Buying a Template Pros and Cons

premade template example

There are 100s of websites offering decent templates that you can buy and apply to your website, the cost is much cheaper, and most of them are instant downloads.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind, let’s say you buy a pre-made template… If you don’t have a good understanding of html code, and how to convert your website to use the new template,  applying it to your website will be a very difficult process, especially if your current website is static, or uses a custom content management. Chances are you will probably have to pay someone to help you, which could end up costing more money and time than if you hire a professional, and you run the risk of ending up with sloppy work.

On the other hand, if you are using popular content management platform like WordPress or Joomla, the task is pretty easy, especially if you buy a template or theme specifically for those platforms.

The one prominent con about using pre-made templates whether you are a novice or an expert, is that the same design is probably being used by 100s of other websites. Many sites that offer pre-made templates do offer some of their templates for unique use, meaning once it is purchased, it will no longer be available, however the price tag is around $2700,  a whole lot more than hiring a professional, and you would still need to edit your template your self.

Why you should invest in a custom website?

How many times have you searched for a specific website, but couldn’t remember the name or url, but yet you remembered the general layout and graphics around the content you were reading or browsing?

Custom Design:
If you are a small to mid-size business, an online presence is extremely important, with that comes website branding, making sure your visitors know what website they are on, and remembering it the the next time they come back.

Here’s an example of a custom website we’re currently working on, with a unique design based on the design of the store itself. The design integrates key elements such as the wood panels, and metal combination in the background, using golf balls for the social icons, and using the colors found in their existing Logo. The layout is also customized to display prominent information, and making sure the telephone and address information are always viewable regardless of what page the visitors are on.

Ready Golf Website - In production

Custom Layout and Structure:

Every business has a different strategy of how they want to sell their products and services, and even though there are millions of websites online, each website has different content, and a slightly different way of how that content is displayed. Having a custom layout and a sound structure, gives you more freedom to really communicate to your users.

Custom Pages:

Depending on your type of business and how far you want to integrate your services and products online, you will need custom pages to display specific information in a specific way. For example, your Company page which would mostly be text and maybe a few photographs would need to display information very differently than a gallery or a shopping cart page.

User Interactivity:

One of the most important aspects of integrating your business online, is not only providing information to your visitors, but also allowing them to easily interact with you and your business. Your web developer should provide you with different ideas on ways to make your website more interactive.

The little details:

Professional website developers/designers will listen to your needs, they will advice you on new technology, give you ideas on how to best present your specific business to the world in terms of design, layout, structure and content. I realize that many web agencies charge an arm and a leg for very basic work, however there are many of us that really care about making sure our clients are happy with our work, and that the final result will give our clients a thriving and successful online presence without breaking the bank.

Conclusion:

If your budget is under $500, and you know how to edit templates to suit your business needs, then buying a pre-made template may not be a bad idea at all.  However, if you need a website to handle specific content, or need a unique design, custom websites are the way to go!

Default 3 column

Download Hot Gossip WordPress Theme

License Agreement / Terms of Use

By downloading and using this theme you agree to:

1. You may not re-distribute or sell this theme.
2. Inkpress.net back link must always remain on the theme while in use.
3. You may make modifications to suit your needs.
4. You may use this theme for commercial or personal websites.

Mesquite NV Real Estate Agent

Mesquite NV Real Estate Agent is custom designed for Larry Guntle, local RE/MAX agent. His main objective was to give his visitors enough insight about the City of Mesquite through information, photos and links, as well as having a user friendly online presence, allowing visitors to easily contact his office, or request information.

We decided to use WordPress, award-winning blogging platform, to support the entire website, and to allow easy editing and adding of pages and posts. Various scripts are being used to support easy creation of Listings, form building,  and newsletter management as well as other goodies such as video players, easy slideshows and better gallery management.

Visit Website: MesquiteNVRealEstateAgent.com

The entire process is not unlike opening a physical shop. Just like in the real world to call yourself a business you must register your business name with the IRS (in the US) and in most cases have to pay to register your business with the State and most likely the City.  In terms of your website this would be acquiring a Domain name. Which you can register / year or number of years. However just like in the real world, registering your business name does not magically create your actual physical shop, or place where you will be able to stock your products or offer your services. This is where Web hosting comes in.

Web hosting is simply space on a server that you rent per month or year to store your website files and all of their content. For example, you can create a website or have a website designer create your website, but if you don’t have a domain name and web hosting, you will not have a place for it to be stored, or a url for people to quickly find your website.

Quick Review

If you want www.yourwebsite.com to be available to the millions of people using the Internet, you must buy a domain name, and rent the space that your website will reside in, which is termed “Web Hosting”.

Good Web-hosting

Finding a good Web hosting company will save you time, effort and headaches in the long run. There are 100s of web-hosting companies available, and over the years we have tested many of the most popular ones. So how can you be sure the Web hosting company you sign up with is worth it. The best way to help you is to list some of the things you need to look for and ask about.

• Check their website, do they have a phone number available on the main page. If they do, give them a quick ring, if it goes to voicemail, keep looking…
• Check their packages, small packages should never exceed $5 /month.
• Make sure their small packages offer unlimited email, unlimited bandwidth and at least 500mb of space.
• Ask them about their Terms of Service.
• Beware of Limitations. Some web hosting companies don’t allow certain content, or file types, or software to be ran on their servers.
• Submit a support ticket asking them about their hosting or any questions you may have, and keep an eye on how fast they respond. You are going to need a web-host that has a good support system, incase something goes wrong, and things usually do, you don’t want your website to have down-time.

Who we recommend

As mentioned before we have tested with various web-hosting companies over the years. The one that we have been most impressed with is HostGator. Their package prices are decent, they use the most updated software, they offer plenty of tools, and most importantly their support is truly topnotch. Usually their chat response is instant or within minutes, and their support ticket response is within 24hrs.

Extra Information

For information about Domains, please visit our Domain Resource page.

Not everyone needs a Domain name and Web Hosting.

If you want a personal website, or a blog, and you really don’t need your personal or business Domain name, then you can skip this entire process. There are hundreds of companies offering free websites, which usually include ads, and your url will most likely be www.thirdpartycompany.com/yourwebsite. Limitations depend on the company you choose to use or you can signup for a blog with companies like Blogger.com and use their online software to update your blog.

This works out great for many users looking to just have a personal website. However, I wouldn’t recommend this option for any type or size business.

Premium theme, with drop-down horizontal menu, and collapsing vertical menu. Includes 2 widget bars.

Click here to download Pink_galore

License Agreement / Terms of Use

By downloading and using this theme you agree to:

1. You may not re-distribute or sell this theme.
2. Inkpress.net back link must always remain on the theme while in use.
3. You may make modifications to suit your needs.
4. You may use this theme for commercial or personal websites.

Filled with nature colors, flash header, 2 column layout, CSS text shadows, vertical and horizontal menu, widget ready.

Click here to download Bamboo_theme

License Agreement / Terms of Use

By downloading and using this theme you agree to:

1. You may not re-distribute or sell this theme.
2. Inkpress.net back link must always remain on the theme while in use.
3. You may make modifications to suit your needs.
4. You may use this theme for commercial or personal websites.

Click here to download Simple_Black Theme

License Agreement / Terms of Use

By downloading and using this theme you agree to:

1. You may not re-distribute or sell this theme.
2. Inkpress.net back link must always remain on the theme while in use.
3. You may make modifications to suit your needs.
4. You may use this theme for commercial or personal websites.

Want a custom theme? Visit our Complete Web Solution for information about custom design, and all plugins included in setup.

We just launched the official  website for Dolphin’s Run by Richard Callen. The website is entirely in Flash and matches the design and look of the book itself.

Excerpt from the book:

A deadly collision at sea and a failed marriage brought former navy lieutenant Ron Williams to the Gulf of Mexico island town of Port Royal. Reduced to running a small commuter ferry; the Dolphin’s Run, as he tries to put his shattered life back together; he meets and falls for Shelley Baldwin; an island waitress trapped in an abusive marriage. Dolphin’s Run chronicles life, love, friendships and the challenges of living on a small resort island. Read more

About the Author:

Rich “Sunny” Callen is intimately familiar with life in the goldfish bowl of small, island resort towns. As a public safety professional Rich policed their narrow streets, beautiful beaches, coastlines and wild interiors; patrolled the skies above them and explored the depths below them. Drawing on those years, Rich crafts a story of two people whom fate casts together on a little island resort town in the Gulf of Mexico as they struggle to rebuild shattered lives. Rich is the author of Become a 9-1-1 Dispatcher – Your Personal Career Guide; the definitive work for those seeking to enter that exciting profession; he’s published two comedy dinner plays Red Murder at Antonio’s and the sequel Trouble at Tremont that community theater groups perform in their local restaurant venues; and a screenplay based on his science fiction novella The Fifth Moon.

We just launched

Website is powered by WordPress and E-Commerce Plugins. Allowing our client to login and easily add products, pages, and change information on the website quickly.

The most addressed answer to this question is SEO (search engine optimization). But there is more than just getting your website listed in search engines and keyword rank. We have covered SEO in a few of our previous articles[First steps] and [Adding your website], we want to address options beyond SEO. Options that anybody can easily implement whether you are a webmaster or not.

The ideas we will be discussing are tried and true by our own clients, in the mean time following some or all of these steps will also help you with SEO as well.

Finding your Target Audience

Most businesses already know who their target audience are, and just like offline marketing, you need to find out where they hang out.
A simple Google search can help you figure out  where people are going to find the product or service you are selling.

Forums

Forums are a fantastic way to get your website out there, however, the mistake that is made over and over, is signing up for forums simply to add your website, and then never going back. In a way you really end up spamming the forum, and your post may be deleted, or at least it will be buried.

To make this a successful venture, you should choose the forum you want to sign up for carefully. Browse through the posts and make sure it’s the right audience, check the amount of members belong to the forum, and how many daily posts. This will give you a good idea on whether it is an active forum. Once you sign up, include your website URL in your signature. Try to post at least once a week, or answer questions for people, these are your potential clients.

Writing Articles about your products / services

You don’t have to be a writer to write short informative articles. Write about a new product and how it may benefit your readers, write about events related to your business, you can write about anything, as long as it is related to your business. And again include your website information at the bottom of the article.

Here are a few places you can use to  submit your articles

• EzineArticles
• GoArticles
• Google Knol

Tweet about it!

Twitter is a great platform for business. Today businesses are using it to replace Chat scripts on their website, as well as a marketing tool.
If you have a new product, let the masses now…if you have a new anything relating to your website/business tweet about it….

Become a Superstar… on Facebook

Facebook is more than just a place to hang out with family and friends (virtually). You can create Business pages where users can become fans.  Give people incentive to become your fan on facebook by offering discounts or relevant information.

Newsletters

If your website is relatively new, you probably don’t have a mailing list yet. It takes a while to grow a list but it is well worth it.
It’s the best way to stay in contact with your customers.

There are dozens of other ways you can get visitors to your website, the above mentioned strategies are the best ones by far to get the right visitors to your website without spending a dime.

In Part 2  we will talk about how to create a blog for free, and get your blog integrated into your website.