Whether you’re an artist, a photographer or a graphic designer, anyone who works in a creative industry will need to have a space on the internet where you can list your accomplishments, show off what your business does, and connect with potential clients.
Thankfully, the invention of website templates means that you don’t have to spend extra time and money learning to build your own website from scratch or paying a professional to build you a site. Instead, you can simply choose the website template that complements your professional style and aesthetic, and create a fully customizable business website in a matter of minutes.
But choosing the best website template for your needs is more than just selecting the template that looks the most appealing to you. In fact, there are a bunch of considerations for you to make, from what features your website template needs to include and how to present what you do in the best way. That’s why we’re getting in-depth about all of the different things to consider when you’re choosing which website builder and web design templates to use. We’ll also take a look at some of the many professions that require a website, and examples of professionals in those fields making the most out of their business website template so that you can be inspired before you get started.
Do I Need a Professional Website?
With free social media business profiles, is it really worth your time and money to invest in a website template? Short answer: absolutely. While social media can be a great way to connect with new contacts, get your company noticed and grow your audience, a social profile is lacking when it comes to customization, web themes and the level of professionalism communicated by a website template that emphasizes what makes your business unique. It can be tempting to want to cut costs wherever you can when you’re first getting started with your business. However, with so many amazing professional website templates to choose from at affordable prices with no website design experience required, it’s well worth it to create your own business website if you want to make a strong first impression with your clients and get more sales.
What Is a Website Template?
In the old days, if you wanted to create a fully responsive landing page and company website, you would either have to learn to code your own HTML website templates from scratch, or you would need to spend a lot of money hiring experts to create a website builder template for you.
Luckily, this is no longer the case. Now it’s completely possible to create your own responsive website, complete with search functions, a contact form, drag and drop website design, and so many other options without having to blow your entire budget on a consultant who specializes in web hosting.
Professional website templates are ideal for your business, whether you’re a software company looking to make sales or you need to create a travel website, interior design or real estate business site. Responsive web templates can be customized to fit the needs of your business, so you’re never having to adjust your company to fit the confines of a social media profile. Instead, you have full control over how your business is presented online, whether that means creating a one-page web template or a complete website with tons of web elements, sales pages and search functions.
Now that you understand what an HTML website template is and why you need one, it’s time to get specific about the features you’ll want to look out for when choosing the best professional website template for you.
What Features Should I Look for in a Website Template?
Responsive web templates come in all shapes and sizes, varying depending on the type of business you’re in and the features that you need to get started. When you’re comparing HTML templates to try and find the best website templates collection for your specific needs, make sure you have an understanding of what features your website template needs to offer in order to create the website theme you’re dreaming of. With that in mind, we’ll be going over all of the different template design features you might come across so you have everything you need to make an educated decision when selecting your HTML website page builder.
Intuitive Design Editor
Regardless of the website builder, the process of creating your website should be intuitive. The whole point of using professional website templates rather than creating your own page templates is to simplify the site-building process, so make sure you choose a template design that is easy and straightforward to learn. Even better, use a web design template that offers a live demo, so that you can see exactly how the website theme will function before you make an expensive investment.
Complete Customization
When you create your professional website, it will be important for you to be able to customize each page to address specific needs. For example, you may want a simple html website theme for a minimalist, streamlined aesthetic, but you might still need the ability to add a button or create more complex elements on certain pages.
Mobile Optimization
With so many people using their phones or tablets to browse the internet, you need to ensure that your website template is mobile-optimized so your potential clients don’t get frustrated waiting for your page or images to load.
Online Store
No matter what business you’re in, it’s always a good idea to have an E-commerce store linked directly to your website portfolio, so that you can make more sales with the simple click of a button.
These are just a few of the many features that professional website templates can offer, so make sure that you have a close look at what you’re getting with your website template before you decide on which web design template to get started with.
Tips for Creating the Best Online Portfolio Using Website Templates
Here are some important things to keep in mind when it comes to choosing which images, videos and information you’re going to include on your website.
Quality Over Quantity
While it can be tempting to show absolutely everything you’ve ever worked on, one of the best ways to create a website that helps you stand out from the competition is to make sure that you’re only showing your very best work.
Stay on Brand
In addition to only including your best, you should also only showcase projects that fit with your brand aesthetic, so that website visitors will immediately understand what your business is all about, and they’ll be able to quickly determine whether they want to hire you.
Design Your Website To Appeal To Your Ideal Client
If you want to create a successful website that gets you more clients and more sales, you should use a website template that helps you to speak directly to your ideal client through every design choice, from gallery layout to color scheme and so much more.
Make Use of Text
Images are powerful, but if you really want to win over clients and make more sales with your website page, it’s always a good idea to use image captions and a great About Me page, so that site visitors can connect with you on a more personal level and get added context for the projects you’re showing.
Edit Your Website Template To Fit Different Job Proposals
If you’re going to be using your website template as an online portfolio to apply to jobs, you may need to adjust the content and even the layout of your site depending on the specific requirements.
How Website Templates Can Be Used for Different Professions
You’ve already got a sense of what to look for in a professional website template, but what kind of businesses need a website, and how do you decide what web design template is right for your business? Here is a list of just a few of the many professions that use website templates, along with examples of how they customize their HTML templates to suit their specific business and brand.
Photographers
Photography design templates are a dime a dozen, so let’s take a closer look at what successful websites templates for photographers can look like.
Amazon
Youthful and fun, this template features a grid that shows multiple images at once. This highly customizable page layout works best with aesthetically consistent photos so that it doesn’t become distracting.
Fullframe
Another great option for a photography template, Fullframe features one full screen image at a time with an edge-to-edge slideshow that fills any screen size.
Artists
Traditionally, if an artist wanted to show their artwork they would have to partner with a museum, gallery, or art dealer. By using a responsive website template, you can create your own online gallery and store.
Kiln
Fun and funky, Kiln is a great template for artists who want more control over the way their art is experienced. Fully customizable spacing helps you show multiple artworks at a time without your website becoming too visually crowded.
Obsidian
With a sleek header menu and horizontally scrolling galleries reminiscent of a film strip, this professional website template is great for a series where each image is unique but they all fit into the same aesthetic.
Designers
Whether you’re in fashion design or you’re looking for the best UX design website templates, we’ve got you covered with these professional website templates for designers.
Sharp
With Sharp, you can customize your tiled gallery pages with up to 4 columns, which is perfect for showing off a variety of design projects.
Shift
This innovative website design template was created with art directors in mind. In addition to the vertical scrolling, single column gallery, the adaptive background changes color to match each image you hover over.
Illustrators
Illustrator website templates should emphasize a cohesive body of artwork while showing adaptability in terms of theme, subject matter and style.
Detail
This website template design uses a grid of smaller thumbnails to create a clean, simple page that is easy to navigate and keeps the attention on your art.
Models
A good model or fashion site template needs to include a variety of images, including headshots and full-body photos.
Horizon
This simple, horizontally scrolling website template is great for showing off a select few of your strongest images, while the site menu remains visible for accessible website navigation.
Mica
Mica is one of the best website templates for models because you’re able to show a variety of images on one page in their original aspect ratio so that no important visual information is getting cropped out. This website template is perfect for editorial and fashion modeling photography.
Architects
If you’re using your website to apply to architecture firms, the best architecture portfolio design templates for you will be able to demonstrate your skills as an architect as well as your ability to work with a team.
Sierra
With a vertical tiled layout and multiple image sizes, this fun but professional website template keeps the web design simple while also being visually engaging.
Horizon Left
This website template uses an accessible left-hand menu and intuitive navigation to keep things simple for your site visitors. The side menu is great for documenting the various architecture projects you’ve already worked on.
Musicians
While music isn’t necessarily a visual industry, there are so many types of content that you can use to fill out your musician website template. For example, choose a gallery that supports images, video and text, so that you can show off professional band photos, live show footage, and even song lyrics.
Industry
With vertically scrolling full screen images, Industry is one of the very best website templates for full size photos of you performing.
Videographers
Not all website templates are built to accommodate video files. That’s why you’ll have to make sure that you’re looking at video templates that can handle the large file size and any other requirements.
Range
Designed with videographers in mind, Range’s vertical scrolling galleries and optional slideshow work best with landscape videos so that you can take advantage of the full width of the screen.
Capture
Capture is a website template that combines two columns of images with floating text for added context. The smaller thumbnails open into a larger view, so videographers can use a still image that opens up into a longer video.
Students
When it comes to using a website template to design a student portfolio, remember to carefully follow the portfolio requirements set out by each school. That may mean creating multiple portfolio pages, one for each institution because you don’t want to risk being disqualified for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your work.
Reel
Reel is one of the best student website templates, with fully customizable horizontal scrolling galleries and a minimalist, dark color scheme that brings all of the attention to your work. You can even use this website template to display multiple categories for your school applications, which can open up into larger galleries.
What’s Next?
Regardless of your creative profession, there will be a fantastic website template that can showcase your work effortlessly. And now that you know how to use professional website templates to create the best website you possibly can, keep taking photos and regularly updating your portfolio so that you can use it as a visual resume to apply to your photography dream jobs!
Want more tips on building an eye-catching photography portfolio so you can land the best jobs?
How To Build A Portrait Photography Portfolio Website
The Ultimate Guide to Building A Photography Website
How to Create Your Online Portfolio
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