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Wednesday, December 11th
Canva is a very well-known content design solution. Their goal is to allow anyone to design anything, and they boast that websites can be created almost instantly. But, in trying to be everything to everyone, Canva spreads itself too thin - instead of delivering a few things with excellence, they've created a platform of mediocrity. Canva suffers from having too many choices that all look basically the same and boasting of "ease” with website template design when actually, its design options for websites are very limited and below average. If you are only using Canva to design a website, we cannot recommend it as a good solution.
Creative Market is a great concept: provide artists and designers a place to sell their digital products with little hassle and give consumers millions of choices in assets. Unfortunately, due to poor quality control, a subpar search feature, and less than stellar customer service, Creative Market just doesn't deliver. Creative Market's website templates are a small part of its massive repository of assets, and there is a lack of oversight there. Themes and templates end up for sale on the website that are missing files, broken, or don't work for a myriad of reasons. When customers are understandably upset after purchasing these defective assets, customer service doesn't seem to want to respond. What used to be a great concept that was pretty well executed has now become a cumbersome, time-intensive experience with no guarantee of quality. We cannot recommend Creative Market as a website template provider.
With so many new technologies and lots of user-friendly software, it's easier than ever to create a website. What's not so easy is navigating functionality, responsiveness, shopping carts, and effects for that website. For those things that truly make a website your own, you still need the skills and expertise of creative designers and coders who can put their knowledge together to create a user-friendly, appealing website that will meet your needs.
You have two choices: to hire these creative experts individually or to find great website templates whose creators have already done the heavy lifting and can make it possible for you to customize a template into something that reflects you or your company. Website templates can help you accelerate your website development or bypass most of it altogether for a fraction of the price you'd pay developers.
That being said, the world of website templates can be complicated and difficult to navigate. For example, website templates are not your website; they are more like the "dressing” of a website. Most websites need a platform. Think of a costume - lying on the floor or hanging in the closet, it cannot keep its shape. In order to keep it from losing its shape, we find a form or mannequin on which to put the costume. Website templates need a form in order to function, and that is generally a content management system. It is up to you to find out if the templates you like come with a CMS or if you have to install that before you use your template.
You also need to ask if the website template comes with a page builder. A page builder will take your website design to a new level without having to use coding. Most page builders employ the use of drag-and-drop visual editing. Some page builders are better than others when it comes to flexibility and generating responsive design.
And, don't forget hosting. When planning a website, you will need to decide where the website information is stored and broadcast to the internet. Some website templates offer compatible hosting service included, some have suggestions for hosts that understand their templates and platform, and still others don't have any recommendations.
Plus, keep in mind that the modern web is an entirely different experience from the origin of the internet. In the beginning of the world wide web, people experienced the internet from a desktop computer screen. Modern users, however, almost always access the internet via multiple devices, primarily mobile phones. Modern web design usually has built-in functionality that will be responsive to the type of device the end user is operating to access your website. If a template "breaks” on a small phone, then it's not a good template.
Finally, a website template marketplace is full of separate vendors. Don't forget that "marketplace” websites are full of separate vendors with their own way of designing and their own skillsets. Some might be extremely skilled and reasonably-priced, while others might border on being a scam. Be sure to research the individual vendor. Often, marketplaces become so large that quality control just can't investigate each vendor. It's up to you to do your own research.
Here are some criteria you can use to make comparisons and ultimately decide on a website template for your site:
To assist you in finding the best website template, Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked top vendors on the market today. We're confident that this information will make finding a website design and template a fun rather than frustrating experience.
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