How to Sell Digital Templates for Websites and Graphics
Selling digital templates for websites and graphics is an exciting way to turn your design skills into a profitable business. If you’re a web designer or graphic artist looking to create passive income by selling templates, this guide will walk you through the process—from choosing the types of templates to sell to pricing them correctly, finding the right marketplace, and marketing them effectively.
Let’s get started!
Types of Digital Templates to Sell
Before you jump into selling digital templates, it’s essential to decide what types of templates you want to create. There are many options to choose from, and your choice will largely depend on your strengths as a designer and the demands of the market.
HTML Website Templates
HTML website templates are popular among developers and businesses who need customizable designs for their websites. These templates usually include HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that buyers can modify to suit their needs.
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Why HTML templates? They offer flexibility for developers and are highly customizable. Plus, many website owners prefer HTML templates because they’re fast, lightweight, and don't require a content management system (CMS).
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Popular uses: Small businesses, landing pages, portfolios, and corporate websites.
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Design tips: Ensure your templates are responsive, cross-browser compatible, and optimized for speed. Buyers are looking for designs that not only look good but also function well across all devices.
WordPress Themes
WordPress themes are an evergreen market, especially with WordPress being the most popular CMS. Selling a WordPress theme means you're offering users a package of files (including PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) that they can install on their WordPress site to change its appearance and functionality.
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Why WordPress themes? The WordPress ecosystem is huge, with millions of websites built on the platform. The market is always open for new and innovative themes, especially niche themes (e.g., themes for restaurants, photographers, or bloggers).
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Popular uses: Personal blogs, portfolios, e-commerce sites, business websites.
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Design tips: Focus on niche markets and ensure your themes are user-friendly. Most WordPress users aren’t developers, so ease of use and documentation are key.
Shopify Themes
With the growth of e-commerce, Shopify has become one of the leading platforms for online stores. Selling Shopify themes can be a lucrative business, especially since online retailers are constantly looking for fresh and modern designs to make their stores stand out.
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Why Shopify themes? Shopify powers over a million businesses worldwide, and its user base continues to grow. Creating templates for this platform means you’re targeting a large and expanding audience.
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Popular uses: Online stores for fashion, beauty, electronics, and digital products.
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Design tips: Focus on e-commerce optimization. Ensure that your templates are mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and include essential e-commerce features like product filters and shopping carts.
Graphic Templates (Logos, Social Media Posts, etc.)
If you’re more into graphic design than web development, creating graphic templates can be a great way to sell digital products. These include logo designs, social media post templates, business card templates, flyer templates, and much more.
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Why graphic templates? Businesses, marketers, and individuals constantly need professional-looking graphics but often lack the time or skill to create them. Offering ready-made templates allows them to easily customize designs to suit their needs.
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Popular uses: Social media marketing, branding, promotional materials.
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Design tips: Keep your templates clean and customizable. Ensure that the layers in your files (especially in Photoshop or Illustrator templates) are well-organized and labeled to make editing easy for buyers.
UI/UX Kits
UI/UX kits are a great product to sell to designers and developers working on mobile apps or websites. These kits usually include pre-made user interface elements (buttons, forms, menus, etc.) that can be reused in different projects.
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Why UI/UX kits? As the demand for app and web development grows, so does the need for high-quality, reusable UI/UX components. Designers and developers are always looking for ways to save time, and a well-made UI/UX kit can provide them with the building blocks they need.
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Popular uses: Mobile apps, web apps, SaaS platforms.
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Design tips: Focus on usability. The elements in your kit should be easy to integrate into existing designs. Consider including both dark and light versions, as well as detailed documentation on how to use the components.
Best Marketplaces for Template Sales
Once you've created your digital templates, the next step is choosing the right marketplace to sell them. There are many platforms available, each with its own set of features, audience, and pricing structure. Let’s explore some of the best options.
1. ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest digital marketplaces for website templates, themes, and more. It’s part of the Envato Market, which also includes marketplaces for other digital products like audio, video, and graphics.
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Why ThemeForest? It has a massive audience and an established reputation, which means high visibility for your products. However, competition can be fierce, so your templates need to stand out.
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Best for: HTML website templates, WordPress themes, Shopify themes.
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Pros:
- Large audience.
- Well-established marketplace.
- Marketing and promotion by Envato.
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Cons:
- High competition.
- Revenue split (Envato takes a percentage of each sale).
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Pro Tip: Focus on creating niche products. Rather than trying to compete with the thousands of generic themes, find a niche (e.g., real estate, SaaS websites) and dominate it.
2. Creative Market
Creative Market is another popular platform for selling digital assets, including website templates, graphics, fonts, and more. Unlike ThemeForest, Creative Market has a more design-focused community, which can be great for selling graphic templates.
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Why Creative Market? It’s a great platform for designers who want to sell both web and graphic templates. Creative Market also has a more flexible pricing structure, giving you more control over your products.
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Best for: Graphic templates, UI/UX kits, social media post templates.
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Pros:
- Designer-focused community.
- Flexible pricing structure.
- No exclusivity (you can sell on other platforms too).
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Cons:
- Smaller audience than ThemeForest.
- Less marketing support.
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Pro Tip: Bundle your products to offer more value. For example, create a package that includes social media templates, Instagram stories, and Facebook post templates, all in one.
3. Etsy
Etsy is primarily known for handmade goods, but it’s also a great marketplace for selling digital products, including graphic design templates. It has a large audience of small business owners, marketers, and DIYers looking for easy-to-use templates.
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Why Etsy? Etsy’s audience is different from the more tech-savvy buyers on ThemeForest or Creative Market. If you create templates that are easy for non-designers to customize (like logos, social media posts, or invitations), Etsy can be a profitable platform.
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Best for: Graphic templates, social media templates, branding kits.
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Pros:
- Large audience of non-tech-savvy buyers.
- Easy to use and set up a shop.
- Low listing fees.
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Cons:
- Lower price expectations from buyers.
- Limited audience for more complex web templates.
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Pro Tip: Focus on designs that appeal to small business owners and personal brands. For example, ready-made branding kits (logo, business card, social media templates) can be popular on Etsy.
4. Gumroad
Gumroad is a platform designed to help creators sell digital products directly to their audience. It’s a simple and user-friendly platform, ideal for those who already have a following and want more control over their sales.
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Why Gumroad? Gumroad is perfect for designers who want to avoid the competition of larger marketplaces and sell directly to their audience. It’s also great if you want to sell on multiple platforms at once since Gumroad doesn’t require exclusivity.
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Best for: All types of templates.
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Pros:
- Direct-to-consumer sales.
- Easy to use and low fees.
- No exclusivity required.
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Cons:
- You need to drive your own traffic (Gumroad doesn’t have a built-in audience).
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Pro Tip: Use Gumroad in combination with other platforms to sell directly to your email list or social media followers. It’s also a great platform to offer discounts, bundles, or exclusive products to your loyal fans.
5. Your Own Website
Selling templates directly from your own website gives you the most control and allows you to keep 100% of the profits. However, it also means you’re responsible for driving traffic to your site and handling the technical aspects of selling.
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Why sell on your own website? If you’ve built a loyal audience (through a blog, social media, or email list), selling directly from your own website can be highly profitable. You won’t have to compete with other sellers, and you can set your own prices.
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Best for: All types of templates.
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Pros:
- Keep all profits.
- Full control over branding and pricing.
- No competition from other sellers.
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Cons:
- You need to drive traffic to your site.
- Requires more setup (e.g., payment gateways, product listings).
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Pro Tip: If you go this route, consider using platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce to handle the e-commerce side of things. Make sure your site is optimized for SEO to attract organic traffic.
Pricing and Licensing Tips
Pricing your digital templates can be tricky. You want to ensure that your products are affordable enough to attract buyers but high enough to reflect the value of your work. Similarly, licensing plays a crucial role in how buyers can use your templates.
Pricing Strategies
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Research the Competition: Start by looking at what similar products are selling for on the marketplace you’ve chosen. This will give you a ballpark idea of what buyers are willing to pay.
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Consider the Complexity of Your Template: More complex templates, such as a full-featured WordPress theme or a large UI kit, can be priced higher than simpler products like social media graphics or business card templates.
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Offer Multiple Price Points: Many marketplaces allow you to offer different pricing tiers based on usage rights. For example, you could offer a personal license (for individuals) at a lower price and a commercial license (for businesses) at a higher price.
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Bundle Your Products: Offering bundles (e.g., a set of 10 social media post templates or a full website UI kit) can increase the perceived value of your products and encourage buyers to spend more.
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Offer Discounts: Periodically offering discounts or promotions can help boost sales, especially if you’re launching a new product or trying to drive traffic during a slow period.
Licensing Tips
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Decide Between Personal and Commercial Licenses: Many marketplaces allow you to offer two types of licenses: personal (for individual use) and commercial (for business use). Personal licenses are usually cheaper and restrict the buyer from using the template for commercial purposes.
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Consider Extended Licenses: Some designers also offer extended licenses, which allow buyers to use the template in multiple projects or for resale purposes. These licenses can be priced significantly higher than standard licenses.
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Be Clear About Usage Rights: Ensure that your buyers understand what they can and cannot do with your templates. For example, can they use your template for multiple projects? Can they resell it to their own clients? Clear licensing terms can prevent misunderstandings and legal issues down the line.
Marketing Strategies for Designers
Creating high-quality templates is only half the battle. To make sales, you need to market your products effectively. Here are some marketing strategies to help you get your templates in front of the right audience.
1. Build a Portfolio Website
Having a portfolio website where you showcase your work is essential for marketing yourself as a designer. Your website should include examples of your templates, client testimonials, and an easy way for visitors to purchase or contact you.
- Pro Tip: Optimize your portfolio site for SEO by using relevant keywords (e.g., "HTML templates for sale" or "buy Shopify themes") and blogging about design-related topics to attract organic traffic.
2. Leverage Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for reaching potential buyers. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Behance are especially useful for showcasing your design work.
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Instagram: Use Instagram to showcase your templates visually. Share carousel posts that highlight different features of your templates or behind-the-scenes content about your design process.
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Pinterest: Pinterest is a highly visual platform that can drive significant traffic to your product listings. Create eye-catching pins that link back to your marketplace or portfolio site.
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Behance: Behance is a platform specifically for designers to showcase their portfolios. It’s a great place to build credibility and get discovered by potential clients or buyers.
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Pro Tip: Use hashtags and keywords to increase the visibility of your posts on these platforms. Engage with other designers and potential buyers by commenting, liking, and sharing relevant content.
3. Grow an Email List
Building an email list is one of the most effective ways to market your products. By collecting email addresses from your website visitors, you can keep them updated on new products, sales, and promotions.
- Pro Tip: Offer a freebie (e.g., a free template or design resource) in exchange for signing up to your email list. This gives visitors an incentive to join, and you can nurture them into paying customers over time.
4. Collaborate with Influencers
Collaborating with influencers or bloggers in your niche can help you reach a broader audience. For example, you could partner with a design blogger to feature your templates in a blog post or collaborate with an Instagram influencer to promote your products to their followers.
- Pro Tip: Look for influencers who have an audience that aligns with your target market. For example, if you’re selling Shopify themes, collaborating with an e-commerce influencer could be a great fit.
5. Run Paid Ads
If you have the budget, running paid ads can help drive traffic to your product listings or website. Facebook and Instagram ads are especially effective for targeting specific audiences based on their interests and demographics.
- Pro Tip: Start with a small budget and experiment with different ad creatives and audiences. Track your results and adjust your strategy based on what’s working.
6. Offer Discounts and Promotions
Running limited-time promotions or offering discount codes can help create a sense of urgency and drive sales. You can promote these discounts through your email list, social media channels, and marketplaces.
- Pro Tip: Consider running a promotion around major holidays or events (e.g., Black Friday, Cyber Monday) when people are more likely to make purchases.
By following this guide, you’ll be well on your way to selling digital templates for websites and graphics. The key to success is creating high-quality, in-demand templates, choosing the right marketplace, pricing them strategically, and marketing them effectively.
Remember, it may take time to build up a steady stream of sales, but with persistence and the right approach, selling digital templates can be a profitable and rewarding business. Now, go out there and start creating!