Templates are an integral part of any business. Accountants use balance sheet templates. Project managers use project overview templates. Even developers use templates to speed up their dev time. So why don’t web designers and agency owners use HTML templates more often for their client projects?
HTML templates are a great way to save time and money when creating websites for clients. We go into more detail about the benefits of HTML templates here.
You might be wondering how you can incorporate these HTML templates into your existing workflow. Lucky for you we have a blog post about that as well, which you can read here.
Not every project you work on will be ideal for HTML templates. There will be some projects that require a high-level of creativity and collaboration between you and your client. In those cases, it’s probably best to stay clear of using templates. There will still be plenty of times where using HTML templates makes complete sense.
Working with a tight deadline
When a client comes to you with high expectations and a short timeframe to reach those expectations, you start sweating a bit. We’ve all been there.
There are ways to work around these tight deadlines but they usually require us to overwork ourselves and neglect other aspects of our lives, like health, family etc.
Using HTML templates can help us meet these tight deadlines without having to overwork ourselves or our team. These templates are meant to get us to 80-90% of completion. The remaining 10-20% is for customization based on the brand identity of the client and for organizing assets (logo, images, icons).
The amount of time you spend on creating from scratch is a lot higher than the amount of time you need to customize an HTML template. So it makes sense to use a template in projects that come with a tight deadline.
Working with a tight budget
The only thing more annoying than a project with a tight deadline, is one with a tight budget. You really want to work with this client on this project, but they’re budget is smaller than what you’re used to.
There’s always the option to just accept a smaller profit margin. There’s also the option to use HTML templates. You should be able to find a high-quality HTML template for less than $40, so they’re a much more cost-effective option when comparing it to hiring a contractor, or allocating your available team members to the project. Instead, have them work on a project with a higher budget, and use a template for the low budget one.
Working with a client that only cares about the end product
You may be working on a project with a flexible deadline and budget, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a template anyways. There will be times where you’re working with a client who doesn’t provide much design context for what they would like. They let you take full control of the entire process, and only care to see the end result.
In that case, you may as well take advantage of the opportunity to save time and money by using an HTML template. These clients typically don’t care how you get to the finish line, just as long as you get there.
As web designers and agency owners, we need to take advantage of these templates more often. They can help ease stress and help us grow. They may not work for all projects, but they do work for some. If people in other industries use templates, why don’t we?
