Should You Use a Free Website Template

Before you pay thousands of dollars for a custom designed website, consider using a template. I know, sounds like cheating, but I prefer to think of using website templates as a budget-friendly way to launch a business or give your old, tired website a face lift.

Do you call it cheating if you sew a dress using a pattern? Cook a dish following a recipe? Using a template is no different.

Just as you do with cooking and sewing you can add your own embellishments and “flavor” to make any template yours.

There are thousands of free templates available on the web (Google “free website templates”) but I suggest also looking at low-cost templates as well. All web templates that can be downloaded are customizable to some degree.

Free templates for WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal often have severe limitations and bugs, and a more “home grown look.” They are not “bad” but they are not nearly as good as the ones you pay for.

Free CSS and HTML web templates are generally easier to customize and put together better than other application templates (fewer bugs and easier to debug if necessary).

Remember, even purchased templates may have bugs or glitches that you will have to work around. And free or purchased, all templates will need at least some basic tuning.

Maybe. But there is nothing taboo about using templates. Besides, even if you only change the logo on a template remember that there are now about nine billion websites indexed by Google alone so the chances of someone seeing your template used elsewhere are fairly low.

Should you use free website and blog templates? Yes! Even if you do not end up actually launching a site using free templates they are an easy way to learn how create or customize a website.

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Should You Use a Free Website Template
Before you pay thousands of dollars for a custom designed

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