Website templates. Mention those two little words anywhere near a bunch of web designers and you’d get everything from mild disgust to outright rage. Some examples:

“Devaluing what we do as designers”

“Yuck”

“Cheap designs, bad code, and a good chance of copyright infringement”

“A freelancer?s nightmare”

“The Template biz is killing our Business”

Website templates have long been regarded as a blight on the web design industry – an industry largely made up of creative-types. Many feel that these templates cheapen their profession and skew the expectations of would-be clients. They are often viewed (by designers) as ugly (some are), non-standards compliant (many are) and uncreative (also true of many). Many web design firms boast on creating ‘bespoke, built-to-order websites’ some of which truly are works of art. However, here’s the thing about bespoke, built-to-order sites:

They are expensive.

At least to a small business owner just starting out and with limited funds. This would make them reluctant to sink a relatively large chunk of their cash on a website that doesn’t produce immediate returns on their investment. Others simply cannot afford to do so. How about these people? Are they less deserving of a site because they can’t afford one?

As a web designer myself I understand the incredible amount of time, effort and skill that goes into creating websites and often times the cost of such sites are fully justified if not undervaluing the work involved. On the other hand, I also understand that not everyone can afford the time, effort and skill designers have to offer. So what to do? This, I believe, is where templates come in. I can design (or purchase) a bunch of templates in my spare time, which I could then offer to a client at a much lower price than a tailor-made site. They get a site within their price range and that satisfies their requirements and I get more time to work on other projects. This is precisely what I do with Wai Designs. Apart from a premium service, which includes a fully customised site, I also offer template designs with various degrees of customisation depending on the package. This means that I can offer affordable solutions to clients, which I otherwise might not have had, without short-changing myself in the process.

There is one caveat though. Many of the available web templates are structured in such a way as to make heavy customisation so difficult that one might as well start from scratch. This is why it is important to get the needs of the client crystal clear beforehand so that you have ample time to test and find a template best suited for the job. You also want to make sure that any template you do choose not only accurately reflects the needs of the client but also adds value his or her business. Affordable is not the same thing as cheap and tacky. Clients aren’t stupid – they know about the ‘you get what you pay for’ principle. A template site will not be as ‘fabulous’ as a custom-designed site with all the bells and whistles. That doesn’t mean you should offer your clients a solution that you wouldn’t want to put up on your portfolio. Templates should be used judiciously as a way of bridging the gap between affordability and customisation – not as a way of making a quick buck.

At the end of the day, what really matters is the whether the client is happy with the work you’ve done. That is your most important stakeholder. I’ve found that beyond a certain point fancy-schmancy sites rarely make a difference to a client. Designing a work of art that a client can neither appreciate nor afford achieves little more than stroking the ego. I don’t recall the ego ever paying the bills – if it did I daresay many a designer would be filthy rich by now, but I digress. The point is, when it comes down to it, are you designing for your clients or for other designers? Or yourself? If it’s either of the last two then what on earth are you doing running a web design business?