Licence & Webshop: Photodeck or Squarespace?

[SabineB]

Hi there,

I want to create a new website which has an e-commerce option, just like Lee mentioned in "How to make money with Illustration".

Has anyone experience with photodeck and squarespace? They appear rather similar, they even cost the same. Lee mentioned that clients can purchase a license via his photodeck website, but I couldn't find this option on his website and was wondering if there is a specific reason for this?

I guess the licence option would be the only reason why I should have an other Webshop additionally to an Etsy shop. Or not...? I am such a analogous person, it feels like an unknown, deep, creepy forest making those choices.

Many thanks,
Sabine

PS.: I can't upload any profile pics, not even an 2,5 MB png, sorry about the faceless profile.

[Jon Anderson]

@SabineB I wish I could chime in with some great advice to help but I have no clue and no experience with a web shop but maybe this bump will get the attention of someone who does.

[animatosoor]

@Jon-Anderson Same here - I know nothing about it; maybe someone who has experience with this could help @SabineB out!

[NessIllustration]

@SabineB Wordpress is still the best option to create an e-commerce website. People get intimidated when they hear Wordpress, but it's virtually the same thing as Squarespace: no coding required, you pick a template and put in your images and text. The only difference is that Wordpress is free, you have a lot more template and plugin options, and that you have to get your domain and hosting separately (which is a breeze). Being open source, Wordpress has thousands of tutorials available. If you type "how to set up an e-commerce store in Wordpress" in Youtube, you'll get hour-long videos that walk you through the entire creation of a shop form A to Z with recommended plugins and all that jazz. You want to sell licenses? Google it, and you are sure to find someone explaining exactly how to do it in Wordpress.

[Lee White]

I have used both. Photodeck was great, but I changed my business model somewhat to focus on prints and squarespace shows the work in a much better way than photodeck did. I HIGHLY recommend squarespace. Wordpress is good too, but it's a little clunky in my opinion whereas squarespace is so easy. I want to spend as little time as possible messing with a website!

[theprairiefox]

@Lee-White I was looking at squarespace and I was wondering if you have them print and fulfill orders or do you do that yourself? And how has that worked for you?

[Lee White]

@theprairiefox I do order fullfillment myself

[SabineB]

@NessIllustration Thank you for your advice! Sorry for my late reply, I am in the middle of moving home...

[SabineB]

@Lee-White Thanks! I wanted to say this since joining svs in February: I am really Impressed how you, Jake and Will take the time to answer our questions and do all the lessons!

[Lee White]

@SabineB our pleasure! : )

[KC]

Hi Sabine,
If you don't have any experience with Wordpress and want to focus on your art then I would also recommend Squarespace. It will run you a little over $200 a year and be easy to set up.

If you go with Wordpress you will want to use Wordpress.org as that will allow you to use plugins and do a store. Here's some info to compare the free vs. hosted Wordpress platforms. https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/

Since you would need to use the hosted Wordpress to use plugins (ability to add a store) then you will have the cost of hosting it. That can be as cheap as $36/year but typically will be closer to $100/yr. The main thing is that it will take you longer to set up and you will need to stay on top of the security plugin updates ( you do need to add security plugins like Wordfence and Limit Logins to keep your site from getting hacked). It is cheaper than Squarespace but will take you more time and that time will take away from your illustration time. If you love learning new things and really want to customize your store and save money then go for it. Like a previous commenter said, there are tons of free theme templates and plugins and lots of tutorials out there to help.

Hope that helps, even if just a little.

[AndyIllo]

I used to have squarespace and I loved it. Switched to Wordpress thinking i'd make it more personalised and interesting, but after weeks of setting up, tinkering, learning etc etc my site looked basically the same as my Squarespace site!

For a first website, I would definitely recommend Squarespace. Then when you have some time/drive that would be when to think about switching if at all

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @NessIllustration, I love your art and your website. I’m in the middle of setting up my wordpress site. Do you recommend any templates similar to yours? I like how simple and effective your site is.

Thank you!

[NessIllustration]

@Jeremy-Ross Absolutely! In fact you can have the exact same site as me and if you already pay for Photoshop you can even get it for the low low price of nothing hihi.. My site is done with Adobe Portfolio, which is free with the Creative Cloud I just connected my domain and voila! The theme I used is Mercedes!

[Jeremy Ross]

Thanks @NessIllustration! Sadly, I’m not; I’m using procreate exclusively at this time. Thanks for your reply though!

[NessIllustration]

@Jeremy-Ross Oh that's too bad! Well then if you're building a Wordpress site, what I'd recommend is to get Elementor Pro with their lightweight free theme Hello Elementor. Elementor is a drag and drop block page builder that makes building sites easy, intuitive and gives you 100$ control

[sisimite.azul]

Does anyone know how Wordpress, Photodeck and Sqarespace compare to Wix?

[Jeremy Ross]

Thank you for the recommendation @NessIllustration!