You see them everywhere, generic templates! Just do a search on Google or Yahoo and see how many sites are selling them and more interestingly, selling the same templates. Let's look at the pros and cons of using templates.
Pros
1. Fast development time, they usually contain everything you need minus the content.
2. Templates are inexpensive and very cost effective to get a site up.
3. Graphics editing can be done in a photo editor like Photoshop.
4. They have a clean, uniform look. Keep in mind these templates have been designed by professionals and attention to detail is very good, if not excellent.
Cons
1. In most cases you do not have exclusive rights to the template.
2. Your site will have a template look. It's important to have a site that is original and portrays your business image.
3. If your site becomes successful, there is nothing to stop your competitor from copying your site. This could lead to lost sales because of brand confusion.
The cost of web development can be expensive. Keep in mind; you want a site that customers can identify your company, with a distinct look and feel. I would recommend you seek the advice of a web developer to design at minimum, a template that portrays your business image using your graphics and company colors.
Copyright 2005 Terry Henry (Henry Marketing and Development), all rights reserved
About the Author
Terry Henry is operations manager for Hendev Group (Henry Marketing and Development)specializing in web development, hosting and online publishing.
www.hendev.com Terry can be reached at terry@hendev.com
