Where to Start:

Ok, so you know you want a website but you don't know where to start. Hopefully this article will give you some insight on where to go from here. First you need to define your project or need. Do you need a website for personal or business? Most likely if your looking for a Professional Website Template you somewhat know what you want, but here are some things to consider in your search.

With my experience in design and programming I feel there are 3 main paths you can choose from in your website production plan and implementation:

Design it yourself:

This is a great way to get your own site up on the web, that is if you know how to program in HTML, PHP, or Flash (Action scripting). Don't forget the aesthetic side to it. Like designing in Photoshop or Illustrator. Then this takes you to layout, planning your design based on a specific resolution (not to say that this is the first step when a programmer or designer starts his website design). Being a designer myself, I never want to discourage the idea of being original or trying something new for yourself, but the bottom line is are you trying to learn how to create a website or get a website on the web?

Hire someone to design/program it for you:

Now I really can't discourage this path since this is something I do personally (email me if your interested. Sorry I have to insert a little sales tag somewhere). I will say that in most cases it will cost more to do this then purchasing a Professional Website Template to use. Just in case I haven't said it yet my site is geared to educate, provide tools, and the actual templates to get what you need for your own site. With that said I will be honest and say unless you have a little experience in a photo editing software or HTML page editor website templates will get you what you need, a website, but it still may need some tweaking to get it to fit to your needs. Although these templates are created for users to have minimal manipulation before they go live, they do still need some customization (any template that any company offers needs some customization since templates don't come with your information, copy, and images by default).

What can a designer or programmer give me? Well, a professional website designer not only gives you a website, but they (or they should) take your hand through all the steps from getting a hosting company, domain, email addresses, and finally, your website (which has many steps within itself). With all the companies out there that make it much easier, like Yahoo, to get all these much easier, it gives the end user the edge in doing much of this yourself. It says a lot about having all this done for you though. The end result should be a professional site, with less headaches and more originality (if that's what you want) and great navigation.

Professional Website Templates:

Finally, Professional Website Templates. Now why would I go through all the past descriptions when mainly this site is to sell Professional Templates? Again, I want to make sure you get what you want. I will say that Professional Website Templates are a great way to get a good looking and easy to navigate website at a fraction of the cost. Usually these templates are easy to customize and can get you on the web fast. Also with your added talent or even a collaboration of a designer to customize it for you, a more original and professional site can easily be yours (ask me about customizing your new template).

There are many sites out there that are templates but are customized to the person or company and end up looking like fully customized sites.

If after this article you are still unsure what you want, please feel free to contact me.