While it’s fairly easy to design a website these days, one of the more challenging aspects is knowing how to choose the right template for your business needs and brand image. After staring at the many options you have in front of you, they can all start to look the same. Do you know what you’re searching for?
How Do You Know You’ve Found the Right Template?
Website templates are awesome. They give people with little-to-no experience the ability to design and develop sleek looking websites without any coding knowledge. Even web designers find value in templates, as they can help them streamline some of the time-consuming aspects of website development and spend more energy on customizing the most important features for their clients.
The problem is that there are so many different templates. Take Wix, one of the more popular website building platforms, as an example. There are more than 600 different Wix templates to choose from – all of which are free! If you want paid templates, there are even more options. Attempting to sort through these without any rhyme or reason is a good way to kill an entire workday.
What you really need is a system for choosing the right template for the right website. And even though your needs are probably different from the next person’s, most individuals find it helpful to filter their template decision through the following factors:
- SEO
It’s impossible not to think about SEO when it comes to modern website design. Assuming you want to rank well in the search engines and drive traffic to your website, you need to choose a template that’s built and designed according to Google’s algorithmic preferences.
Not only do you want a template to obey proper SEO techniques, but you also want the ability to customize the template moving forward (since Google and other search engines frequently change what they’re looking for).
- Responsiveness
Today’s internet users access your website on a variety of devices, including desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and even smart TVs. If you want their website experience to be consistent, you need to invest in a responsive template that detects screen size and automatically adjusts in order to properly display your site, regardless of the device being used. Most of today’s templates are responsive, but it’s always worth double-checking.
- Customization Options
Having a website template that’s set up and ready to go is great, but there will come moments where you want to tweak certain options, add elements, or remove things you don’t like. Some templates are rigid and allow for minimal editing. Other templates are fully customizable. It’s a good idea to go with templates that fall into the latter category.
- Features
Before starting your search for the right template, always write down a list of website goals. This will help you determine which features you need in order to be successful.
For example, if you’re planning on launching an ecommerce website, you need a template that includes shopping cart functionality. Otherwise, you’re dead in the water.
- Plugin Compatibility
Finally, it’s smart to be proactive and think ahead about the plugins you want to use with your website. Certain templates will limit your plugin options, so do your due diligence and make sure you’re not limiting what you can do in the future.
Putting it All Together
Whether you’re confronted with 600-plus templates, or you’re trying to make a final decision between two templates you really like, filtering your choice through these factors will help you make an educated decision that benefits your business the most. Take your time, do your research, and make a selection!