Buying a website template is a little bit like getting a new smartphone. You’ll have to set up your preferences–but you don’t need to program the software.

You can start using it immediately, with little technical expertise, and low time and effort.

All the essential things are there. It functions smoothly and is up-to-date with best practices. This is what a good website template should be too!

A good website template fits your business. It’s made for your field. You aren’t trying to a photographer’s website into a therapist’s website (or to keep with my tortured methaphor-not trying to turn a discman into a smartphone? 🤔 I’ll keep working on that one).

So today we’ll try to answer all your Website Template questions, starting with how to choose the right one!

Want to see some examples of website templates in action? Check out our post Real Examples of Therapist Websites Using Templates.

How do you choose a website template?

You’ll want to look for one that most closely matches your aesthetic and includes the features you need (leaving you with less work to get your site up and running).

Here are some things to think about:

1. Design and Layout: The template should have a design that resonates with you and your ideal client AND be easy to navigate and find exactly what they need.

2. Customization Options: Check if the template allows you to easily change colors, fonts, images, and layouts. Also, check if it relies on any third-party tools (such as Canva or Photoshop) to achieve certain styles (and then make sure you’re familiar with those tools, or if not maybe move on).

3. Responsiveness: Make sure the template is mobile-friendly and responsive, so it looks good on every device and screen size.

4. Functionality: Look for built-in features that you need, for example About Page, Contact Page–and that it doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles that you don’t need.

5. Ease of Use: Choose a template that is user-friendly and doesn't require extensive technical knowledge to customize.

6. Support and Updates: Opt for templates that come with good tutorials, customer support, and regular updates.

7. SEO-Friendly: Ensure the template is optimized for search engines, with SEO-friendly features and guidance on how to optimize it yourself.

8. Performance: Check reviews or demo the template to ensure it loads quickly and performs well.

When you keep these in mind you’ll be able to find a template that gets your website up and running smoothly and quickly (and starts bringing in clients to your practice).

Are website templates customizable?

A good website template should allow you to customize things like:

• Photos

• Colors

• Fonts

• Writing

And even:

• Change the order of section

• Delete content you don’t need

• Add additional sections to a page

• Add more pages to the site

With Squarespace, you can do all of that and more. A template gives you a strong start and you're empowered to make updates on your own rather than having to hire someone every time you need a small change.

You get to choose whether you want to lightly edit the template or let your creativity run free!

It all depends on your level of comfort, skill, time, and desire to do it. So if you are less inclined to deal with tech and want to just kind of "plug and play" choose a template that looks the closest to the end result you want-that way you can launch without a lot of work on your end.

To give you an example….

Here’s the Marigold Template:

And here’s the Marigold Template styled two different ways

You can see how they changed the colors, photos, and writing, but kept the basic structure. They also added additional pages to suit the needs of their practice.

All the Website Template FAQs

Now let’s move on to all the questions we get from our customers looking for website templates for their private practice!

Think a template is right for your private practice?

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