Any advice for buying a website template?

I need a simple site for a consulting service I'd like to start but really don't want to spend the money for a unique design. I'm looking at buying a template to use but have never done so before. What kind of skill is needed to put a template to use? Would I just put the template into dreamweaver and fill it out with my content? I know some basic html so if thats the case I'm sure I could handle it.

Any recommendations on template sites? How much should I pay?

Thanks in advance!

 

You may see templatemonster themes. If you have a script, choose template for it, it is important.

 

you would only need some basic dreamweaver skills.

 

There are a lot of free templates on the web.

 

But I think, if you are really serious about your online presence, you should have unique custom design.

 

i wouldn't buy any. you can make your own with little or no prior experience and get some free templates online. If you are really lost obviously you'll need some help.

Can't be more than a few hundred for a nice functional template though

 

Why buy a template and not be unique

Try hiring a freelance design (getafreelancer.com)

Just my opinion

 

I disagree with anyone telling you not to use a template, especially considering the requirements you listed. You can get a very professional result with a template and no one is going to know it's a template unless you're REAL high-profile in which case you've got a big budget and we're not having this conversation...

Combine using a template with something that'll act as a CMS (content management system) for you (recommend: Joomla or WordPress), so you can add contact forms or other plug-in functionality easily and reliably. So pick your CMS, get a template for it, build a nice looking & functional site quickly & be happy.

There are many nice free templates for both WordPress & Joomla but you might have to do some digging. For paid templates, TemplateMonster was a good recommendation. You probably should pay $60 or if you really want to go high-end, at most $200.

To run one of these CMSs you'll need a host that supports PHP & MySql. You can see my recommendations here http://munkebizness.com/tools/#web-hosting

Good luck.

 

Even if you get a nice paid NONunique template for a small price in few months at least you'll contemplate changing it for a unique one. That would mean either paying someone or buying an exclusive template which would cost a lot. And that means paying twice. I'd go for a unique design from the start. It's not that expensive and when you have a good layout and branding you won't have to worry about this anymore. I totally dislike stock themes and the bad thing is that the normal visitors kinda surf the web some more. They're not uneducated anymore as they used to be ...

 

Don't buy one, let someone make you one

 

I don't know where you are based but I am a designer and here in the UK people in your situation should be able to get a 5 to 10 page website built for around £500 ($1000). I am in the business and I am finding it harder and harder to compete at this end of the marketplace.

Take the cost of the template and your time and I am sure you would be better paying someone to do it for you. If you chose your designer wisely you will also get a good search engine optimisation job giving you the prospect of a massive return on investment. If you are in consultancy it may be that one single successful enquiry realised from the website will pay for it.

You should be aware that there are also problems with some templates. At the moment Corbis and Getty are demanding vast sums and threatening people with court action for using copyrighted images on their websites. Many of the offending images came with templates that were purchased "legally" in the past. Remember that it is the website owner who is responsible for this, not the provider of the template or the designer. Whatever way you decide to go ask about image copyright.

 

This is absolutely true, and browsing in depth some of those sites offering templates for free you can find quality designs that does not require a link back to the author or the small print stating that such template is being used for free.

As in example this credited to nobody under the terms of public domain, http://webhost.bridgew.edu/etribou/layouts/skidoo_too/gargoyles/index.html