Website Themes vs Bespoke Designs

[Gio Greenard]

Hi all,

Due to some requests as of late I have started to look into developing websites for small business owners.

I normally steer clear of this as I am busy enough just with local seo, but having done some research it doesn't seem to bad of an idea to offer an all inclusive package.

The dilemma I'm faced with is producing a professional, converting websites at a reasonable cost. I have been having a scout online and there seem to be some pretty decent build it your self themes such as Looking Ahead - Catalyst, that require little programming and style sheet knowledge. This together with some custom made graphics/background and headers was my first idea.

or alternatively hiring a programmer (prob from o desk) to build the website from scratch using the genesis framework and "customising" a theme that the client agrees on from say themeforest.com

Last but not least I have seen some small biz themes, which come framework inclusive with multiple layouts, although I'm a bit concerned they may look a bit cheap.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the above or any small biz themes they can recommend? I always like to get heavily involved with any project but I am beginning to think it may be better to employ a programmer and a graphic designer and to just coordinate and charge more.....

This will be on Wordpress BTW

Cheers

Gio

 

[djbaxter]

A professional design or at least one that is highly customizable would be preferred but it depends on what the customer wants and what s/he is willing to pay.

Some themes like Thesis are highly customizable so that many sites that visually look nothing like one another can be fairly easily built on that framework.

Another reasonable alternative that may get you up and going with less setup is to look for suitable professional themes at Themeforest.