Examining Web Template Design Value: Free vs. Affordable

What’s the first thing you notice as you peruse the World Wide Web and the countless millions of websites that populate it? Yes, you may notice that a few websites offer compelling, exciting, original design. You will certainly notice plenty that still feature the website design of your father’s generation. I’m half-joking here; after all the WWW is not all that old. But even so, five years in the iterations of web template design is an eternity! What you notice, above all else, is how many websites on the Web look almost exactly the same. Cookie-cutter appearance: this is the expression one might use to describe these web templates. There may exist a few distinctives, but overall, these web templates share the same general layouts and design schemes.

Why is this? Well, for one, it’s because not all that many people have original design ideas to introduce to the Web. Take web developers for instance: these people are highly skilled in developing interactive websites offering dynamic possibilities. But design? Well, let’s just say that one can’t be great at everything. These developers, for the most part, excel at just that- development. Not so much with design. And so it shouldn’t be surprising that the free web templates offered by people with this skill-set tend to leave a little to be desired.

Over the last few years there’s been a revolution in web templates and website design in general. This revolution is tied to the emergence of free CMS templates. These CMS (content management system) web templates are run through the open-source infrastructure of platforms such as Joomla!, WordPress, Drupal, etc. The great thing about these options is that less than savvy individuals can run a website successfully- without a true working knowledge of HTML. And on top of that, there are numerous web templates, or as they're sometimes referred to, "themes", to choose from that are offered at no cost. And as time goes on, there are more and more free web templates to choose from within the infrastructure of these various platforms. However, one thing you find in these free web templates, free CMS templates, free CSS templates, etc (these are usually terms all referencing the same kind of templates), is that the design options still feel a tad “cookie-cutter”. Even as more and more options exist, it often ends up feeling like "more of the same". Why is this?

Well, simply put, original design incorporates aspects such as texture and custom shapes- in addition to the standard color scheming you find in all websites. And unfortunately, these free web templates don’t usually offer any variety in terms of texture and custom shapes. This is largely because a professional image-altering software such as Adobe Photoshop is required to craft these various, textured colors and shapes. And the developers creating the free CMS templates, and free CSS templates you find offered online are not usually using Photoshop – or a related software equivalent – to create these custom aspects of a web template. And even if a developer has access to such software, this does not at all guarantee that they have the skill-set, design sensibility and vision to create these customized web template features.

Really, the website design skills you see featured in the Web’s most outstanding examples of stellar web template design are only held by a niche market of talented individuals. This is important to remember. If you find someone who advertises themselves as a professional website designer, developer, marketer, etc, chances are they are only really skilled in one or two of these aspects of development. You know the expression: “jack of all trades, master of none”? This adage is worth remembering when it comes to choosing a web template design.

So, what’s the deal, you ask? Why be so concerned that free web templates don’t tend to feature original, compelling, striking website design? Well, to answer that question why don’t we consider research that’s been done on the general population’s web-surfing activities? Such research suggests that the average web surfer makes a decision about the quality and validity of a website within the first few seconds of visiting it. That’s right- in the first few seconds! Here another old adage comes to mind: “You only get one chance to make a first impression”. One should remember this when choosing between free web templates and templates that are not necessarily free, but still very affordable. When someone visits your site you have just a few seconds to capture their interest. With the click of a mouse they can be gone- never to return. That’s why it’s so essential to impress them with a web template design that stands apart from the crowd.

Now, with that in mind, let’s reconsider free web templates and the other website design options available to you:

1.)  The first option available to you is one of those enticing “free web templates” available across the Web. Now, yes, the cost is certainly appealing. But are these free templates going to “communicate” something unique and compelling to your website visitors? Probably not. These free web templates are probably going to “say” something like: “you’ve seen this website before. There’s nothing original for you here”. Now, you might have the most compelling, original, relevant content in the world featured on your site. But remember, a website visitor is only going to stick around long enough to see that content if the original site impression impresses them enough to encourage further surfing.

2.) The second option available to you is custom website design. Now this option can certainly take care of the “first impression” factor. Although, even here one should remember that “you get what you pay for”. Custom web template design can run anywhere from $500 to $5000. Be warned, if someone’s selling their services on the low-end of this spectrum it’s probably because the design lacks a certain quality. Unfortunately, because it’s custom design, you might not actually realize this until it’s too late. On the other end of the price spectrum custom website design can produce something truly unique and truly extraordinary. But at a cost of thousands of dollars the cost factor becomes prohibitive for most individuals, small companies and organizations.

3.) Option number three are not free web templates, free CSS templates, etc, but web templates that are pre-formatted and offered at very reasonable prices. By reasonable I’m referring to top-class website template designs that are sold at anywhere between $30 and $70. While these web templates may not be free, they are certainly very affordable when compared with the option of custom website design. And yet, you still get the best that web template design has to offer. And unlike custom web design, with a pre-existing web template you can choose a design in its finished form. In other words, there’s no guess work involved. You still get the craftsmanship of a truly talented designer. But he or she covers costs by spreading the cost of that craftsmanship over numerous purchases rather than all in one go- with one client.

And just to give perspective here, you’re not going to have to worry about seeing that web template time and time again. We’re talking about web templates that are purchased 20 or 30 times in total. Now what are the chances that you or your clients, customers, or audience are going to come across that same template elsewhere on the Web? Remember, the WWW is made up of a population of hundreds and hundreds of millions of websites. You’re about as likely to be struck by lightning!

Free web templates! That’s a headline that might grab your attention. But in the end, perhaps free web templates aren’t not be so reasonable after all. Just think, what happens when the visitors to your website are consistently under-whelmed by your online presence? And what happens when your website offers nothing to distinguish it from the myriads of other sites populating the Web?

It’s fairly easy to see that the potential revenue or loyalty loss possible in such a scenario is something worth considering. Perhaps choosing from cookie-cutter, plain, under-whelming free web templates is not such a cost-effective decision after all? This is especially the case considering you can choose from such a diversity of not free, but very reasonably priced pre-formatted web templates. These are design formats that will impress your customers and/or audience with a website presence that is truly impacting and truly memorable. Isn’t it worth spending between $30 and $70 to give your website this kind of appeal?