Templated websites are perfect if you are into plug-and-play work spaces. They are also great if you aren't the creative type and don’t really care about having the same website as other businesses. I’m not saying that templates look bad because I’ve seen so many cool templates out there. They are one of the best places to look for inspiration. I’m just saying that it’s better to be unique and capture your brand’s personality with a custom built, creatively designed website.
If getting your website up as quick as possible is your biggest priority, it’s better to launch a landing page that sends your message with no possible way for your visitors to see the rest of your incomplete website. This is way easier to do with a clean slate, and it will end up making your organization look more original. Who says you can’t start now AND start perfectly at the same time?
There are so many things that can go wrong when using a template for your website. For instance, you might forget or be unaware that there are some pages that haven’t been updated with your info or brand identity when your website launches which leads to confusion for your visitors when they stumble upon that page(s).
Another negative when using a template is licensing all of the images that were used in the template. If you forget to license an image, you could be looking at some serious lawsuits. The good news is most templates have instructions for licensing the images. The bad news is most sources make you pay for using their content or require you to link to their website which takes away from owning 100% of your brand’s space. We understand the importance of backlinks and how it affects search engine optimization, but we will never put our brand on your website for our own benefit.
Finally, plugging your info and style into a template might end up being more work than starting from a style guide and a blank canvas. Replacing every single detail in a large template is time-consuming and requires very precise attention to detail. By the time all of your info is in place of the "Lorem Ipsum" placeholders and the random images are swapped with yours, you could have been up and running without worrying about anything you may have missed if you chose to start from scratch.
If you really do want a templated website, I suggest you learn how to tweak it yourself to avoid spending more than you have already spent on the template itself. If you don’t want to take the time to learn, I know a few people who use templated sites for their clients and I would be happy to refer you to them. However, if you would rather have a unique website that reflects your business instead of someone else’s, I’d be happy to help!
