Are Template Sites any good for SEO?

boxby · #1 (**permalink**) 27-05-2008, 13:20

OK, I have my hard hat on

!!

I know template sites are limited, etc, but I have a need to get something up on a domain, quickly and cheaply, which is basically just a page for a link through to an affiliate program. But I want it on a different domain, not on boxby.

At some point in the future, I will move from the affiliate, onto a bespoke service, and at that point will do a site proper.

Meantime, what I want now, is get something up, it's a new domain, and I want to get some content and keywords etc all on the site. Domain is registered with domainmonster who have a free template webbuilder package.

So; I know it's not ideal, but is something better than nothing?

RedEvo · #2 (**permalink**) 27-05-2008, 13:24

The term template is misleading. CMS's like Joomla! and shopping carts like OSCommerce etc use a template but this only refers to the fact that the site's look and feel uses a template. Most CMS's use templates and it's the SEO effectiveness of this and not the template that will dictate the search engine friendliness.

d

gary@engineeringweb. · #3 (**permalink**) 12-06-2008, 20:14

Quite right red
I really find it difficult to see how people can design sites without using any form of template these days (obviously not suggesting everyone buys a design from template monster).
CSS should be external style sheets applied to areas with a page. This is a form of template in itself that can have any design.
More importantly if you want to create an optimized site then it needs a good structure (often best controlled by a template) and lots of good, regularly updated content. It's difficult to maintain dynamic sites without a sitebuilder or cms and to get good content it's usually better for the owner to control the text rather than through a web designer. Again meaning the owner will need a template based cms, probably set up for them.
Finally good usability is key to site performance and requires consistent design. Again provided by a template.
So whatever it looks like or comes from you will probably get a more optimized site using a good template (structure) somewhere along the line.

sally · #4 (**permalink**) 12-06-2008, 23:16

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to bung a wordpress blog on the domain?

It's free and seo is super-duper

UKSBD · #5 (**permalink**) 13-06-2008, 06:56

Ignore template sites, wordpress, joomla, etc.
What you need is notepad, an FTP tool, and something for images.
I'm sure someone here will give you a blank canvas to work on if you neet it.

awebapart · #6 (**permalink**) 13-06-2008, 09:46

Visiting the SEO section of this forum this morning and the top 2 threads

Why are tables bad for homepages?

Are template sites any good for SEO?

reads like a list of common misconceptions about SEO. The only problem is that for people glancing over this forum they will just read the thread titles, so it isn't any wonder that these misconceptions spread!

It is impossible to say whether template websites are bad for SEO, since there are so many different types of template websites, it is a bit like asking are websites bad for SEO. You really have to be more specific and say what type of template website you are talking about.

Template websites, and their various meanings, were discussed in more detail in this thread: A Web Designing Question.

This website, a1businessforums, is a template website (a customised template), and it seems to be doing pretty well for SEO.

boxby · #7 (**permalink**) 13-06-2008, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by awebapart.com

It is impossible to say whether template websites are bad for SEO, since there are so many different types of template websites, it is a bit like asking are websites bad for SEO. You really have to be more specific and say what type of template website you are talking about.

Please sir, :sad1:, i did, sir!!
I said that it was the free template builder package with domainmonster !!

KeyMark Services · #8 (**permalink**) 13-06-2008, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxby

Please sir, :sad1:, i did, sir!!
I said that it was the free template builder package with domainmonster !!

In reply to the topic, I agree with red 100%. In addition, the definition of a template in this instance would mean the outline of your site correct?

As long as the code used is clean and you can access the meta's and ensure they are relevant to your content, then there should be no issue. The test will be of course if your content is up to scratch etc...seo is not rocket science but basic rules need to be applied...rule 1, write the site for the user not the SE's.

And just to play devil's advocate, beware of mass selling service suppliers, if possible, run some ip c block check's on some of their exisiting domains. Remember that if any of the 'neighbourhood' is on the banned domains, sharing the same site ip will get your site banned before you start...

..result, no matter how good the SEO is, your site will not be indexed.

JMTC & HTH

awebapart · #9 (**permalink**) 13-06-2008, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxby

Please sir, :sad1:, i did, sir!!
I said that it was the free template builder package with domainmonster !!

Sorry, I missed that part, as did some of the other posters on this thread. The point I was making was how easy it is to get the wrong idea when glancing over thread titles.

The domainmonster offering is not just a web template, it is a sitebuilder with templates, so it is more than your normal HTML template, it is a working system with content management.

The sitebuilder domainmonster are using is supplied by SWSoft (now called Parallels) a US company who supply sitebuilders to many hosting and domain companies including 123-reg, heartinternet, etc.

Their sitebuilder isn't bad for SEO, however there are a few issues you need to be aware of:

1. If it is a new site, you are not going to do well with google in the first 6 months (on average) anyway, due to google's sandboxing (downranking) of new sites. You'll get this whether you go for a free web-builder service with your domain name registrar, or whether you spend thousands on a custom designed built from scratch website.

2. If the service is free there might be ads on your website too. These could advertise your competitors, and they could also mess up your keyword densities, pushing them over allowable limits (especially if yahoo ads are used and served up not via javascript but as part of the server-side system, this can happen with 123-reg's sitebuilder).

3. If you are using anything other than a .uk address then you need to check the hosting location of domainmonster sites - I've never heard of them before but I get the impression they might be UK hosted (but do check that the sitebuilder sites are UK hosted too)

4. If it is a small site, you also need to be aware of google's issue with doorway pages and consider whether the site falls in this category

5. Different hosting/domain registrars offering the sitebuilder will have it configured differently so just because results are OK with one company it doesn't mean they will be the same with another.

I set up a site over a year ago using the 123-reg sitebuilder, as part of a demonstration and experiment, the site got to page 1 of google in the last several months, in the top 5 recently, for its target keywords, but very recently it has dropped to nowhere on google, possibly for some of the reasons I mentioned above or other reasons (including the latest google dewey update, and other inbound link issues). The site in question is www.webdesignnorthampton.org.uk but currently the only decent ranking it has is page 1 position 3 on msn/live (for some reason 123-reg have recently removed the ads that used to appear top right too). Any SEO success we did get with this website, a good proportion was down to the domain name, the words on the site, and some of its inbound links, it wasn't necessarily down to the sitebuilder/template (although the sitebuilder's customisable flexibility did help, and it didn't hinder too much).

awebapart · #10 (**permalink**) 16-06-2008, 10:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by awebapart.com

I set up a site over a year ago using the 123-reg sitebuilder, as part of a demonstration and experiment, the site got to page 1 of google in the last several months, in the top 5 recently, for its target keywords, but very recently it has dropped to nowhere on google, possibly for some of the reasons I mentioned above or other reasons (including the latest google dewey update, and other inbound link issues). The site in question is www.webdesignnorthampton.org.uk but currently the only decent ranking it has is page 1 position 3 on msn/live (for some reason 123-reg have recently removed the ads that used to appear top right too). Any SEO success we did get with this website, a good proportion was down to the domain name, the words on the site, and some of its inbound links, it wasn't necessarily down to the sitebuilder/template (although the sitebuilder's customisable flexibility did help, and it didn't hinder too much).

Update: it looks like the webdesignnorthampton.org.uk site has come back from the wilderness of not being anywhere in google, and has now gone back to google page 1 position 2 for web design northampton!