When it comes to building a website, there are two big categories that you need to be concerned about: functionality and design. The former takes priority, but depends heavily on the latter. You might be wondering how web templates fit into all of this. What exactly can templates do in order to affect website traffic, and why should they be taken into account when it comes to designing a website?
They speak to the user about your website
When a user accesses your website, the way it looks is the first thing that they see. First impressions are always invaluable, and making sure that your users are greeted by the proper environment, relevant to your message, is how you make them stay.
If a platform’s design does not match the message they’re preaching or the product they’re selling, users will immediately become skeptical in regards to the legitimacy of that platform. For instance, if you’re looking for legal counseling, you are probably not going to trust a platform that looks goofy or just out of date, as opposed to one that looks modern, professional and trustworthy. A website that handles credit repair reviews will look pretty different from one that sells baby food. Creating the appropriate environment for your site’s content is key.
Great for beginners or people in a hurry
Designing your website’s visuals from scratch can take a long time. If you’re new at this or don’t want to spend a lot of money on hiring other people to do it for you, then a web template can give you what you need on the spot. The same goes for people that just don’t have the time to work on their own fully fledged design scheme. Using a template can be a very quick and easy solution for getting the website up and running as soon as possible.
Good source of inspiration
Creating a website’s design scheme takes more than just time and money. It also takes creativity. If you have no clue about how a website should look, browsing through some really well done web templates can help you find what you were looking for.
Sometimes it’s not about the initial design of a platform. Maybe you’ve been operating your website for some time, and as of late it feels really out of date. Templates can help you get a sense of what is currently considered “modern” or “in style” when it comes to web design. Keep in mind that this isn’t about being fashionable, but about providing users with the kind of experience they want.
Making the right choice
Simply picking out a template that you think looks cool is not enough. You must make sure that it’s the right one for your website and that it will impact it positively. We’ve already went over the importance of having a concordance between platform and template, but it’s worth noting that failing to achieve it also yields results (just not the kind you’d want).
The most important downside of not choosing your template properly is that people will think that you don’t know what you are doing. It might sound silly, but because you cannot properly asses what template characteristics embody your business, users will consider that you don’t know that much about the business in the first place.
In conclusion, there are many benefits to using web templates, as they the power to speed up development, reduce costs and compel visitors to your site to stick around. Knowing how to use the proper templates and using your available options to your advantage is what can turn a good website into a great website.
