Why would anyone hire a web designer when we have all these wonderful templates so readily available? Many web-hosting companies now provide access to an array of well-crafted web templates, requiring that the user only fill in text and place images. And best of all, access to those templates is often free with the web hosting services. So if you already have all your own text and graphics, why pay the extra money—possibly several-hundred dollars—to have a web designer set your site up?

First, because templates are just that—templates. They are pre-created layouts designed to work for a variety of people. Now certainly, they are well made and functional, and the better ones might even be tailored to a specific field of business. If all you want is a web presence, then by all means, go the template route. That's what they exist for.

Web designers, on the other hand, exist because websites are so often more than just text on a page. It's no longer just about having a clean look and easy link scheme. Websites are tools, potentially very versatile tools, and like all tools they are designed to fulfill certain goals.

The benefit of original web design, of having a website created for you from scratch, is that it can be built with your actual goals in mind, not just the generic goals of running a website. Naturally, this becomes most clear when you want more complex and functional programming in your site. Although ready-made web programs are also readily available, they can also be inferior to programs designed for your website specifically, simply because they were not designed for your website specifically.

There is also the advantage of experience to consider—specifically, the web designer's experience. When you are working with pre-made programs and layout templates, you have to determine the specifics of their information and content. As far as assigning the content appropriate to your business, that's easy. However, there are other factors to consider. Are you using too many pictures, or images with too large a file size? Are you taking into account the differences of other monitors when looking at your product? Is your site optimized for the search engines? Can the search engine spiders efficiently navigate your entire site? Will the code work the same on different browsers?

Web designers are not only there to create code. If they were, then templates would be a much more viable option. However, web designers are also experienced in the rules and standards of website design. A good website designer won't just crank out the code and pick up a check; it will work with you to make sure your site is working properly, does everything you want, and conforms to important web standards. A good web designer can also expand or change its code as your needs change—try and get that from a template!

Templates are good for getting content on the web. However, they are not substitutes for original web design, performed by a knowledgeable website designer. If you are going to have a website at all, original web design is the way to go to create a site that suits your business.