Websites done with templates

[Bubzeebub]

Is it harder to get a website to rank high with the search engines if your website is done using templates?

[JuniorOptimizer]

Not at all. Templates are probably used by most pros.

[treeline]

Templates work great, and are easier. Just make sure you plan the template with SEO in mind!

[Bubzeebub]

Meaning what....Links like crazy on the front page and links to all pages on each page? Is there more I'm missing?

[treeline]

Make sure the template is as short and concise as possible, not cluttered with a lot of javascript, etc.

Plan so that the most important content and links will be high on the page, as viewed by spiders.

Use text links where you can, with good anchor text to your most important pages.

You don't need to link to every page from every page.

[dauction]

Templates? what's wrong with you.. you should learn graphics and coding quit being so lazy ;)

Templates are great .. but watch for templates bloated with images and tables.

If it is bloated then make a duplicate copy and start dismantling all the tables and do away with heavy unecessary images and put it back together without all the imbeded tables..

I always rename all my images ..just for the fact that if there are 100 other of the same templates up and running then it may be prudent to have your images not named the same as the other 100. It probably wont matter to the se's but just in case you're probably best to rename them.

Make your text content weighted more then your graphics ,scripts and everything else (as treeline was saying).. try and keep your pages under 30K so they'll load quickly.

It's better for visitors and the se's .

Ranking is more about your content and inbound links then if you are using a template.

[keywordguru]

Much agreed!

A template can be a great starting ground, but is FAR from a complete solution. The templates usually look superb, yet in reality the designers are actually "Graphic Designers" and not web site designers. That is why there are usually very appealing graphics, background images that span the entire site, and overall, just look plain good!
Not all templates are like this, yet most of the ones that people pick that don't know much about design are usually these.

The reality of it is that they are far from realistic. They are too graphical, and would take all day to load. So what I do is take a template for a concept, and then totally recreate, and slice the graphic piece by piece. That way I can build extremely clean html, and not use a bunch of sliced images everywhere.

The key to it is keeping graphics small file sized, and use lots of CSS stylesheets. You can usually get the exact same look as a template with these suggestions and the outcome will be a great looking site that is highly optimizable for SEO.

Good Luck
KG