Is Web Design Affordable?

Web design is an established profession, and there are legions of designers out there that will create you a great looking site for a fee. In some cases this is well worth it. For your money you’ll get a sleek, professional and, most importantly, unique design for your site. For many big businesses and established companies, no less than this will do.

But, there’s an alternative. These same designers have another outlet for their skills, and it’s called templating. Templates are your route to a great looking website, for little to no cost.

What Are WordPress Templates?

WordPress templates come about when designers create great looking website designs and, instead of selling them just to one individual for a large fee, they’re released as templates available to the whole world.

Templates cost a fraction of the amount a custom website design would, but you sacrifice a little bit of individuality. Luckily, though, many quality templates come with a large amount of customisation options so you can still inject your own branding, colour scheme and more to create a mostly unique and highly attractive site.

Course Index

  1. Domain Names
  2. Web Hosting
  3. Website Setup
  4. Website Design
  5. Logos and Headers
  6. Creating Content
  7. Site Maintenance

Main Tutorial: Finding & Installing a WordPress Template

Video Summary and Resources

More About WordPress Templates

Shopping CartBest of all, many templates come completely free of charge! Designers often release free versions of templates, hoping that you’ll upgrade to ‘Pro’ versions in future. Or designers may release free templates to increase their exposure, hoping to earn more work.

Whatever the reason for their release, there are a huge range of free, quality templates out there, ready to use. Have a look here for at least one directory: Smashing Mag WP Themes.

Free or Premium WordPress Templates?

Wordpress Themes

While it’s perfectly possible to find great free templates, spending just a little extra on a premium template is well worth it. A little extra often means very little as premium templates can be had for anything from $10 upwards.

Premium templates tend to be a large step up in terms of professionalism, boasting a far more polished design. They also tend to feature many more customisation options, allowing you more control over colours, appearance and how your logo is integrated. And, most importantly, they tend to be much better supported.

Some Great Sources of WordPress Templates

The most quick and easy way to find free WordPress themes is via the internal WordPress theme search. Just to to Appearance > Themes and then Add New.

Alternatively, if you’d like to upgrade to a premium theme, there are a number of quality clubs and retailers. The following charge a monthly or annual fee for access to a large range of themes:

  • Elegant Themes
  • Woo Themes