Open Source Web Site Template Designs
When it comes to creating the perfect template for a website, quite a bit of professional work is involved. Getting a head start on the design process can be aided by many of the Open Source templates available online.

Website Designs

With millions of websites already in existence, it is not like something has not already been designed before in the way of a website template layout. There are layouts with one, two, or three columns, or even multi-columns. Menus have been created to be placed on the right, left, top, and/or bottom of web pages. But, no matter what type of website template design is decided upon, there will be extensive modifications that will likely be required for branding it to your business name, color preferences, and tastes.

Website Color Schemes

My personal feeling with colors is darker fonts on lighter background colors for the main body text seems to be the easiest on the eyes. Have you ever tried to read a long page of text in a website, with a black or dark colored background, with white or light text? After staring at the page of an extremely dark website for a minute or two, the eyes tend to have a burnt in image of the black background. This is very hard on the eyes. None of the big search engines have white text on dark backgrounds? None of the major websites from an e-commerce perspective have white on dark. Why do many of the graphic designers think that white text on a dark background is a good option? I guess it looks cool in some instances. I must admit, there have been instances (this website started off that way) where I have used the light text on dark background styles, but I did it as a means of measuring the likability of the style, and have not used it directly for a business website. I also have websites that are designed for personal use with a light text dark background style. See Jim’s Internet Shorts Backflag Tumblr for an example of a light on dark website. If you are going to do a dark background, then I suggest not making the font light as white as white. Make the font text a bit gray. This is easier on the eyes to read than a stark white on black contrasted background. Accentuation of the page can also be done with graphic images that provide a balance to the overall look but do not interfere with the text message to be read. This is not to say that portions of the web page design can not be accented with dark backgrounds with light text. Just do it in marketing moderation and it will set your website apart from the rest.

Certain businesses tend to have some great natural images that can easily portray what their business is about. As the old saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words can be true on the web, but it is wise to have body text to go along with the image for the search engines to pick up the information. Other businesses in the service sector require much more in the way of a creative image selection process in order to really tell their business story online.

Creative Marketing, Advertising, and Writing

Creative writing for the website and creative ad copy writing can be equally as challenging. For one thing, the keywords for your business must be used throughout the website in order to have it have the possibility of it showing up in the keyword search results of the search engines. Ignoring this one area alone can spell trouble for your Internet marketing and Search Engine Optimization – SEO efforts. From an Internet marketing standpoint, to place a website in front of your target audience requires using the keywords that your customers use. In fact, writing for the target audience is more important on the Internet than any single type of promotional material generated. Read about how online marketing means knowing your customers semantically. Brochures that are handed out or mailed can make an immediate impact without using many of the keywords within the printed items. That is because a sales person hands out or emails the information directly to a person that is probably already interested in what the business does. However, on the Internet, the website becomes the salesman for potential customers that may not know your business name but are looking for the equipment, products, or services provided, and therefore the Internet marketing messages must be more informative than any printed brochures.

For more information on creative marketing, Internet marketing, online advertising, search engine optimization, and web branding visit Professional Web Services today.