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Is a ThemeForest theme really a deal breaker?
Just curious, do you really care how much or how little a company invests in it's website? I understand if they are a start-up the amount they invest reflects their dedication and increases the likelyhood of them staying in business, but say the company was established and active here on LEB/LET?
Would you still be willing to purchase a LEB from a company if they spent less than $100 on their design and there is a chance there are 200 other websites out there with a similar design?
People have been recommending we look at ThemeForest for a while but I've seen a lot of negativity towards hosts that use them (or any other template that is). Also, does it make any sense to invest $250+ into a website design that is most likely going to be ripped anyways?
I'm interested to hear the feedback from the community on this. Thanks!
Comments
I don't have a problem with a themeforest theme, as long as you can take it and make it your own. Make your own images, and input your own content.
Other than that, I could care less.
I probably wouldn't recognize a themeforest theme if it slapped me and called me names. Then again, I'm one of the odd ones that is tending to use lynx/elinks more often anyway.
When considering buying from a company I base more of my decision on the results of googling "companyname sucks" than anything else (well, and variations of that phrase too).
I think having your own theme made is the best option, but you need to customize it enough that ripping it makes it a pain. Or just recognize that a good theme is going to get ripped by a crappy host, and just make a thread on LET/WHT and post on their threads - that will usually bother most (smart) users.
Yes, provided the company is not named up*.tld :-)
Seriously, yes I would buy LEB from said provider. There are other factors to determine besides site design in this market. Performance, price, location, support are just a few items more important than the look of your website. If all the other t's are crossed and the i's are dotted, I think people would look past the carbon copy feel.
No. But I think a business' website is an employee of that company. Get what you need on there to make it work. Doesn't need to have a pretty face or a skirt but it better know what the clients need to know in order to close the sale.
I'm not worried about the theme getting ripped TBH, I know it will happen and I've seen it happen to even the crappiest looking themes. As for "making ripping a pain", that's not realistic because any theme can be ripped with little effort since all of the code and files are readily available for the world.
That being said I think I'm done going the custom route. I'd rather buy a hard drive than a website these days.
Excellent point! Functionality > Appearance.
Do you really expect a "high-end cuisine" when in front of a restaurant with a big yellow M on it? Do you really expect to spend less than "7$" in front of marble and gold?
Why would it be different for a website? :-)
I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. Your post could have multiple meanings.
It doesn't have to be that way at all.
It has :-) What I tried to say is that a website is (a part of) your image, and so will lead to a pre-judgement. Your visitors will expect a certain level, a certain price or whatever else from you. I believe a 'seen-everywhere" website template is not a good way to be "special", a crappy quick one would lead to "don't care much", a golden one to "probably quality, but sure a fortune".....
it all depends what you want to say/show!
I'd love to be wrong :-)
Minimalist themes / design can be great: focus on the servers not the design.
To many times we see fancy / heavy designs... just for nothing
I cannot agree more! I'm a minimalist myself.
For me, yes it's a deal breaker. Not because I have a problem with people using templates, but because of the poor quality and lack of selection of the hosting templates on TF. If there were more, then at least not everyone would be using the same one.
The other thing I don't like is when people haven't even bothered to do a WHMCS integration.
To be perfectly honest... our first couple of years, we didn't have a public website. Just our WHMCS install. This was back when Frantech was marketed towards online gaming servers; 99% of our presence was done through IRC and community forums. The people knew us, and could easily find their answers through the public medium then, so we never really bothered.
Now that we do have a website... we paid all of 0$ for it. Fran decided to do an experiment in 'div' based tables, and all three of our public-facing sites were born from that.
To be perfectly honest... if I had been tasked with doing the site, thing would've gone differently. I am -not- a visual designer; my stickfigures make people cry. I likely would've found just a basic template that I liked (in terms of organization and layout), and gone to town on the CSS to make it unique for us.
Thankfully, Fran took care of that, and I think his simple yet efficient site reflects our company perfectly. We don't want to dazzle a client or feed a load of BS to get their business... we'd rather run the best service we can, and let our reputation handle the sales.
I don't care how little a provider paid for their site. As long as it works. I'd be happy to use a provider with a bare WHMCS, and no site.
Really I don't care where the template/theme comes from, as long as it looks good and is not ripped content.
heh theme may be warez copy.
To be honest, most people from what I know don't actually buy ThemeForest themes, they are mostly RIPs. Go find a ThemeForest theme and search the name followed by RIP and you'll find something. I was even surprised to find that my partner actually paid for a theme :P
And yeah, if you can get a properly unique site designed all the better, however I do not really mind ThemeForest themes as long as they are not overused. Last time I designed something I used a business theme and adapted it for hosting etc. to make it more unique. Some themes are plain overused..
I have a couple themes laying around that I paid hundreds of dollars for but I was looking for something more modern. Our current theme is a combination of a custom $50 theme and an OSWD theme. Personally I like the current theme but I've had people asking me if it was a joke website so I'm exploring our options right now. So far I've found a free template I love and a $299 theme I like.
Personally, I like your current site, @KuJoe. You're selling low end boxes - you don't need a fancy, flashy website in my opinion.
Im terrible at designs, and I've began to start using Open-Source UI/CSS/HTML Frameworks, such as Bootstrap.
eg http://grab.by/cNu0
ThemeForest templates are awful.
@KuJoe as long as you keep your theme:
It will be enough to make me buy a product, take a look at hostigation, their new site is simple and effective. They're main goal is to provide excellent service, not an excellent site to view.
Having made a custom site for Hostigation I'd advise that you have a look yourself
Use the wayback machine to take a look at ~2010 Hostigation.com (template based) and the current design (done by myself). It really depends on your reputation. I personally always shyed away from trying Hostigation because it was rather messy and information wasn't laid out clearly (your site may differ)...
Having made a custom site for Hostigation I'd advise that you have a look yourself
Use the wayback machine to take a look at ~2010 Hostigation.com (template based) and the current design (done by myself). It really depends on your reputation. I personally always shyed away from trying Hostigation because it was rather messy and information wasn't laid out clearly (your site may differ)...
I like Hostigation's design but I personally don't think it's very "business" looking. If it was an open source theme I'd use it for my personal site in a heartbeat though (minus the scary man who might look a bit better if he were centered).
Indeed. When I've first seen the new Hostigation design I was like "oh, now they're also in the dead-pool.". It looks like a personal webpage. Don't get me wrong, it looks quite ok for a personal webpage. But then again it also looks like those domain-parking sites.
Hostigation looks like a joke from a potential new client's perspective, and looked rather dull and depressing before the change, almost as if it was abandoned in mid 90's and left running on a 20 year prepaid hosting plan.
If it wasn't for LEB or LET, I would never consider to buy anything from them, purely on the image they project. I still haven't tried their services, but soon will, just because I'm around from time to time to hear most of you giving very positive reviews.
Either way, a custom (or customized) theme is still better than a straight stock theme from the popular vendor in my opinion, granted it doesn't make the eyes bleed too much.
@Kujoe I wouldn't cancel my VPS just because you have a template design. But sure it is a lot more attracting when you have a nice unique design. I think it is a good "investment".
Looks like I have to rethink it a bit...
If people want they can send me suggestions.