How To Become A Shopify Developer

How To Become A Shopify Developer: An Introduction

Learning how to become a Shopify developer could be one of the most lucrative things a tech-savvy professional can do. Shopify is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms in the world; it holds about 27% of the market share, compared to WooCommerce’s 24%. 

Designed to make selling online easier, Shopify offers a host of valuable built-in tools for site development. Companies can build their ideal store using pre-designed themes and templates, without writing any code. 

So, if working with Shopify is so easy, you might be wondering why is Shopify development such a lucrative career? 

Simply put, one of the biggest benefits of Shopify is its flexibility. While you can build a site with minimal coding, you can also access a range of integrations, apps, tools, and custom designs to make a site more innovative and unique. Working with a Shopify developer allows business leaders to create the ultimate store environment for their target audience.

Defining the Shopify Developer

A Shopify developer can come in many different forms, from freelancing experts who offer their services in app and theme design on an ad-hoc basis, to agency employees. These web development experts may specialize exclusively in Shopify web development, or they may spread their expertise across a wide range of environments. 

Shopify developers are action-oriented and agile individuals, with extensive knowledge of the core features of the Shopify ecosystem. Most professionals will be confident working with:

• Security solutions like SSL certificates and data protection tools.
• App integrations to third-party sales, marketing, and workflow services.
• Analytics and reporting tools with custom insights for teams.
• Themes and templates designed specifically for Shopify
• Checkout operations and payment Gateways.
• Inventory management tools and navigation.

To become an effective Shopify developer, you’ll need to learn all about Frontend development, web design, and UI design. You may also need a background knowledge in theme and template creation. 

What Do Shopify Developers Do?

Shopify developers work hand-in-hand with companies to build state-of-the-art custom Shopify stores. While it is possible to build a Shopify store without a developer, experts will generally allow companies to accomplish a lot more. As a Shopify expert you’ll:

• Work with companies extensively to understand their distinct UX and UI needs, their target audience, and how their website might need to be designed to boost conversions.
• Develop, build, and implement Shopify Apps into existing stores to extend the functionality of a website, and improve profitability. 
• Customize and build themes or templates custom-made for Shopify stores, to demonstrate a company’s unique branding. 
• Perform various forms of long-term and short-term site auditing tasks and maintenance, to ensure the site continues to run smoothly.
• Implement payment gateways, checkout features and various other unique tools to ensure simple and straightforward transactions.
• Help customers understand and leverage the various aspects of the Shopify ecommerce platform, implementing unique UI and UX elements as part of the parcel.
• Ensure seamless connections between marketing tools, Shopify apps, and platform APIs to optimize the store performance. 

How to Become a Shopify Developer

Whether you’re interested in freelancing or agency web development on Shopify, your path to success will start with the right education. You’ll need a basic knowledge of various Frontend development and backend tools, including Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You’ll also need a good knowledge of the Shopify platform and how it works. 

Step 1: Decide on your development focus

The first step in becoming a Shopify developer is deciding how you’re going to work with Shopify. Would you prefer to work on building comprehensive Shopify websites from scratch? If so, you’ll need some basic HTML and CSS knowledge, as well as a strong understanding of Shopify.

Alternatively, you can focus on two specific elements of Shopify design:

Theme development

To succeed with a career in Shopify theme development, you’ll need a knowledge of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and the markup language (Liquid). Theme development also requires a Shopify Partner account (For testing themes) and a basic knowledge of Command Line.

Shopify App development

If you want to specialize in Shopify app development, you can use virtually any programming language, from Ruby and Python to Node JS or PHP. You’ll need a basic knowledge of CSS3 or HTML5, and a good understanding of JavaScript and React. App developers also need a good knowledge of the GraphQL API environment, and a Shopify Partner account.

Step 2: Build the right developer qualities

Developers of any kind need certain qualities to thrive, particularly in today’s competitive freelance world. To work as a Shopify developer, for instance, you’ll need to be a good communicator, capable of interacting with customers and developing a strong idea of their specific needs. 

You’ll also need a decent understanding of the ecommerce landscape and what matters most to your clients. Showing you understand ecommerce will make you more trustworthy to customers. Other characteristics to develop include:

• Problem-solving skills: Like any environment, Shopify can sometimes be subject to issues you’ll need to fix. Being able to research and resolve issues quickly is crucial. 
• Collaborative skills: As a developer, you may need to work alongside other experts and designers to create the perfect solution for your customer. 
• Resiliency: This is particularly important if you’re freelancing, as you may not always be able to find work as easily as you’d like.

Step 3: Explore Shopify developer resources

The more resources you have access to as a Shopify developer, the more likely you are to thrive in your position. The good news is that because Shopify is such a popular tool for ecommerce site building, there are no shortage of great options out there to choose from.

Start by looking at the Shopify website, there are plenty of blogs, guidance, and various articles to help you understand how the technology works. You can also Google “Shopify Guides” to find a wide range of accessible resources produced by third-party companies. 

Other useful resources include:

• Shopify Community groups: Social media groups like the Shopify Entrepreneurs Facebook group are excellent for learning from other developers and keeping up-to-date with what’s happening in Shopify. You might also find some clients for freelancing here. 
• Shopify Partner Academy: The Shopify Partner Academy is a resource provided by Shopify offering a wide range of ways for people to develop their skills with things like app development and theme creation. 
• Learning resources: Webinars and online courses can be excellent tools for Shopify partners and developers hoping to access new opportunities online. Try courses like the Shopify Essentials for Web Developers course on Skillshare. 
• Liquid cheat sheet: The Liquid coding language from Shopify is something you’ll need to be familiar with as a Shopify developer. You can find cheat sheets and coding examples online which offer a helpful insight when you’re just getting started. 
• Shopify channels: Official channels on YouTube and Twitch can be useful when you want insights into how to make the most of the latest Shopify features or tools. 
• Shopify Theme kit: This is a simple command-line tool which uploads new Shopify themes to your store when you make the change son a local level. 

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Become a Shopify Developer

Once you’ve expanded your knowledge of Shopify, chosen the route you want to take for your business, and make sure you have access to all the right resources, the next step is applying for the right roles. The best option here is to apply to become a developer on Storetasker. 

Storetasker does the hard work of helping you to find the right Shopify clients for you, by connecting you with companies who need your development skills. 

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