If you're trying to decide whether you should use a template to create your new website, it's worth first understanding what is a template and how using one can help you build a better site, faster.

Website templates are pre-designed layouts that help you create a website without needing any coding knowledge. They provide a designed framework or skeleton for your site, allowing you to focus on customizing the content and design elements in a way that best aligns with your business goals. Things like the type of font you plan to use or the images you want to include.

Website templates simplify the web design and creation process, making it more accessible to everyone. They offer a quick and efficient way to build a professional-looking website, which, depending on the type of website you want, can help you take client bookings, market to customers or build a community.

There are a few leading website builders which offer a wide range of website templates. Wix is one of these with over 2000, and counting, templates. It also has a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor to use with them.

So should you use a website template help you with how to build a website? Its worth considering and we'll use this article to explain and show why.

Learn more: Is Wix easy to use?

Types of website templates

Before deciding if you plan to use a template to create your website, it's worth exploring the different types available. Website templates come in a variety of different kinds, covering any website you might want to build. They also span multiple industries, niches and businesses.

Here's a look at some of the most common:

• Business website templates: Ideal for corporate websites, these templates often include features like service pages, contact forms and team sections.
  

• Portfolio website templates: Perfect for creatives such as photographers and designers, these templates focus on showcasing work through galleries and project pages.
  

• Blog templates: These are great for starting a blog of any type and size.
  

• Ecommerce website templates: Designed for online stores, they include product listings, shopping carts and payment gateways.
  

• One-page website templates: These are created to easily get one-page websites, like landing pages live.
  

• Beauty website templates: Great for beauty businesses, whether its taking bookings for a salon or selling beauty products online.
  

• Health and wellness website templates: These can range from templates for fitness websites, for services like private training or websites for gyms to showcase their classes and pricing.
  

• Restaurants and food website templates: Restaurant and food templates work for any type of food business, from restaurants, food trucks and coffee shops to catering services, to online stores selling food and edible products.
  

• Industrial website templates: These templates are designed for a wide range of businesses, including construction, contractors, plumbers and more.
  

• Responsive website templates: Designed to look great no matter the device your website is viewed on.

Read also: Our designers' favorite Wix templates—and their tips for making them your own

Why should I use a website template?

With a wide range of website templates for every site and business lack of variety, shouldn't hold you back from deciding whether you should use one or not. Variety aside, here are a number of other reasons why using a template makes sense.

Cost-effectiveness and time-saving

Templates are a cost-effective solution for everyone and with Wix, they're free. They also mean you don't need to hire a web developer which can free up resources to use elsewhere — on your media for example or website content. Website templates make it faster to launch a website, so you can focus on other business needs or setup.

Ease of use

One of the primary advantages of website templates is their user-friendliness. Designed with non-technical users in mind, they offer intuitive interfaces that make it easy to customize your site without any coding knowledge. You just need to drag and drop in the elements you need to customize the template to your website and business.

"Once you pick the right layout or template for you, it's really important to take the time to customize all the content. Many people overlook this step. Make sure you remove any unrelated images or paragraphs, and focus on creating a clear flow for the content that tells the story you want to share with your audience." Dafna Rabin, Wix Templates design team lead

They're also designed by professional designers, meaning you get a free, ready to use template that helps build a great looking site.

Example of a CV website template that is totally customizable

Mobile-friendly

Most modern templates should mobile-friendly, so that your website looks great on all devices. This is crucial as more people view websites via their phones than from anywhere else. It also means you don't have to understand that much about mobile-friendly web design to create a website that looks great on mobile. You can rely on your template.

One of Wix's business website templates, on desktop and mobile

You've decided to use a website template, now how to choose the right one?

Start of by deciding which template matches your industry best. What a plumbing website business owner needs from a website template is understandably different than what a restaurant website owner needs, or an artist needs. This includes the layout, features and emphasis on different parts of the website page. If you choose a template for your business through Wix, each one is professionally designed for your industry style.

As noted by Wix template designer, Kobi Michaeli:

"At the end of the day, the template you choose should reflect your unique needs. Don’t get too distracted by how attractive a template is—look first at its features and usability."

Then consider the color, typography, overall aesthetic of the template and if it aligns with your branding. You want to make sure you have consistency across your brand assets and website.

"If you have a brand, make sure your website aligns with it. This includes matching your brand colors, properly positioning your logo and making sure your business name is clear and easy to understand. People should immediately recognize your brand and know where they’ve landed when visiting your site." Dafna Rabin Wix Templates design team lead

Think about the features you need, such as contact forms, galleries or eCommerce capabilities. These can often be found on the template you need and also added as you create your website.

Online store template for wellness shop

Remember that customization is the key to making a template truly yours. Look for templates that offer flexibility in its design elements so you can tailor them to fit your unique business needs. This includes adjusting layouts, colors and fonts to match your brand identity.

Explore more templates:

• Affiliate website templates

• Family law website templates

• Notary website templates

• Insurance website templates

• Mortgage website templates

• Printing website templates

• Electrician website templates

• Roofing website templates

What common mistakes should I avoid when using a template to create my website?

When using a template to create your website, avoid these common mistakes:

Ignoring customization

Relying too heavily on the default look can make your site too generic. You want to make sure you tailor your colors, fonts and content to match your brand identity. This is important regardless of which template you use.

Overloading with features

Many templates include extras you may not need and you don't necessarily need to use all of them. You can consider removing elements you don't need to improve the speed and focus of your website.

Poor content planning

Cramming content to fit the template layout instead of designing for your website's purpose can confuse your visitors. Start with your content goals, what you want to include and why, then adapt the template to these.

Not optimizing for mobile

Your template should be mobile-friendly and if necessary responsive. Don't forget to test it across devices once published also. Wix templates are optimized for mobile from the start.

Neglecting the SEO basics

Templates don’t handle on-page SEO optimizations for you. You'll still need to remember to add alt tags, meta descriptions and create clean, short. If you're building with Wix, the in-built SEO tool within the editor can help you with all of this.

Neglecting your user experience

Don’t clutter your pages with too much text or too many CTAs, as tempting as this might be at first. Prioritize intuitive navigation for your users.