Does Google Favor Custom Websites Over Templates?
Website templates provide lots of power into the web design industry. They’re simple and quick to create and have the site online within a matter of hours, not weeks or days. They’re not as expensive as custom-designed web designs. They are still highly customizable. But they all display obvious signs of their templates, which raises the question: can the use of templates harm your website’s SEO? – Google Custom Websites Templates
The End of Custom Web Design
In the past ten years there was the impression that to establish a website, it had to have a unique style in order to be able to rank anyplace on the internet. This was the time when many big-name websites were launched in various styles. There are sites such as Slashdot and their minimalist style of news. You can find sites such as Reddit and their bizarre forum threaded comment system. There are sites like Delicious as well as Digg and a of. They prospered and grew due to their position as the leading source of web-based content. But, in part they prospered due to their distinctive web style and design. – Google Custom Websites Templates
In the year the year 2013 and 2014 folks began to question whether the value of a custom-designed site was actually still in place. Many unique sites were being devalued, including websites that had experimental layouts based on Flash as well as sites with horizontal and vertical content presentation, and many more. If these sites failed, while websites that were built using templates – as did the entire Gawker Media empire prior to its demise – prospered then, the internet began to discuss the demise of custom-designed web designs. It’s not hard to see the arguments they put forward, and I’m not just talking about small-scale marketers. major names such as Moz were talking about the issue. – Google Custom Websites Templates
This is a signification of the present trend towards an increasingly template-based web. However, templates work well. Back in the earlier days it was commonplace to have a unique website style. Today, however you can find so many different templates, each with a myriad of possible customization options that it’s sometimes difficult to determine what’s an actual template from what’s not. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Google’s Perspective
Google does not take into consideration about whether a website is built on an existing template or has a distinctive web design, but at least not in public. As you would think, have broken down the issue into smaller issues and have a greater focus on the. – Google Custom Websites Templates
To Google users, user experience is the king of the hill. Speed is a major factor in website performance. Mobile compatibility is crucial. The branding and copied content are crucial. These are factors that could be positive or negative depending on the type of website, in both templates and distinctive designs.
Therefore, in the open, Google will not penalize a website for using templates and they aren’t going to punish you for not having one. However, they could punish you for a number of issues that could be addressed with the help of templates or many issues that may arise by the use of templates. – Google Custom Websites Templates
There are some potential downsides to using Templates
As I have mentioned, a lot of negatives with using template websites. The most important one is selecting the wrong template. – Google Custom Websites Templates
There are millions of themes, templates and skins for web frameworks that are available. If you think of WordPress alone There are a lot of databases devoted to themes that are both paid and free. – Google Custom Websites Templates
When you decide on the goal of your website along with your budget and the color scheme you want to use You’ll notice many less templates to the market. Of those, it’s likely that you’re selecting an option that somebody else has picked also. It’s not necessarily an issue. If the other site that is using the design is a direct rival or a direct competitor, you may not have a small portion of the same target audience. What’s the significance of two sites have the same design but no one is able to see both? – Google Custom Websites Templates
However, you may encounter issues due to the templates that are often used to create spam-friendly websites. As an example there are a lot of microsites that are thin affiliates online as well as vast tutorials on how to create them. Most of the time, the tutorials will be interspersed with affiliate links that are to web hosting, plugins, and even for themes.
If 10,000 people adhere to that tutorial and choose to use the theme outlined in this tutorial, you’ll have about 10,000 poor quality websites all using the same theme, probably with a few, if any, modifications. If you choose to stick with the same theme no matter the level of quality on your website it’s possible to be hit as you’re akin to all the websites that aren’t as excellent. – Google Custom Websites Templates
In the present, Google isn’t likely to cause harm directly by having the same theme spam or as an influx of spam websites. However, they may make you feel less secure and give you less credibility in the event that you are doing something grey and shady. However, more importantly people who encountered those thin spam sites may be drawn to these sites. They’ll be less likely to give you trustand a majority users will notice the style of the website and then leave immediately, knowing that a website that looks like yours will not be anything of value. – Google Custom Websites Templates
It is possible to solve this issue by conducting some study on the theme the number of users who have downloaded it as well as what type of content they’re offering. You could also alter the theme further, so that it’s more distinctive in appearance. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Another issue of modern times is the importance of branding. Google recently released an update jokingly titled Fred that hurts the majority of low-ad, high-content websites. One of the main elements they look at to judge the quality of websites is their visual branding. Sites that lack an appealing appearance, distinctive branding, and have a solid appearance will be more susceptible to taking the brunt of. This can be prevented by making use of more visual media and creating a great logo but it’s an investing money and time which a lot of people aren’t willing to give away. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Then, templates face one issue that is significant, and that is the fact that there are thousands of them, yet there’s any way to determine how old or suitable they’re. There’s a chance that you’re looking at an ideal template that has outdated code, which leaves vulnerable to a security flaw, or presents various other issues. The most important of these is mobile-friendly. Google is very serious about mobile nowadays, and websites which don’t support mobile devices are being slammed increasing and more frequently as time passes. – Google Custom Websites Templates
However, this doesn’t mean that a design made to order does not have problems. It’s possible for a design that is custom to not have all of these features, or to have several of these issues also. – Google Custom Websites Templates
The Issues of Custom Web Design
Of course, the most significant issue with a custom-designed web designs is that it’s completely individual design. That means that you have to work with an artist, you’ll need to devote time to the back-and-forth process of changing it until it’s just right and then pay a cost for the design. Web design is one of the ” cheap, fast and good; pick two” items. The web design that is expensive and speedy will be badly completed. Good and cheap web design will take a long time create. The best and fastest web design is likely to be expensive. – Google Custom Websites Templates
It’s also true that custom-designed web designs require the ability to design and the desire to let it fall into the designer’s hands. You’re not sure what constitutes a good website and what you prefer when you visit a site, and that doesn’t necessarily reflect general practices. Web designers will use whatever you like as that you pay them however, they might not be able to warn you when they’re not following the best practice or an alternative. A lot of them don’t believe they’re worth it. Take a look at clients from Hell and read about stories by freelancers who must contend with clients who believe they’re right, but aren’t sure the subject matter. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Custom-designed designs aren’t always a good design, neither. Web designers might not know how to do their job or make use of outdated methods. This is especially true for older designers that haven’t kept up with the latest developments. They usually charge lower prices because they aren’t able to do what websites require or are doing this in a way which makes the site extremely slow and behind the latest internet speeds.
This wasn’t an issue with dial-up connections or DSL however, with fiber and cable, it’s obvious and Google will take speed into account when it comes to SEO. Yes, templates are slow too however many templates are designed to speed up and there is a higher chance that the plugin slows down a website faster over the template itself. – Google Custom Websites Templates
A custom web design is typically quite expensive. If you can access WordPress for free, buy an affordable hosting package for $10 with a $7 theme and a couple of five-dollar plugins and have your site online in just a few hours it’s difficult for you to think of spending $350 per hour on web design , assuming an hourly minimum of 30 hours. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Does it really matter?
The question is do you really care the template you use for your website or is a custom built layout or design? The answer is typically not. – Google Custom Websites Templates
There are instances of exceptions. Template-based designs at the low end, for instance drag-and-drop web editors used by hosts such as Wix or Squarespace could have lower rankings than other sites. But, it’s usually due to the URL that you are able to customize. Templates with high-end or mid-range designs such as WordPress as well as Genesis, and the Genesis framework, function much better. – Google Custom Websites Templates
Custom design, however, is generally acceptable, as that it’s in line with current web standards and isn’t unusual in a manner that is harmful to user experience. A site that is completely animated using Flash could look great when a skilled artist created it, but it’s inaccessible to Google spiders, which means it could be as well to not exist.
If I handed the list below of 10 websites and asked you to tell me whether they are using templates or entirely customized layouts? You’re likely to identify a generic blogger.com layout or Wikimedia layout But did you know you can also find the New Yorker, The Jane Goodall Institute, and even Sony Music are all powered by WordPress?
Most people who visit the internet aren’t capable of distinguishing between the slightly modified or specific WordPress template, and one that is completely customized one, unless of course the design is totally off the mark. I’m personally unable to discern the difference a lot of times, even though I’m aware that there are tools that let me examine the structure of a website to see what plugins, structures, and the framework that they’re using in the event that they do.
The web design industry is fairly homogeneous today. Being distinctive in terms of design won’t make a difference, as Google evaluates websites by the capability of the user to navigate the site and they want familiar navigation patterns that they are familiar with. This is the reason you seldom find sites that have navigation that is on the right or on horizontal sites or any other unorthodox alternatives.
The moral is to take whatever steps allow you to create the most excellent user experience, with websites that meet the primary design requirements of Google such as speedy loading and a design that is adaptable to mobiledevices, an in-front and center display of the content and no interference with your user’s experience. If it requires a custom design to your liking and you are willing to pay for a great design, then go for the best you can be. If you can locate an excellent template and then brand it for your needs then great.
