics and design.
Businesses looking to set up an online shop would definitely want the services of a Shopify developer, and the job is in huge demand these days. They need a good developer to host their business in the most user-friendly manner.
As a Shopify developer, you can always use design templates to customise the website, but the best developers will always be able to customise the templates and create something unique. The online shop is a place where businesses market their products, and they want the platform to be as secure as possible.
The duties of a Shopify developer
The key responsibility of the Shopify developer is to create a highly responsive, interactive online shop that scales according to demand. If the developer is to come with a unique theme, then he would be greatly reverted because every online shop in the world wants to look different from the other.
1. Creating custom themes
The job of the Shopify developers would be to customise the themes or modify the pre-existing ones to suit the theme and goal of the brand they are developing the website for.
2. Be an expert in eCommerce platforms
The developer must grasp the technical complexities involved in web development, user experience and design so the website would work optimally on all devices and work seamlessly.
3. Testing and debugging
The website has to be constantly tested and debugged to enhance its performance.
4. Knowledge of latest trends
It is the duty of the developer to have the knowledge of the latest IT concepts and design trends, and utilise the same
5. Optimise the website for increased conversion rates
Another critical responsibility of the developer is to optimise the website so you can convert the visitors, move the leads and create better customer acquisition.
Become a Shopify developer
So the job is an exciting one. If you are looking to become a Shopify developer, you must have basic knowledge of the following:
HTML5, Javascript and CSS3
Knowledge of Command Line
Impressionable understanding of React is a good thing though you can use nay framework of Vanilla JS
Experience with jQuery (not necessary, but desirable)
Knowledge of GraphQL and REST APIs
Knowledge of Ruby, Python, PHP, Node JS are also advantageous.
Resources you can use
If you want to sharpen your knowledge on Shopify, you look up Shopify Partner Blog as it contains numerous tips helpful for Shopify developers. It contains a wealth of information, and you can reach them at will. As a developer looking to become an expert on Shopify, this definitely must be a bookmarked page. Whenever new updates are made to Shopify, you will know about it instantly if you join the partner website. It is also a great resource to hold on to if you have some innovative ideas for your project, just pick up on one of the ideas and elaborate it on using your creativity.
Apart from that, there are plenty of free courses and theme kits that you can rely on to sharpen your knowledge. Similarly, there are so many resources that would help you how to write liquid code, a Theme Kit resource that would help you with a Command-Line tool so you can upload the Shopify theme to your shop online automatically when the changes are made.
And Udemy is a great platform. One of its noted resources is ‘How to Become a Shopify Expert (From Zero to Hero)’; it is not a free course, but definitely well-worth the fee.
Practice makes it perfect
If you are new to Shopify, you might want to go over these resources again and again to sharpen your skills. It would also help you brush up on the core concepts. Sure, you can try your own Shopify projects and display your portfolio.
If you are yet to take on new projects, you can always study the new apps in the market, and learn their new functionalities and try something of your own. You can create a similar app of your own, compare yours with the features and themes of one of the best apps in the market, compare the code line-by-line, see where you can improve .
Conclusion
Shopify development is a great career development move because there will always be demand for online shops, and websites that would like to sell their products online. As the demand surges, they might want to scale up. Often the brick and mortar shops will become a namesake establishment, and the online shops are likely to take the upper hand, because you can practically find customers anywhere on the planet.
Anyone with a little bit of knowledge in coding can become a Shopify developer. But it takes experience, innovation, drive and creativity to make your mark in the industry. If you are graduate in computers, have a B.Tech or BCA degree, then you take the necessary courses, and the easy route to become a Shopify developer.
Interesting Links:
More information about Shopify
Pictures: Canva
The author: Sascha Thattil works at Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.
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