Templated Website verses Untemplated?

Times are tough. Every penny counts. Businesses are looking to save where they can. Due to this, templated websites are gaining in popularity. The question is - are they worth while? Let’s look at the pros and cons of templated verses untemplated websites.

Pros for templated Websites
Cost Savings. There is no denying that templated websites are less expensive than untemplated. You can easily save several hundred dollars if not more. Some templated sites sell for less than $50 a month!

Ease of set up. Templated websites are commonly set up so that you can customize them yourself relatively easily, typically through a WYSIWYG graphical interface (pronounced Wizzy Wig – stands for “What You See Is What You Get”).

Turn Around Time. With a templated site you can be up and running in a matter of days if not hours depending on the complexity of your site.

Bugs worked out. Templated websites have been used by several other companies and chances are that if there are any areas for improvement, they have already been found.

Cons for Templated Websites
Same Site as other companies. To me, this is the biggest strike against templated websites. Imagine if your competitor has the exact same website as yours. Success in business can rely on differentiation. There are four main reasons that someone would buy from you and not your competitor. Price, service, selection and convenience.
Price: Unless they are comparison shopping, people are typically looking for information on websites and their first concern is not price.
Service: If your website is from the same template, people will assume your level of service is the same – and truthfully, your on-line level of service IS exactly the same.
Selection: You can display as many products or services as you want, but templated websites are usually set up to display each in a predetermined fashion. The option to display complimentary or comparable products or services on the same page may be more difficult to do if not unavailable.
Convenience: Having a website based off the same template as your competitor offers the same level of convenience as your competitor.
As described, having a website based of the same template as your competitor is like saying to potential customers “we are the same”. While you are saying you are just as good, your competitor may find a way to say they are better.

Lack of customer service. The less that you pay for your website, the lower the customer service and tech support that comes with it. It is just common sense that the fee you pay has to cover the cost of service and the lower the fee, the lower the service it can support.

Pros for Untemplated Websites
Brand identity. With an untemplated website you can really play to your branding strategy. The whole website can have your “look and feel” rather than colour and a logo popped in the top corner. You have so much more control over the creative process and the final result will truly be your website with your message. With an untemplated website you are not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole as you might with more limited templates.

Complete Creative Control. With untemplated websites, you are not limited by or bound to a certain framework. Your website could look however you want it to and can contain as many pages as you wish. Just reading this may not sound like a big deal, but if you have ever felt the frustration of being limited in your design solely because it is based off a template, then you will understand the benefit of this freedom.

Cons for Untemplated Websites
Price. I know that we have already discussed price as a pro for templated websites, but it is the biggest con for untemplated sites.

Turn Around. It may take some time to create a website from scratch. Keep in mind that they are creating something specifically for you. This takes more time than it does to change a colour or insert an image.

As highlighted, there are pros and cons for both templated and untemplated websites. Depending on what it is that you are looking for, and what your budget is, one may be better suited to your needs than the other. Most importantly is that you determine before hand what it is that you want to achieve and that you establish your own on line presence whether templated or untemplated.