Now you would be forgiven for wondering whether using a free template is really such a good idea. After all if it’s free there are bound to be lots of other people out there who are going to have a website that looks exactly the same as yours.

That’s a fair point, but it’s not necessarily true. A website template is what you make of it, and you should remember that it gives you the bare bones of your site – it’s up to you to fill it with information, images and everything else that makes your site stand out as being yours and no one else’s.

Think about your logo for example. Every business should have a logo or image that immediately identifies them, and this should be given a priority placing on your home page.

You can use graphics or photographs which you have permission or a licence to use, which will add colour and interest to your pages. But a big part of any website is the writing. It has the capability to pull in visitors from the search engines by using keywords, and if you are good at writing attention grabbing headlines you will be able to use these to generate interest and pull people in.

It’s possible to use free articles from article directories to put on your site, but it’s far better to write some yourself. Not only will they be written in your own unique style, they will also personalise your site in a way nothing else can. A big part of being successful online is being able to stand out from the crowd. Your content will help you to do just this – and it will ensure your free template enhances your content rather than stands out by itself.

In short a free template should be used to help you arrange your content so that it is easier to sift through to find what you need. It shouldn’t hamper the overall feel of your site; instead it should act as a firm base on which to build your site and make it look professional to others.

If you can do this, people won’t even notice you have used a free template – even if they have already seen it used somewhere else.

Many people would have you believe that getting traffic to your site (and plenty of it) is the key to making a lot of money online. Let’s put it this way – it certainly is the key, but you need to make sure your website is the lock that it will fit. Otherwise all that traffic will be unimpressed by what it sees, and carry on moving.

Think about your reaction to any new site you come across. If a site is very basic looking and is full of mistakes, overlapping images, lacking in content and generally very amateurish, are you likely to stop for a look round? The chances are you won’t even consider it, let alone think about buying anything.

This is why it’s vitally important that you ensure your website looks professional and stays that way, every single day that it’s live.

While designing your own website is not out of the question, many people don’t have the advanced skills needed to make an excellent and professional job of it. In this case you have two options – you can either make use of one of the large selection of professionally designed web templates available online, or you can hire a professional to create a site especially for you.

Whatever you decide to do, it is still essential to make sure you stay up to date with how your website looks. Part of the task of ensuring it looks professional on a daily basis is to check the information included on your site, and remain up to date with any links so you can immediately alter or delete any broken ones.

The more errors a visitor finds in your site – whether it’s a spelling mistake, a broken link or out of date information – the less trusting they will become of your site as a whole, and the less likely they are to revisit it.

In this sense making sure you retain that professional look is a full time job, and one that should be taken seriously if you really want your website to go from strength to strength.

So the next time you sit down to review your website, ask yourself what you would honestly think of it if you came across it online.

How long would you stay?

The home page of any website is where it all happens. It has a big job to do – it’s usually the first thing people see when they visit a site (unless they have followed a link through to a specific page elsewhere). Its importance cannot be underestimated.

Many newcomers to the world of creating websites think that the main purpose of a home page is to welcome people to the site. This is true, but its real purpose goes much deeper than that. You need more than a simple welcome to draw people into your site, to keep them there - and ideally to encourage them to buy or request something from you.

Adding interactive elements to your home page is a good way to do this. Surf the internet for a while and explore other websites to see how they do this. One of the most popular ways to get people involved is to offer them a free newsletter or report. Simply encourage visitors to fill in a box on your home page which tells them what they will receive once they enter their name and email address.

It also helps to draw the visitor in on a personal level. If your website is about house training puppies, for example, you could open with a short article about the kind of problems this brings with it. Always talk to your readers directly – you know you are probably talking to hundreds or thousands of people over a period of time, but make sure you talk to just one in your article. This will help people to believe your site is aimed purely at them.

It also helps to keep something back. For example you might have the perfect solution to house training puppies in double quick time… but don’t give it away on your home page. Hint at it, and then reveal where the answer can be found. This helps to ensure people stay on your website for a while longer and explore beyond what your home page has to offer.

In a sense then, your home page has to be packed with promise, benefits and a taste of what the rest of your site holds. If you can achieve this, you’ll not only draw people in, you’ll hang onto them as well.

While it isn’t perhaps at the top of the list, colour can play a more vital role than you might imagine. For example if your website is aimed at men you wouldn’t choose tones of pink and purple to design your site. This is an obvious point to make but it does illustrate the need to think about what colours you are using and how you are using them.

Some people have experimented with the order buttons they use on their sites, using different colours to see how the number of orders received is affected. Although red is a colour which is often associated with danger, it also makes people stop and pay attention (think of road signs). This is why it can work well when used strategically on websites, so long as it isn’t overused.

On the other hand blue and green are traditionally calming colours and can subtly make sure that people relax and take longer to explore your site. In this sense how you use colour has a direct relation to how well your website fares. We’ve all come across those sites which seem to think that the more colour they use – regardless of how much those colours may clash – the more attractive they must look.

In reality of course it’s usually the opposite. Bright and garish colours can send people away quicker than anything else. Be wary also that using white or coloured text on a black background is harder to read and can put some people off your site altogether.

In the end it’s always worth showing your site to a selection of people before you go live with it. Constructive feedback at this stage can make all the difference between launching your site successfully or having to go back and make changes.

The theme says a lot about what people can expect from your site, simply by glancing at the first page they come across. People will begin to get an idea of what to expect without even reading anything. That is why you need to make sure the images they are seeing marry up with the reality.

Have you ever come across a website whose home page had a striking image on it that had nothing to do with the subject of the site? This kind of faux pas can mislead and confuse people, which is the complete opposite of the kind of reaction you want to get from them.

Even worse are the sites where it actually takes some hunting to find out what the overall theme and purpose of the site actually is. You can see the importance of choosing a suitable theme before you begin.

By theme, we mean the look and feel of the website itself. If you have a business that has an upmarket and professional feel and clientele, you won’t want to pick a theme which involves cartoon characters and comic speech bubbles, for example.

On the other hand, if your website is all about fun activities for the kids to do during the school holidays, then a bright and breezy theme involving primary colours would catch the eye and really make its mark on parents and children.

You might already have some ideas on what kind of theme your website should have, but it’s always worth checking out the competition to see how their websites are pitched towards their target audience.

Whatever kind of theme you choose, make sure you consider all the important elements – the colour scheme, the tone of the writing, the kind of pictures you use and how coherent it all is. Once you are happy with what you have, test it out on a few people and see what reactions you get.

This is a far better solution than going live with your site and finding out it doesn’t quite hit the spot after all.

If you are good with words and you have a good idea of what you want your website to include, you can make good use of a free template to get you started.

There are lots of benefits to using one of these. The most obvious one is cost. There are plenty of internet marketers who are just starting out who recognise the importance of having a good looking website, but who just don’t have the funds to pay someone else to design and build one for them. In this instance a free template is by far the easiest way to get started.

Free templates are also good for those who have a limited knowledge of software and how to use it. You can simply download the template of your choice and personalise it with your own content. Even if the template doesn’t come with explicit instructions, you can always email the site you selected it from to get some advice about any problems you may have.

Another big benefit is that there is a wide range of free templates available online now. Some are basic, some are available in more than one colour (perfect for fitting in with your logo) and others are styled to appeal to a specific audience, such as car lovers or night-clubbers for example.

Another main benefit which some people don’t always think about is that you can test out ideas for websites far more easily when you use a free template. You may have an idea for a website which will be designed to provide you with an affiliate income for example. It would be more sensible to test the waters first with a site that costs you nothing to set up. Why spend money on having a unique site designed professionally when it may not work?

Free templates certainly have a big place in the world of websites. From newbies to old hands, they can make all the difference between an average looking site and one that is eye catching for all the best reasons.

But in fact that statement should be qualified a little. A website will certainly give you a good chance of earning a decent income, but even if you are selling something that everyone in the world is clamouring to buy, you won’t get many sales if your website isn’t user friendly.

Unfortunately this is something not everyone understands. Some people seem to like making life hard for everyone who finds their site.

Rule number one to follow if you want to make sure your site is user friendly is to make life as easy as possible for your visitors. After all, you’re going to put in a lot of effort to get them to visit your site in the first place; you don’t want them leaving after just a few seconds because you didn’t put enough thought into how your site is put together.

A good way to make sure your site works well is to ask a couple of friends or family members to take a look at it for you. Better still ask them to perform a couple of actions. For example, you could ask them to sign up for your newsletter, find a particular piece of information or get the details of a specific product you are selling.

What you need to know is how easy it was for them to do all these tasks. A good website should lead the visitor through it and point the way towards the various options available. It is well known that the average attention span of an online surfer can be measured in terms of just a few seconds, rather than the minutes some people hope for.

You might think that putting in countless signposts to things is insulting to peoples’ intelligence, but in fact if you don’t do this you could be losing out on sales, sign ups and repeat custom.

Make sure your home page has clearly labelled links to all the main areas of your site. You should also ensure that you include a site map for those that require it. If your site is already up and running now is the time to review it – and rope in your friends and family to help you.

As you make changes and clarify any areas that need improvement, keep in mind this simple rule that will help you create a better website. Just imagine leading each visitor by the hand and showing them the best of what your website has to offer.

If you think about this image, you won’t leave any paths unexplored – and that means your visitors will be able to find them all far more easily.

The most important part of any home page is the upper portion – the part that is viewable without having to scroll down to look at what else is included on that page. It is tempting therefore to cram everything you can into that top portion, to ensure that all the important stuff can be seen as soon as the page loads.

But this can be a big mistake. In this world of graphics, content and images, less really can be more. Our ever increasingly impatient society has an attention span which stretches to mere seconds – not long enough to scan and digest even a fraction of what many people try and cram onto their home page.

It’s advisable therefore to go back to basics and make a note of what your website is really all about. What do you want your visitors to get from it? What is the single most important message you want to get across? What would you like your visitors to do? Sign up for a free newsletter? Click through to other pages on your site?

Whatever actions you would like your visitors to perform, you need to make sure they are visible and accessible on that first screen. Don’t overcrowd your home page; instead, make sure you have a nice clear and clean border around that sign up box you have for people to fill in and join your email list. It will stand out more and get a better response if you do.

When you are planning or redesigning your home page, think about adding smaller blocks of easily readable content, rather than adding a long article that would be better saved for another section of your site. Don’t overwhelm people as soon as they arrive – let your home page point towards other areas of interest, while remaining clear and simple to understand itself.

Creating a good home page that converts visitors into sign ups and encourages them to explore the site in more depth takes time and experimentation. It is certainly an ongoing process, but each improvement you make will have a direct bearing on how well the site performs as a whole – so it’s worth persevering.