Web Marketing Matt | 07 Aug 2008 09:08 pm
SEO Web Design Templates
A canned website doesn’t have to be horrible
I’m putting together some new marketing websites and need to come up with a design. I can either pay a designer or find a premade template. In past years, website templates have looked very unprofessional. I started looking around at the current state of website templates and am impressed with the stylish xhtml/css options at Template World. They offer some solid free selections, I’m going ahead with the $50 bucks for the members section since the templates are so good.
Adding some spices
With any of the templates I pick here, I’m going to take a little time to tweek things. Template World doesn’t take the same approach as other template sites. They offer a relatively small number of higher end templates rather than countless thousands of low end templates like the other guys. So I’m not going to be able to find a template that has everything where I want it but with a little css work and some istock photo shopping I’m get something really slick.
on 08 Aug 2008 at %H:%M 1.neil said …
im not a fan of web templates, i find you can usually spot them a mile off!
on 09 Aug 2008 at %H:%M 2.Matt said …
I’m usually not a fan of templates either. I do think the recent xhtml/css templates at Template World are worth a look though. Of course if someone cares about having their own brand, a template isn’t going to cut it. But if it’s just a site to share information and maybe make a few bucks off of advertising, or a site that’s an affiliate for a retailer, then I think a template could work fine. I wouldn’t suggest a template for most clients but for personal projects, I think it’s good to be able to crank stuff out fairly easily. I can’t come up with a design concept to save my life but I think I’m ok at editing someone else’s design.
on 09 Oct 2008 at %H:%M 3.Mike | SEO Web Design said …
For many people out there, templates are the best option for their budget. That’s when you have to get creative. I’d stay away from most template sites, but there are a few worth looking at especially if you are going to use a CMS. Pick up a nice looking template like one of those listed at Smashing Magazine (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/08/100-excellent-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes/) and you’re on your way to a fairly unique look. Have a couple hundred to spend, hire a designer for a couple hours and have him change the background image and logo. Then off to istockphoto or vectorstock and pickup some new icons for the site for $20-$50.
That will give you a much more unique design for your site and you’re out maybe $300. Templates should never be used if budget allows, but it’s better than nothing.
Cheers,
Mike =)
on 04 Jul 2009 at %H:%M 4.Techdesigns - web design said …
I’ve never used template designs, but can understand why some SMEs choose to – OK a web designer will spot them a mile off, but the average customer for a small business will just think that it’s a nice looking website (depending on the template). If it saves them money, and gets them a great looking site, then I don’t see the problem. I just don’t use them as 1. It kinda makes me think “what are they paying me for?” if I’m just buying a design for them on their behalf. and 2. It’s often easier just to design your own, rather than modify someone else’s design – takes a while to work out how they’ve designed/coded it and adjust it so that it still works.