Build or buy

building a site or buying templates your views

[Dashy]

Hello

Can any one help, I am looking to build a site with adsence in mind but do have much experience in this field.

I have a built a personal site and a site for my firm using softwear. As a novice would i be better off buying a load of sites with everythink seemingly in place (if not a bit bland looking )and trying to adapt them or try to build around my existing site and add some content and adverts to make it profitable.

Also if i buy a template can i use my softwear to
modify it

Look forward to your views

[Grassroots]

I've had tons of work from people who bought templates, tried making changes and decided a) they can't or b) they've made a mess of it.

"Can you fix it please"?

Sure...

I say create your own design as it will help you in the long run. You already state you have built a website before so you at least have some understanding of doing so. There are plenty of tutorials that can fill you in on the missing parts aspect to help you achieve a "finished" look.

Good luck with whatever route you choose anyway.

[GrendelKhan TSU]

As a novice would i be better off buying a load of sites with everythink seemingly in place

"seemingly" is the important word here. The thing to realize about most templates is that they will require a lot of tweeking. Many will also only provide the index page or a couple of subpages. ie: you will have to develop extra pages (I'll assume your site will have more than say....two or three pages^_^).

A good template CAN be a good way to get started with some cool stuff that would take FOREVER to learn to develop on your own. but its a long way from being a ready-outta-the-box solution.

don't think you'll "save time" with a template... it will feel like you spent as much time tweeking it as you would have spent building a site from scratch.

The difference being (I found) that the level of quality (and "finished" look) will probably be higher overall (at least for the template provided pages) and you will pick up a few tricks along the way just from looking at the template.

keep a copy of the originally provided template, as grassroots said, you WILL mess up a lot. but that's good as you will learn from that faster than anything. with a copy of the original handy...you can easily start again.

Also if i buy a template can i use my softwear to
modify it

depend on where you buy the template from, but in general, yes.