Whilst having a template website is an inexpensive method of achieving a web presence, there are a number of drawbacks that need to be borne in mind if you choose to take this |course of action.
Its often very obvious that the website you are looking at has been made up from a template. They often simply look amateurish and sometimes are just ugly. It is a much more cost-effective scheme to find a professional website designer who will formulate a low cost and affordable website design that best suits your companys requirements.
Templates are designed for you and not your customers, whereas custom-built websites are specific to your companys goals, products and services. The person who designed the template originally, had nothing to do with you, they never spoke to you, asked you a single question about what most matters about your company or the specific USP that makes your company unique.
The only criterion for your selection is based upon what you think looks appropriate, but unless you have expertise in the field of design, you could potentially be making a huge error in judgement.
Many suppliers of template websites try to sell their product as being complete websites that can be used out of the box, but if this is the case and the content is so generic that it can be applied to any business, then in terms of search engine optimisation, the value has to be fairly low.
It is true that template providers offer the ability to edit or delete the generic content, but what is the point in starting with a template that has to be completely reorganised prior to adding content? This just equates to more work! Indeed, the time spent in customising a template website by entering the appropriate changes, will take you close to the time it would take to create a custom design that is entirely appropriate. Therefore, the benefits of a custom website are obvious.
Many of the templated website designs come with content managed systems to add and adjust your content. This is not a terrible thing if the CMS is tough enough to allow you to do all the things you want to do to the site and still achieve a good ranking, but many of the systems are not flexible and the operators of template sites are not going to change their system to suit you. For example, if you want to add a blog to your website and the template does not include this, you will just have to forget it.
Turning to branding, with custom web design, the process of the design should start with the logo design and then progress to the actual web design itself, but with template websites, often there is a placeholder for a fairly generic logo and of course this will not work effectively as far as your company branding is concerned.
If you select a template website with flashy and unnecessary distractions in all the inappropriate places on the site and with no proper emphasis on the vitally important features of your company, then you could very easily miss out on what you could really gain from a properly designed website which will be consistent with branding and send clear marketing messages by incorporating relevant design features on the site.
Frequently, template websites are designed with many different features that are there to woo you into thinking they are appropriate for your needs, such as having sounds, varying icons and different gadgets. Good website design does not have to rely on this, as it is the content that will be, or at least should be, juicy to search engine robots.
Template web designs often feature far too much flash, which may well wow you in terms of visual effects, but websites should not look like slot machines. Being subtle will present your company in a much better light to potential customers.
If the template website you are using contains illegal images, then technically the responsibility is yours. A potential copyright problem could cost your company a great deal of money if a lawsuit should ensue.
To conclude, the best way to promote your company in a professional manner is to find a website designer who will listen to you about your companys needs and requirements by offering cheap website design that will best serve you to reach potential customers for your business.
Its often very obvious that the website you are looking at has been made up from a template. They often simply look amateurish and sometimes are just ugly. It is a much more cost-effective scheme to find a professional website designer who will formulate a low cost and affordable website design that best suits your companys requirements.
Templates are designed for you and not your customers, whereas custom-built websites are specific to your companys goals, products and services. The person who designed the template originally, had nothing to do with you, they never spoke to you, asked you a single question about what most matters about your company or the specific USP that makes your company unique.
The only criterion for your selection is based upon what you think looks appropriate, but unless you have expertise in the field of design, you could potentially be making a huge error in judgement.
Many suppliers of template websites try to sell their product as being complete websites that can be used out of the box, but if this is the case and the content is so generic that it can be applied to any business, then in terms of search engine optimisation, the value has to be fairly low.
It is true that template providers offer the ability to edit or delete the generic content, but what is the point in starting with a template that has to be completely reorganised prior to adding content? This just equates to more work! Indeed, the time spent in customising a template website by entering the appropriate changes, will take you close to the time it would take to create a custom design that is entirely appropriate. Therefore, the benefits of a custom website are obvious.
Many of the templated website designs come with content managed systems to add and adjust your content. This is not a terrible thing if the CMS is tough enough to allow you to do all the things you want to do to the site and still achieve a good ranking, but many of the systems are not flexible and the operators of template sites are not going to change their system to suit you. For example, if you want to add a blog to your website and the template does not include this, you will just have to forget it.
Turning to branding, with custom web design, the process of the design should start with the logo design and then progress to the actual web design itself, but with template websites, often there is a placeholder for a fairly generic logo and of course this will not work effectively as far as your company branding is concerned.
If you select a template website with flashy and unnecessary distractions in all the inappropriate places on the site and with no proper emphasis on the vitally important features of your company, then you could very easily miss out on what you could really gain from a properly designed website which will be consistent with branding and send clear marketing messages by incorporating relevant design features on the site.
Frequently, template websites are designed with many different features that are there to woo you into thinking they are appropriate for your needs, such as having sounds, varying icons and different gadgets. Good website design does not have to rely on this, as it is the content that will be, or at least should be, juicy to search engine robots.
Template web designs often feature far too much flash, which may well wow you in terms of visual effects, but websites should not look like slot machines. Being subtle will present your company in a much better light to potential customers.
If the template website you are using contains illegal images, then technically the responsibility is yours. A potential copyright problem could cost your company a great deal of money if a lawsuit should ensue.
To conclude, the best way to promote your company in a professional manner is to find a website designer who will listen to you about your companys needs and requirements by offering cheap website design that will best serve you to reach potential customers for your business.
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