How to choose a web hosting site template
Website designs create a first impression of your business and of your website. If you use a website template for your web hosting site, keep the following points in mind.
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Choose a unique template
Some web templates are sold as unique, and some are not. Of those that are sold as unique templates, some of them have been previously sold to other people as unique templates. Or the template seller may have copied the design from an existing site.
"Full rights" when you buy a template means only full rights from the point of sale. Those rights don't make a template unique.
If your web hosting site has the same appearance as another web hosting site, chances are that someone will notice and will start a forum thread about how you ripped your design from a competitor. That isn't a good type of publicity.
Choose a good template designer
Template designers range from those creating their first templates with a WYSIWYG editor to the designers whose work is at sites that sell hundreds of templates. Do a search to find out if the template designer or seller has been accused of selling templates as unique when they had been previously sold. If the accusations appear to be legitimate, move on.
A look at the designer's portfolio will provide an indication of the quality of his or her work. New designers might not have portfolios, but they'll probably have lower prices. As with anything, high or low prices are not always indications of quality. Weigh the quality of the template with your impression of the template designer.
Choose a professional-quality template
Consider these factors when assessing website template quality.
Coding
Valid HTML and CSS mean that the pages should display properly for everyone and won't have delays in loading because of coding errors. Invalid HTML and CSS can result in the opposite. You can check if the code is valid at validator.w3.org.
A professional-quality template should use CSS rather than tables for layout. Tables are intended for data. When they're used for layout, the code may be valid, but the pages will take longer to load.
Appearance
A quality template should be a work of art. The colors should complement each other and help draw attention to key content. Everyone's tastes are different, but if a template doesn't appeal to you visually at first glance, it probably won't appeal to some of your site visitors either.
Function
A website needs to be functional for visitors and for you. The navigation needs to be clear, the page needs to be readable at common resolutions, and the layout should make content easy to skim and scan. You need to be able to make changes to the site easily, to both content and appearance.
Choose a template that reflects your business
As a web host, you want a template that looks like it's for a business website. But each web hosting provider is different, and each one has a website that looks different. Consider your target audience and choose a design that will appeal to them as well as to you. Are you targeting high-end business clients? Personal website owners? A niche in the web hosting market? When you have a shortlist of templates to choose from, try to see them the way your target audience would view them.
See also
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
