What Is a Free Website Template

A template is a starter package to help you build websites quickly and easily. These templates for websites may be very general, for a personal website, for example, or they may be more specialized, directed at ecommerce, or even a specific type of etail establishment, such as a clothing store or sporting goods store.

Although they may have been created by coding in HTML or XHTML, you do not need to know these languages in order to use them. Often supplied with placeholder images and text, sometimes using them is as simple as dragging and dropping in your material.

A key characteristic of free website templates to look for is the degree to which you are able to alter them. Some allow for very little change, other than replacing text and images. Others allow the user a greater degree of freedom, providing the means to change colors, fonts, and more.

Where Can You Find Free Templates for Your Website?

Free website templates can be found in a variety of locations.

• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and web hosting providers who provide web building tools include templates as part of the web-building apparatus.
• Web-building software—whether boxed or provided online as SaaS (software as a service)—usually include a greater or lesser array of free web templates.
• Web developers and graphic designers offer free web templates as part of their marketing strategy, hoping that free users will become customers.

Finding the Best Free Template for You

As you consider the possibility of using free templates to build a website, think about those you already have access to: are they available through software you already own? Is your web host offering them? Or do you need to go searching, perhaps on graphic designer sites?

Next, think about your criteria for a template and your must-haves. For example, here are some typical criteria people may have:

• the color scheme should go well with your business logo

• you should be able to insert your logo into the header

• you should either be able to add pages, or have the pages that you need built in.

If you will be creating an ecommerce website, or business website, it's especially important to be sure that the template has the features you need and either that a) it can grow with your business or b) that you're prepared to start over again if it can't. As an etailer, critical elements to look for include:

• how may products/product web pages can you have?

• can you include photographs? if so, how many?

• does it have a contact page, a testimonials page, a links page?

• can you use affiliate advertising on it?

• is it free of restrictions that mean it must only be used for personal business?

• is the HTML and/or XHTML valid?