There are quite a few places you can go to get a reasonably customizable, pretty good-looking and quite functional website template nowadays … and many of them are free. So, how is it that web designers stay in business? And doesn’t having a template kill your SEO and web marketing chances? We have the answers. Well, some of them, at least!
Won’t people be able to tell that I’ve used a template?
Well, not necessarily. They might be able to tell that you’ve used a template … and if your audience is in the web design and build industry, or the IT industry, I wouldn’t ever recommend using a template. However, the majority of customers will not be the least bit interested in whether you used a template to build your website … they just want to know if you’ve got what they want to buy at a reasonable price!
Doesn’t it hurt your business credibility to have a website that looks like it’s come off a production line?
Not necessarily. People who study usability on the web agree that predictability is one of the major factors in ensuring that your website is user-friendly. Remember that if people can’t figure out what the heck your site is about, all the clever Flash tricks and pretty graphics in the world won’t stop them throwing up their hands in disgust…
What if something goes wrong with the site?
Many free templates and themes made for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal websites can be pretty buggy. And when you didn’t pay for something, you can hardly demand that the creator give you your money’s worth by fixing up the bugs 
. Do keep in mind that there are plenty of quite cheap templates, that are less likely to be buggy. Also keep in mind that the most reliable solution of all, especially if you want to have people intereact with your website in any way, or will be changing content more than occasionally, is to have the professionals build your site.
What about my web marketing?
Excellent point! The free websites that look the best may not always have an SEO-friendly structure … and if something so basic is missing from your website, your business is instantly and forever on an uneven footing with all the other businesses in your industry that have customised, search engine optimised templates. This final consideration is perhaps the largest…
Think carefully before you use a free website template. The usual objections might not be the ones that impact your business the most … but remember, you get what you pay for!