You’re a solid web designer with years of experience and a portfolio of past projects longer than China’s Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge. You generally love working with clients. But you’ve just refused your seventh project this week involving a web builder template. That’s a huge mistake. You see, even if you’re considering them beneath your skill level and expertise, many of your competitors have recognized something you have yet to see.
What is it? Well, here’s why web designers should embrace web builder templates.
Templates Can’t Replace You
Every template needs a bit of fine-tuning to work for each individual client’s needs. Yes, someone could very easily plug in content and go. But if that’s all they do, the results may look just like those of everyone else who chose the same template and did the same thing. Your eye, your training, your attention to detail cannot be replaced by a template—and it’s what will make the site stand out regardless of the foundation upon which it is built.
No Coding Required
One of the most time-consuming aspects of producing a site has been resigned to the past. Just as the advent of operating systems created more opportunities in personal computing, templated site designs have opened more opportunities for web designers. You’re now free to focus on the creative aspect without having to worry about the technical.
SEO Already Built In Too
All the effort you usually put into making a site SEO friendly is already baked into the best web builder templates. With those features already integrated, all you have to do is make sure they have the right keywords, title tags, image tags and other elements. This is extremely helpful when working for clients who tackle SEO from the wrong angle. Instead of having to focus on the technical side first, you can motivate clients to craft keyword-rich blogs.
Your Creativity Still Counts
The creative effort you put in still determines the nature of the output. Yes, any shopper can go to a grocery store and buy biscuits in a can of Poppin’ Fresh Pillsbury dough. However, a skilled baker can take that poppin’ fresh dough and make strawberry shortcake too. Your creativity can still shine through, even if you aren’t baking a website from scratch.
Greater Profit Potential
Yes, you’ll charge clients less for developing their sites based upon templates. But it requires a lot less of a time commitment for you as well. You won’t have to code the site from scratch. You won’t have to fiddle with plugins to make them work with your code. Further, you won’t have to optimize your code for every browser it might possibly encounter. All of this has already been done in advance. This adds up to less time in the project for you, which means your profit margin just got wider.
Not to mention, you are likely able to take on more clients as projects take less time to complete. This can help grow your professional circle.
Keep It 100
Any new technological development in an industry can represent a threat at first glance. Then again, when you stop and look at them with an open mind, you’ll eventually see there’s greater potential. You can choose to either be steamrolled by technological progress, or embrace it to make it your own.
When potential clients are shopping for web designers, they’ll likely work with your competitors if you are unwilling to coordinate with web builder templates. Don’t make that mistake. Ultimately, this is why web designers should embrace web builder templates. The only thing that you need to worry about is choosing the right website builder. The potential benefits are limitless, while the drawbacks for refusal are costly.
