What will be your first thoughts if you ever land on a dull and boring looking website?
There will be no first thoughts, only second thoughts.
The design is important,but it doesn’t mean you have to create everything from scratch. There are millions of templates from thousands of developers, and some of them may be even better than many custom created ones.
However, choosing a template for an ecommerce site is not as easy as it may be for any other type of site. Your ecommerce site is your storefront. That is where business happens. It needs to look the part and even play the part.
There are some considerations involved in the process. Let’s find out more about it.
Does It Serve Your Purpose?
Every template has a purpose. You cannot choose a template simply based on aesthetics. It has to have all the features you need. It is not unusual for ecommerce web development teams to come across clients who show them a personal blog and ask for a similar site. That doesn’t work that way.
eCommerce websites are a different ball game. They have one main purpose,and that purpose is to make a sale. It needs to have that feature that allows users to place an order. You should make a mental list of other ecommerce related features you want tolook for a theme accordingly.
Does it Allow Customization?
Some templates allow extensive customization. These are the best templates because they allow for better personalization. You can tweak the look to make it seem closer to your brand image. Colors, size, font – every feature is customizable. You get more freedom with one template. However, sometimes when you tweak an original template to a great extent, you might compromise its functionality.
That is why you should go for a design that is closer to what you have in mind so that you do not have to customize it a lot. Also, an expert can help you determine how much personalization is necessary for the beginning. You can add more tweaks later.
Is It Responsive?
Responsive websites are 5 times better at conversion than a non-responsive website. That is because these designs are created to be flexible. They can adapt to different screen sizes and dimension. No matter what device your site is excessed from, a responsive one can deliver a seamless user experience.
So, when choosing a website template, make sure it is fully responsive. More importantly, take a look at how it appears on different devices including PC, mobile phones, and tablets. It should easily swap from portrait to landscape and vice versa.
Make sure the design doesn’t seem too cluttered on a smaller screen. It should look cleaner and simpler on a mobile device. Talk to your developers to optimize the content accordingly as well.
Is It SEO Friendly?
It is a common misconception that only content should be SEO friendly. The design has just as big a part to play in your ranking as the text. And there is a good reason behind it. It is the design that actually makes your content stand out. It empowers the text. Everything from the placement to font can affect how your text impacts your users.
When choosing a template, you need to focus on the technical aspects of the design and how it facilitates search engines. Your design should provide a good hierarchy so that navigation is easy not just for the users but also for the search engine crawlers. Websites that are easy to crawl tend to rank faster and better.
That said, loading time is also one of the factors that effect your website’s SEO. So, even if an ecommerce site calls for high-resolution images and videos, you need to make sure your chosen template has a code that is optimized for the fastest performance.
It is important to have an expert review a template from an SEO point of view before you make your final pick.
Is It Supported by the Developers?
Many people often undermine the importance of sold support until they need it. Remember, the team who offers complete support for their product is a team that is confident about the quality of the product. There are millions of templates on the internet, free or paid – but not every template can deliver the performance you expect.
There is always a chance of a bug or glitch that somehow escaped the testing phase. Make sure you buy your template from a team that has a reputation for solid customer support. These teams will troubleshoot any problem as soon as it arises. They will constantly throw in new updates to ensure the best performance.
Try to read reviews about the people behind the template you are choosing, and see if their customers are satisfied with the service and the product.
How Much Does it Cost?
If you really need a template that checks all the boxes for you, forget the free to use templates. The good ones may cost a bit. The cost is justified by the number of features and level of customizability you can enjoy.
Developers charge higher for products they can really stand behind. They know how much efforts they have put in optimizing the code and testing every feature. There is no surprise that they are charging more for their hard work.
However, that doesn’t mean you should go for the most expensive template. Some templates may have features that aren’t useful for you. In that case, there is no point paying some extra bucks for features you will never use.
Conclusion
Choosing a website template may seem like a matter of choosing the best-looking design at the lowest possible rate, but that’s not how it really is. Technical aspects are equally, if not more, important as the aesthetics. Don’t just go for what looks good. Focus on what works better, and ranks higher. Focus on the user-friendliness and how design can impact a customer’s buying decision.
It doesn’t matter how much you pay for the template. What matters is how much you will get out of it. Your design can influence your conversion, so it is an investment you should make wisely.
Andrea Bell
Andrea is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences and express herself through her blogs. Follow her on Twitter.