Did you know: you can cut out the middleman! You can buy a website template off the shelf and have a full website coded in half the time! There are thousands of designs to choose from that are beautiful and affordable… Perfect, right?

So why shouldn’t you take advantage of this and cut out the web designer, copywriter and marketing strategist? You still need someone to code it, but they just follow the template right? What could go wrong? Well, it’s just not that simple.

Don’t get me wrong; I am a big fan of templates! They are a wonderful resource, a great starting point and are simply perfect for helping a client see what is possible and in what direction to go. They are excellent value for money and often allow for far more complex features on your site than your budget would normally cover.

However, your template developer is not necessarily a designer. A tool doesn’t get the job done. You can swap out the logo, change the font and adjust the colour palette but the website is not ready to go live until it has the right information with the right balance of text and imagery so a holistic message is conveyed that communicates the best about your brand.

Your website needs to serve a predefined purpose, do you know what it is? Determining which template to use and how to use it requires you to be clear on what you are looking to achieve. The same template may be used to fulfil very different intents.

Your marketing strategist works to ensure your website communicates the right things to obtain the right responses. Your designer maximise the tools at their disposal to create an experience for your website visitor that spotlights the most important content and keeps the page interesting and attractive.

Your website is often the first thing a customer sees, don’t cut corners.

By Guest Blogger: Sally McIntyre 

Owner of Iridesense