Website templates are freely available nowadays. There are many open-source communities giving loads of templates away for free. Some are actually quite nice, others not. It seems like an easy-out. All you have to do is find a nice looking template, insert your content and away you go.....right?

Wrong.

Firstly, you need to consider if you want to present your personal or business wesbite in the same form, graphics and all, as another's. You've written great content, you have amazing products and services to sell. Does it make sense to use an out-of-the-box solution to market yourself or your company to potential customers worldwide? It might if all you want to present to the world is your simple, personal blog. How about if you're looking for a new job and need to impress potential employers? Not such a hot option anymore, is it? Want to sell your ideas and information? The last thing you want in that case is for your website to appear like thousands of others out there.

Another thing to consider is the fact that most template makers legally require you to leave a visible text link on every page of your site stating that you are using their free template. There's nothing like a link that says 'Free Website Template by xxxxx' to make Internet shoppers doubt your validity as a 'real' business. Great advertising for them. But do you want everybody in the world to know that your company didn't want to shell out a few extra bucks for an original wesbite design?

Does that mean that using a free website template is always a bad idea? Of course not! There are a great deal of talented, creative template designers out there. If it wasn't for them, a great deal of web designers never would have gotten started. The important thing is to realize when using a free template is your best option and when it's not.