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There needs to be a certain amount of care exercised when choosing a template to represent your site. It’s far more than simply finding a web hosting template that looks nice, and is fairly easy to use. There are dangers lurking in those free or low-cost templates that can lead to unexpected and less than wonderful results when you use them. Let’s take a look at what these are and what you can do to avoid this.
The first of these dangers is in the code itself. The designer that created the web template in the first place did so for a reason. As wonderful a person as you are, they are getting something out of this, and that usually is in the form of free links to their own sites. That may seem a fair tradeoff at first glance, but think about it for a second. Who exactly are you linking to?
These links could lead to spam sites, porn sites, rogue spyware and malware offers, and before you know it, you may have a world of problems. Moreover, linking to sites that are in what Google considers “bad neighborhoods” will lead to your site being penalized or worse. Not a good idea.
Many times these links are not visible to the human eye, as they are coded to appear in the same color as the page background, thus rendering them invisible. The only way to detect them is by looking at the code itself.
Also, make sure the code is compliant. Many times your content will have a hard time getting indexed if it is difficult to discern.
Take care also when selecting “free” Wordpress or any other blogging platforms themes. This is not say that every one of these is riddled with bad or malicious code; quite the contrary, but it is just a word to the wise. Check them out.
Obviously purchasing a template gives you a layer of protection, but I’d still do the smart thing and still take a quick look at the code. There may still be something lurking there.
Many Web 2.0 sites are chock full of outbound links, again part of the tradeoff in giving you a free blogging platform. However this also makes it more difficult for you to get your blog decently ranked and noticed. One thing that is a bit better about these though is that they are unlikely to have resided in bad neighborhoods.
While it may be tempting to use a template or theme that hasn’t made the rounds before, there is a reason some of the more popular themes and templates have become so. There is safety in numbers. Look for themes and templates at resources that have been around awhile. This also helps legitimize them.
Give some thought when choosing your web templates and themes, and if at all possible, check out the source code carefully to see the deal you’re going to have to strike with the designer. It may well not be worth the cost, even if it’s free!
