Benefits and Pitfalls

Pre-fabricated Templates vs a Custom Web Design

You've probably seen all the web page templates available online that will let you "drop-in" your content and graphics. This may seem like a great way of posting your content quickly while keeping your costs down. But beware of any unexpected problems using these templates. For example, one of my clients had been using a pre-fabricated template. When I Googled their company before I started their site redesign, the Google responded with the following:"[company name] insert your text here". The meta tags were not entered.

The advantage of using an experienced designer and web developer is that they will be able to present you in the best possible light. They will also be able to ensure that the hidden tags are coded properly. This will ensure search engines can locate you. The designer will also be able to find support images to reinforce your message(s).

Content Management Systems

The buzz around maintaining web sites today is about CMS - Content Management Systems.  It allows the owner of the site to make changes without necessarily having access to the programs normally used to create the web content like Dreamweaver and FrontPage. These content management systems are normally developed in PHP instead of HTML. They pre-determine which items you can or cannot change. The PHP code will load and unload the necessary files to be posted. This might seem useful to a non-techy but this system may not allow you to present your information more effectively. This system is database driven and having some knowledge of HTML is an asset.

As a designer I can build your site to your individual and unique needs.  After the initial design cost, and your site is "live", the maintenance costs are so minimal that there's no need to even concern yourself about maintaining it.  It usually takes the designer or web developer about 15 minutes to make an update -- while you might spend hours trying to figure it out, becoming frustrated with the templates you're using or the CMS.  It's definitely worth getting an experienced coder for your site.