Do Audiences Tend To Look Down A Bit On Blogs That Use Templates?

JoeMilford Level 1

November 16, 2017, 6:12 am

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Do Audiences Tend To Look Down A Bit On Blogs That Use Templates?

Do you think that visitors to blogs tend to not take them as seriously or look down on them if they used a template instead of their own original page design? It takes expertise and/or more money to have your own site developed, so templates can be cheaper and/or easier to use, but are they taken as seriously as personally designed pages?

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Judas2018

Judas2018

I think it all depends on how blatantly obvious it is. At times - I run into sites whose templates or design have certain similarities. But they're all in the same niche so it could be coincidental. Or what looks best for that sites topic or subject. Other times though - the sites design is a blatant rip off or theft or another sites design. Like - possible lawsuit/intellectual property theft blatant. But some companies are responsible for this too. Many web design companies only rotate a few templates in their selection galleries. So when they design websites - only 5 or 6 specific templates are there to choose from. Thus a lot of their customers have similar looking designs.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I didn't think about this outright until your post, but you are right. I my online surfing, I have run across the same, or very similar, templates many times on different sites. It is as if they are using the same template providers, and, if the page creators have like sensibilities in what they visibly like or appreciate, then they tend to pick the same templates by coincidence or chance. I did not think of these sites stealing from one another, either, until your post here. That's ridiculous, but it does not surprise me that this kind of behavior occurs at times on line.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

In my opinion templates are useful to blog owners and viewers / readers are intelligent enough to understand that. Traffic won't judge you because of the looks of your site, they would judge you by the quality of content posted on your site.

6 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I agree. These days, most sites look fairly similar anyway so it isn't too surprising when they do end up looking the same as some other site's design, but some are just way too similar that it becomes so obvious. I would say that it is too obvious and becomes a negative when they don't change enough, which I guess is not too often seen anymore nowadays because it's much easier to just change the color theme and the icons anyway, so it really should be done.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I don't think people take your blog less seriously but it helps when you have a unique look for your blog. There are some templates that look great and are good enough for your blog to look professional and good enough for readers to continue viewing. The problem, however, is when people use free templates that are extremely popular like some of the ones available for Wordpress. Now that does create a bad impression, for me anyway.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Exactly. It is harder and harder these days to do ANYTHING original online because of how populated the environment is. There is plenty of room for innovation, I think, but I am not so sure I am the guy who knows how to do that? Template can only let you innovate and customize so much, and they have their limits, of course. I think that your point about just looking professional at your blog is an important one because, at least then, people might stay long enough to consider and digest some of your content.

7 years ago

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mildredtabitha

mildredtabitha

You are right in saying that templates are cheaper. I also use templates for my site. I doubt if visitors will look down at a site because of use of templates but there are few people who do that. You just have to edit your layout and make your template extraordinary so that your site can standout.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

Unfortunately, that's how things work because most visitors turn out to be very visual. There are few people who can - at least in the first moment of visit - see beyond that... I mean, beyond what is obvious.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

You are right that readers will not look at the templates or of the design much. As long as the design is friendly to the eyes, it will be immaterial to the blog. My main concern in reading a blog is the topic that it offers. And if the blog is well-written especially with the smooth flow of the story then I will read it with gusto and probably read more blogs on that site. Again, the template of the design does not matter and I don't think average readers like me will notice the design.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Some templates look really bad and not appropriate for your blog, which is why some viewers look down on those blogs, but if you pick a decent template with a nice color combination, plus good content on your blog, then most casual audiences won't really notice or care that you used a template.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I don't think people even realize half of the sites they visit that are designed with templates. Probably, the only time when this happens is when the person has already come across that specific design elsewhere before, but otherwise, it would probably appear to be unique to them if it's the first time they are seeing it, provided that enough has been done to the design that it fits the personality of the content.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Baburra,
I agree on these points here. As someone mentioned above, these templates can be repetitive, and sometimes even stolen or recycled. Still, the content and personal configuration of the template by the user should provide a degree of originality and care. I think the word "care" is something I would focus on--regardless of the template being used, if the blogger is really putting in work, research, great content, and audience consideration into his or her site or page, then I can respect and support that.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I agree. There are some many templates out there that even with an extremely high selling one, chances are you will not come across loads of websites or blogs using that particular template. I have only seen one template multiple times and that was only with myBB forums because the template used was a popular and free theme used by many.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

I think savvy web browsers understand templates and what blueprints sites use to construct their online space. Some other people don't but that's probably because they aren't in any digital line of work. Even so, when those people need a website built for their business or shop - they come to understand how website construction works. Thus they become more knowledgeable in the long run.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

From my experience with websites that uses templates, I believe it's only the sacarstic ones that look down on blogs that makes use of templates. Not every webmaster have the resources to buy everything needed to fix up his or her website to everyone's taste. Normally, what I do is appreciate the effort one invest in his site no matter how little it is.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Tronia

Nah, I doubt that anybody does. Most of the templates nowadays have such high level of customization that sometimes you wouldn't even be able to tell if two websites used the exact same ones because they'd make it "their own". I have used templates before for my blog and it didn't affect my traffic at all. I think that when you're a beginner and just starting out with your new blog it's really hard for you to spend money on these things. I'd much rather invest the extra cash into advertising and promotion.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Thanks for your response here. As long as the content is good, and the site isn't rife with clickbaiting, pop-ups, and gratuitous unsightly ads, I will most likely give it an initial chance if it is interesting or if it falls into my niches. You hit the nail on the head about the beginner blogger on a tight budget--that describes myself, and that is why, currently, i am using templates which are either very cheap or free for my content. i don't mind this, but I would most likely want to upgrade in the future to a more personal design put together with a partner adept at website design and graphic design.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I agree. I actually do the same on my sites as well. I tend to just pay for a premium template and then customise it a lot to ensure that it looks almost nothing like the original template. A lot of the time, these templates will be used by other blogs so it's important to do some customising so you don't end up having the same look which users might find weird.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

I've also known people to take two templates and blend them together also. Sort of like a franken-template. So it's half one and half the other. Each template serves the purpose of making a part or portion of the site function the way the designer wants it to.

7 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

My humble opinion: is not about templates, but about the content. I've found lots of blogs, forums, websites, using same or similar templates, and that's the minus thing I care about. You can own the latest design, a personal template, customized by the greatest designer ever, but if the content is crap.... man that's the end of the road to me. Nowadays, you can find amazing designed sites, which are boring, full of crappy sources, stuffed with grammar issues, and extremely bad messy organization. So, pay attention to all the information on your blog, keep it interesting, catchy, latest, and don't care about the template. Believe me, the clever and intelligent subscriber, won't care about it either, as long as it has amazing content.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

It seems that the definite consensus here is that the content is what counts, but I do have to agree with others that a poor-looking or shabby looking site will not get enough attention, in terms of content, because people might get turned off by it and reject it prematurely. No kidding--it really is a letdown when you visit an incredibly designed website and find tons of spelling and grammar errors!

7 years ago

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Soulwatcher

Soulwatcher

I think if you're just flat out using a totally stock template without any customization, then yes people look down on that. Because your blog is going to be generic and look like every other copy and paste blog out there. And there there are probably at least 10k to 100k+ blogs using the same stock template. So you have to ask yourself what's going to set me apart from the next 10k+ blogs that look exactly like mine?

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

That's what I was thinking as well--it at least needs to appear like you are putting in some kind of effort right? Also, you should have enough pride in your sites, pages, or blogs that you try to make them original to your content and to your vision for your audience. Setting yourself apart is definitely a must in this business, and it gets more and more difficult to do so by the second because of how many people are blogging and jumping onto the internet experience of creating content constantly.

7 years ago

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Soulwatcher

Soulwatcher

Your right, there are a ton of people that are jumping into the blog and forum business because they have heard all of the "tall tales" of people getting rich off the internet. But that couldn't be further from the truth. I am willing for every person that makes $1 a day off of their website there are a million people who don't make anything!

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

This is so true with regards to how unrealistic stories are sold to some people about making tons of money off the internet but it's not really true unless you are already on top of all internet activity. The truth is that some people don't even get introduced to legit sites that would help them earn money online, rather they get stuck with scam sites and end up wasting their time for nothing.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

I think the templates are very useful, but at the same time, they are very limited which ends up making the projects much the same (at least at first sight).

As the visual aspect ends up catching the attention of most readers, if this aspect is not well worked, it may be that the project doesn't take off as quickly as expected.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Do you have nay template websites which you might like to recommend, actually? I think that a lot of us here use Word Press for all of our blogs. I have used blogspot in the past, but I was just getting started and needed free ways to set up my content. Also, I have no idea how to create my own page, so going to places like wix or blogspot were free or cheap options which did have a bit of customizable options. If i have a budget in the future worth the spending, I will hire someone to design my next site; however, for now, I am afraid that I must utilize the templates to the best of my ability.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I agree. The problem with templates is that the best ones tend to get picked the most and end up being the most overused. This causes readers to see the same ones over and over when they visit similar sites. I think these days this problem is not as prominent considering there is a lot more content and therefore a lot more templates to choose from so the overlap is not as much, and the customization has gotten very advanced as well so it's not as noticeable when sites use the same ones.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I don't know what the general consensus is when it comes to templates, but I know how I react to a site that uses a common template, and it isn't positive.

This doesn't mean that using a common template will instantly turn me off from a site, after all I'm sure it is common because it is effectively designed for easy navigation and viewing. However, it might make me lose a degree of respect for the owner because it implies that they might not be willing to put the time and/or money into making their site unique.

A good example of this is the use of Royalty Free music by many content creators on YouTube. Once you've heard the same song over, and over, and over again, no matter how great the quality of a video is, you're probably going to think to yourself "Ugh, this song again?"

This isn't to say that using templates is bad. It would be okay to find a template that is fairly uncommon and also of decent quality. But once you start gaining a bit of revenue, it would be a good idea to reinvest it back into your site by improving the format.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I had not thought about common musical tracks here for sites until you brought this up--that is funny in terms of it being such a dead giveaway for a template, and so I can see why people would not react positively to this, especially if you were to stumble upon it several times in a short period of time. I am glad I have not made THAT mistake yet, at least, lol.

7 years ago

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peachpurple

peachpurple

I don't think so. How would the readers know that you had used templates for the blog? I cannot see the differences at all. Instead, templates are more presentable and set appropriate places for different categories. I prefer blog in neat manner.

7 years ago

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keen2write

keen2write

I find using WordPress is a lot better, especially when chosing the right theme. I try to use one which is fast and responsive. Some themes/templates are good but some slow your blog down. So using something which stands out but not too much.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

I concur with your assertion that using a unique one can go a long way in making the site look different. In most cases, people tend to look at what others use not understanding that it might not fit into their site as well.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Exactly--you want your blog to "stand out' somehow, if possible. This is hard to do, however, because so many people are blogging now and there are thousands and thousands of blogs to compete with in all of our niches and genres. Finding a template or design that is a good fit for your content and target audience can definitely be difficult, but I still believe that there is always room for improvement, originality, and innovation.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

WordPress have been one of the best forum software plug in for me. For the record, it's the first forum software plug in that I used to set up my first ever website and it runs just fine without any issues. There are a few other softwares out there to make use of but I'm a lot more comfortable with using WordPress.

7 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

Not always. People may assume that you're not giving your blog enough attention if it looks bad. Settling for mediocre designs might make them think so too. That's why changing certain aspects will make it less likely to happen.

7 years ago

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