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Friday, December 13th
Envato is one of the larger, more well-known digital marketplaces online. It's not just a place for website templates - it has everything you would need to develop a really beautiful online presence. From fonts to a very robust audio library to images and videos, you will have no shortage of resources to not only design a beautiful website but to create digital content for your site and your social media channels. Envato also offers free classes and tutorials on website template designs free of charge. They offer discounts for students and nonprofits, and their simple pricing structure and great customer service make this one of our top recommendations for website templates online.
Elementor is a page builder for WordPress that was launched in 2016 on the idea that drag-and-drop web design along with live editing capabilities would allow almost anyone to create beautiful and functional websites. With their 100+ highly customizable website template kits, Elementor has succeeded in making website design accessible for almost anyone. If you are opening an online store, Elementor has integrated WooCommerce into many of their themes, which makes it almost ready to go live straight out of the box. Elementor may have a steep learning curve in understanding its pricing structure and workflow design, but it makes up for it with a robust and very helpful community, lots of documentation, and 24/7 support for paying customers. We highly recommend Elementor as a source of website templates.
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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