How to Choose a Website Template?

With thousands of website templates to choose from, it can be a daunting task trying to find the right one for your site. This article will break down some key component you should consider when choosing a template for your website.

Website Purpose

Before you begin searching through thousands of website templates, think about the intended purpose of your website and what you want people to do when they arrive at your website. Decide how many pages you want and where you want the navigation menu.

If your site is informational, you would focus on searching for a theme that allows you to present text in a way that is easy to read and easy to find key information. In this case the layout of the template would be an important factor for you. The layout should present the information in an intuitive way so that it flows naturally. Patrons to your site don’t want to spend time searching for the information they want. The right layout can make or break your site.

If you are creating a site to sell products or services, you want a template that will easily allow you to upload products and product descriptions. A more professional, modern theme would add credibility to your products. Color scheme can play an important role in selling products. Look at how the template uses color and find out how easy it is to change colors on the template. Colors have meaning such as; red means stop and green means go. Consider how these colors are used in the template and how they will affect your products.

Customizing

After you decide the intent of your site and what you want people to do on your site, consider how much work will have to be done to modify the template to your desired specifications. There are so many choices that if you take your time, you can find a template that is very close to what you want the final product to look like. However, no matter how close the template is, there will be work required. Can you do it? If not, what support is offered? Most themes offer details that will tell you what software is required. If you are familiar with each item and you already have it installed, then you can assume that you could easily customize that template. Remember that customizing means enhancing the theme and tailoring it to reflect your brand. If you have to do a complete redesign, that template is not for you.

The “Feel” of Your Site

Every website has a certain “feel” to it. Browse the internet for sites that are similar to yours. What do you feel when you click through the site? Is it sleek and professional, is it quirky and whimsical, or comforting and relaxing. Consider an artist, a daycare for toddlers and a massage therapist. All are offering independent contract work but an artist might choose a sleek and professional site if selling original art for hundreds of dollars, a daycare would want to give the impression of being fun and silly, while the massage therapist might want a relaxing and soothing theme for their site. Most themes will allow you to view a demo. Make sure you take the time to do this and really ask yourself, does this theme give off the “feel” that I’m looking for?

Price

Website templates can vary in price by hundreds of dollars. You may find yourself asking "are the expensive templates really worth the extra money"? I think it depends. If the theme and layout fit with what you are looking for and there will not be much customization involved, then yes it is worth it. Especially considering this is a one-time fee and you are already saving thousands by building a website yourself instead of using an expensive design company. All in all, you should have a clear plan in place, take your time to find the right template and relax. Creating the website of your dreams, should be fun!

--I'm ready, take me to website templates!