Web design templates provide an easy way for businesses to run websites that are affordable and easy to maintain. Choosing a template, however, proves to be a frustrating experience for many business owners. To ensure that you select a template that includes the features and appearance that your business website requires, follow these 7 tips.

1.Determine who your target audience is and what kind of brand image would resonate with them.

When selecting a web design template for your business’s website, make sure that its design suits your business. The branding and image of your website template should align with your target audience’s interests. For example, if you are going to work as a consultant for large corporations, your web design template should be clean-cut and corporate-looking. The colors of the template should be subdued. On the other hand, if you plan on selling kids’ toys, your website template should be bright, vibrant, and colorful in order to appeal to children and their parents. However, you should avoid selecting a template with a very busy background and colors that are overly eye-popping because it can distract visitors and take attention away from the content. In addition, avoid selecting a web design template based solely on its colors. Colors can easily be changed down the line, so it’s important to choose a template based on its design instead.

2.Find a template with code that can be easily manipulated.

If you are technologically challenged, have a web design expert take a look at the CSS file of the template you’re interested in to determine if it has clearly labeled sections and if it can be manipulated easily. It is important to select a web design template that can be easily manipulated so you can alter the background, colors, and other aspects of your template in order to customize its appearance.

3.Select a template with the features you require.

Take a look at your competitors’ websites and determine what features your website will require. Find a website template with the features you need or at least the ability to add a plug-in that will enable you to create those features. Most businesses require a web design template that has a top navigation bar featuring the most important pages and sections of their site. Businesses also tend to need a template that supports video, advertising, and other important features. When browsing different templates, think about exactly what you need your website to do. If it is simply a company website that explains the services your business provides, a simple, minimalist template is probably sufficient. If you are running an e-commerce site, the layout of the template will probably need to be more complex and feature many "boxes" of information.

4.If you plan to use images on your site, find a template that comes with appropriate images or browse a stock image library.

Some templates already come with images, but if you want your site to be more original, then you have to find a stock image library from which you can select photos and graphics for your site. You can also hire a designer or photographer to create custom images for you. Some web design template customization services may offer you credits at a stock image library.

5.Choose a web design template with a simple arrangement.

If you are new to website templates, stick with a simple design with two columns: one for the text and one for the sidebar. Make sure that all of the text fits on the page and that it’s not necessary to scroll horizontally to read it. Once you become more familiar with how to use the template, you may want to graduate to a complex template that includes more columns or sectional divisions that help you organize your content.

6.Make sure that the template you choose is compatible with most browsers.

To ensure that the web design template you choose looks the same for everyone who visits your site, use a template that is compatible with most browsers. In order to check whether your site is compatible with various browsers, it’s not necessary to download all of the browsers to your computer. Simply check out a website called Browser Shots to determine what your website looks like when it loads in different browsers. You can select the browsers and versions you’d like to check at this site.

7.Decide between Flash and HTML.

Select a web design template made with Flash if it goes with your brand image. However, if you opt for a template made with Flash, you must ascertain that the bulk of your customers have access to broadband internet. Otherwise, the template will take far too long to load and end up frustrating your customers. Another issue to consider if you decide on a Flash template is SEO. Flash is inherently difficult to optimize for the search engines, but it’s not impossible. Work with an SEO consultant who has experience optimizing Flash websites prior to selecting a template to determine which one would be the most SEO-friendly. HTML templates are the way to go if you want your site to download quickly, and the majority of your site visitors are in countries where internet usage is low. HTML templates are also easier for you to maintain and alter because they don’t require an incredible amount of technical knowledge. A major benefit of using HTML templates is that they are easier to optimize and tend to rank well on search engines. So, if SEO is a primary concern of yours, you’ll probably want to opt for an HTML template rather than a Flash template.