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Quick, Effective Web Design: Templates?

By: Todd Levi

Article Word Count: 1074 words  [Comments (0)]
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We have all seen the websites online that sell template web



designs for various business industries. Are these worth using?



The answer may be different for everyone.







When deciding on a web design it is important to know your



competition. What do you like about there site? What could be



done better? Are there certain aspects of the site that would



appeal visually? Are there certain aspects of a competitor's



site that have helped in organic SEO/SEM? Are there certain



aspects/offers on a competitor's site that may draw people in? I



think these are all important factors to keep in mind when



visiting the competition in the pre-web design phase. However,



this article is going to focus on another aspect: Namely, is



there repetition in style amongst your competition? If you where



starting a business to rival NetFlix & Blockbuster movie rentals



online, you would immediately become aware that the two look



very much identical except for the color scheme. In a similar



respect, you may even find two websites using the exact same



design in the same industry. Then you may find the exact same



web design on a web design template site! This situation is the



low point of template web design buying. If you decide to use a



template (and I will argue that sometimes this is the way to go)



you MUST KNOW YOUR COMPETITION!







If nothing else, template web design can spark ideas. There are



many template sites out there like BoxedArt.com and



TemplateMonster.com, and even a variety of free ones, with



decent web site designs. When browsing through these sites it



can be very helpful for sparking the idea in your head of what



you may want your web design project to be like. Adversely, many



of the templates found are also very generic to a certain point.



There tends to be an overwhelmingly corporate feel to a high



percentage of templates on the market. Not all web designs call



for a corporate look but just simply need to look professional



to gain credibility. Take aspects that work from different



designs and merge them with the current identity you are looking



for. Don't get carried away with this process though, if you



take away a little from each one you may get a very disorienting



look and feel to the site as each design may vary. Likewise,



when I say take it is important to emphasize that I am not



talking about stealing. These template designers have spent time



and expect return, however if you find a font you like and match



something as simple as this to a similar font that would fit in



with your design then use the idea. Don't directly take images



or color layouts. This browsing of templates for ideas is very



much like browsing your competitor's websites for ideas and



scoping the market.







If you are looking at purchasing a template make sure to follow



these guidelines: 1. Know that your competitors are not using



this template. If you are a national chain, you will probably



not be reading this as you may very well have your own unique



design team. For everyone else, how far does your competition



boundary spread? If you own a local hot dog stand, you may only



have a handful of competitors in your area that are branding



themselves. Buying a template that can be purchased by the



public even after you purchase it may be ok in this instance if



the hot dog template is a great design. In this case it would be



a perfect fit for a low priced design that may be high quality.



If however you may run into multi-state or national competition



for your product then you may opt against the generic template



as a foundation to your design. 2. Make sure the template is



only the foundation to your web design building. This may mean



that you use the overall structure of the design, but change all



the graphics to make the design more personalized. Often times



this also means that you will change the color scheme to fit



with your current identity or logo. Also, maybe only a portion



of the template should be used. Does it have a great looking



header or search box, but the rest of the site is left to be



desired? 3. Always make sure to follow the guidelines of the



company your purchase your web design template from. This is



important as certain amount of "redesign" of the template is



most likely expected in the user agreement.







Templates certainly are not for everyone, however when small



business owners are just trying to get there feet wet online, a



template may be the best choice. They are typically professional



looking, well thought out (in many industry themes), require



less knowledge to build from than a web design from scratch and



most certainly more affordable than starting a web design from



scratch.







As a side note: There are many web template sites out there that



also sell limited download web design templates for a little



more money. These are templates that once purchased a few or one



time are taken from the template library and now longer



available for purchase. These can keep branding in house and



save time and money if the design is what you are looking for.



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