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How to identify template based designs

kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
edited July 2008 in Building A Website That Works
People say that template based designs should be avoided. How do you go about identifying if a particular site is template based?
By the way, what are the drawbacks?
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Comments

  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10

    A designer would be glad to make custom designs for a premium charge. My question is in spite of paying a good chunk of money, I could possibly be duped into a template design - so how do I make sure that the designer has actually made a custom design and not used a template..
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  • VideographyVideography subscriber Posts: 401 Silver Level Member
    Templates are only a starting point.  Why do you want to pay a designer to re-invent the basics of the web site?  It`s like buying a custom home.  You look at sample plans and elevations then the designer adds your personal touches, then the house gets built.Just make sure that your designer and you understand what is expected from your site at launch and in the future.
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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
    Thanks Steve!
    I read somewhere that template designs do not fare well in the search engines - hence the question. But yeah it depends how much "template-ish" it is.
     
    I contacted some designers and they said that it is 100% custom designs and no templates are used  - so I guess there is nothing known as 100% custom desgin.
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    I read somewhere that template designs do not fare well in the search engines - hence the question. But yeah it depends how much "template-ish" it is.

     
    A template based website, can be just as search engine friendly as any other website. There is nothing wrong with using a template as a basis for a website.
     
    ~Roland
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40

    A designer would be glad to make custom designs for a premium charge. My question is in spite of paying a good chunk of money, I could possibly be duped into a template design - so how do I make sure that the designer has actually made a custom design and not used a template..
     
    If the web design and resulting template accomplish what you need and the price is mutually agreed upon, why does it matter if some or even all of the site is based upon a template or even a premade script?
     
    ~Roland
    vwebworld7/11/2008 10:48 PM
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  • VideographyVideography subscriber Posts: 401 Silver Level Member
    When you select a designer, make sure that final payment depends on the critique from your peers.  Then let us have a shot at it.You can also find site developers in the marketplace on SUN (Roland is there, I think).
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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10


    A designer would be glad to make custom designs for a premium charge. My question is in spite of paying a good chunk of money, I could possibly be duped into a template design - so how do I make sure that the designer has actually made a custom design and not used a template..  If the web design and resulting template accomplish what you need and the price is mutually agreed upon, why does it matter if some or even all of the site is based upon a template or even a premade script? ~Roland

    Well  - I was under the notion that templates do not do well in SEO - hence the topic..Thanks for clarifying this.
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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
    Thanks all for the info....
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  • WeblineWebline subscriber Posts: 13 Bronze Level Member

    Templates often have clean coding, and SEO can easily be implemented, as well as minor changes for customization. The look you want, and the amount of customization needed to get what you want, can be deciding factors of template vs custom made.
    There are also thousands of templates that have intricate designs so that you aren`t going with generic/bland looks. It is usually fairly easy to add additional scripting as well.


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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
    So if I have a pretty good idea of how the site should look like (pretty close to an existing site), is it easy for the designer to use the existing one as a template (even if he has not designed the existing one)
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  • VideographyVideography subscriber Posts: 401 Silver Level Member
    The warnings you received may be from people who are stuck with a `what you see is all you get` template provided by their host.  If your host doesn`t provide FTP access to your website, look for another host.
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  • WeblineWebline subscriber Posts: 13 Bronze Level Member

    If you have a good idea or example, a designer can follow it and get pretty close to it; however, flat-out copying an existing custom made site shouldn`t be done, IMO. Use what`s there as an example or guideline, but make the changes to fit your site concept and make it unique.
    Using templates promotes the concept of using whats there, as is, if needed, but you can modify as much as you want.
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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
    Thanks M Hall!
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  • kjohrikjohri subscriber Posts: 10
    The warnings you received may be from people who are stuck with a `what you see is all you get` template provided by their host.  If your host doesn`t provide FTP access to your website, look for another host.


    Hi Steve,
    Could you elaborate more on the FTP access issue? I have not found a host yet but would like to know more about what you mentioned.
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