Copywriting Article : Website Templates

Word Count: 566

Call any professional website designer for a custom website design quote, and you're going to hear prices starting around $650.00 and ending upwards of $15,000. For large companies, this may be a sufficient way to spend a technology budget, but for the small business or startup, this is simply not feasible or realistic. As compared to website templates, many wonder what exactly $15,000 provides in the form of bells and whistles, originality, code validation and design that a website template does not. The simple truth is that aside from the possibility that a few of the 40 million active sites online may possess similar features, the answer is nothing.

Website templates are professionally designed website layouts that are available for sale to multiple purchasers. The most obvious benefit of website templates is a savings in cost as most are available for less than $100. The designer, who resells his professional work to multiple buyers, is still paid a salary comparable to what a custom design would net, and in return, each buyer is provided with an affordable website design. The buyer only needs to modify the template's content and photos (if they so choose) to have a professional design for a fraction of the custom website design cost.

Aside from the cost advantages associated with purchasing website templates, there are also implied benefits of website templates. For example,

• Designers are knowledgeable on what it takes to stand out from the crowd, and the website templates offered reflect not only their design talents, but also their professionalism and personal touch.
• These designs are typically tested with HTML validators and on multiple browsers to ensure that website visitors see the site the way the designer expects them to.
• Most website templates are easy to modify and customize to the buyer's exact needs using tools such at Frontpage, Dreamweaver or a standard HTML editor.
• With over 40 million websites out there, the chance of seeing the exact, duplicated design on the web is minimal.
• Templates free the buyer to focus on their website content, not the design.

There are also some disadvantages to using website templates.

• The first and most important caveat to note before purchasing a template is that a bit of experience in HTML is often required in the template modification. Of course tools such as Frontpage and Dreamweaver can alleviate a lot of this pain, but you as the template owner are ultimately responsible for its customization after the template purchase. A few companies also offer low cost website template customization to help the inexperienced but their numbers are few.
• There is also an increased chance of duplication with templates. Remember that if you like the design, so might your competitor so always check their site's layout before your purchase. You want to stand out to your site visitor, which is difficult if you look just like your competitors.

Whether or not to choose a website template versus a custom website design is based on specific online needs. Website templates are an affordable way to look professional and to get on the web in minimal time and with minimal effort. Although they lack uniqueness and can be difficult to modify without the proper software and/or experience in HTML, in the end this low-cost solution provides you with a professionally designed website that is comparable to a custom made solution.