Friday, March 4, 2016

Choosing the Right Template

Whether you are a new business or a well-established one looking to refresh your image, templates are an economical and convenient way to create a professional looking site. A well-designed template gives a great first impression that conveys trust, dependability, and professionalism.

Start your search by looking for templates that you find pleasing and are appropriate to your business. Keep your visitors in mind. If your site targets younger visitors, your design could be more modern. If your audience is older, a conventional look may be more pleasing. It's a good idea to see how other businesses in your industry are presenting themselves online.

Design Layout:

Every web page can be broken down into a few basic areas. A template will have these areas predefined, with many having more than one page layout design included. Continue your search by considering templates with elements that are positioned in a way to fit your needs.

  • The "header" area sits at the top of the page and usually contains the site name, logo, and/or tag line. It may contain other elements like a slideshow, static image, navigation links, etc.
  • The "sidebar" area can sit to the left or right of the page, or the design may have two sidebar areas with one on each side.
  • The "content" area is where your main site text is placed.
  • The "footer" area sits at the bottom of the page. It can be narrow in height and contain basic links and your copyright statement, or it can be taller and contain much more information.

Different templates will contain different "extras" like a slideshow, or text animations, accordion content, ticker script areas, and more. Be sure you look over and read through the live template preview to see what is included.

Photos & Imagery

With minimal photo changes, almost any template can be used for a number of industries: technology, medical, sports, real estate, etc. Since templates are designed to be somewhat flexible, photos should be one of your least concerns when selecting the right template. You can replace our photos with those of your own or you can purchase stock photography that is more relevant to your business.

We Can Help

While finding the perfect template for your site can be time consuming, I always hesitate to make specific suggestions since each person's needs are unique. If you find a few templates that you like, but are unsure if they will work for you, send me an email with your questions and I can explain which one is the easiest to use, what can be changed, etc.

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