There is no doubt that a website template can be handy if you need a quick low cost website, but is it going to cramp your style?
Template based websites are generally intended for the non-expert to put together a reasonably good looking website without needing to know all the techie stuff. There's lots of options for colours, widths, boxes, fonts, etc. And a selection of widgets or extensions you can include. All great it would seem...
For some it is, but a website is something that needs to be dynamic and grow and change with your business. One that doesn't won't be doing you any favours at all. Most templates limit you to the scope of that template's design and functionality. What if you wanted to add a different sort of gallery for example, one that you can display by tag. Does your current template have that? The chances are if you wanted to add something that the template hadn't been designed for you could have problems.
What we do is more expensive but it will be unique to you and you can have whatever you want included in your website, now and in the future. The website is actually designed to be able to grow and adapt to your business needs far into the future. You could even change the look of the website without having to redo all the content. This is sometimes called reskinning. Some templates can make this very difficult.
So before you plomp for that apparently low cost solution that is going to represent your business online you need to consider whether you are looking for a short term fix or a long term solution.
