We recently received an email we thought contains important information for folks who do not quite understand the major differences between BasicTemplates.com and other template membership resources.
Cindy from Wisconsin wrote, "I would like to see you offer the PSD files available to members at no extra charge. Can you tell me why you currently do not do so? I also belong to another website that offers templates. The membership is not as expensive, and they offer the psd with every template offered there."
Our response:
Hello Cindy,
Thank you for writing us. Your question is very good and we have answers for you. Yes, we will be offering PSD access in bulk to members - hopefully soon, but there will be an additional charge. What that charge will be has not yet been determined.
First let me say, "There is value in flexibility". Keep this in mind as you read through the information below.
I'm pretty sure I know which template membership service you are referring to, but nevertheless, all other template membership services are similar in the way they develop their designs, their design background/experience and their terms of use (except for BasicTemplates.com).
These are the just the major differences:
Inflexible TOS - The service you mentioned requires that every customer comply with an important but not too obvious clause in their TOS that states you must significantly change the template so it does not look anything like the original. We do not require that of our customers. Also, they require that you purchase an additional membership service if you are going to use the same template on another person's website. We do not require that of our customers either.
Expensive Editing Software - Their PSDs require the end user to have PhotoShop (expense of $300+) to edit the pre-sliced PSDs. We do not require that of our customers. Our PSDs are not slice and not proprietary to the usage of PhotoShop. Newer versions of graphics software that is compatible with the .psd file format can easily edit them such as PaintShop Pro and PhotoImpact. PSP, PI and other lower priced graphics editing software packages are very affordable, easier to learn, and take up less hard drive space and system memory.
Limited Theme Possibilities - Each of their templates box you into only one theme unless you make significant changes to the pre-sliced PSD using expensive editing software. Meaning that their Template #1 cannot be modified into a different theme (dating theme changed to real estate theme) unless the person has PhotoShop and makes re-dicing changes to the PSD and extracts the new images to fit the original layout. The majority of our templates on the other hand have the capability of removable graphics. Meaning if you take our Template #1 and remove the header, replace it with any of the 1000+ pre-designed headers (not sure how many pre-designed headers we actually have now but that number is probably pretty close), you have 1000 template theme possibilities - not just one.
Ineffective Designs - The majority of their templates contain very heavy graphics because they were developed by a graphic designer - not a web designer. Monstrously fat graphics not only make the pages heavier, it increases download speed and makes the navigation non-traditional for the website visitor. Thus the website is not effective and not making any money because of it. The majority of our templates were developed by "web designers" who have an online marketing background with enough understanding of search engine optimization to develop effective designs. This is something that most template designers neither know or care about. They just want to design and sell graphics.
More on this topic can be found in our blog and podcasts:
http://www.basictemplates.com/blog/2005/11/internet-marketers-dream.shtmlhttp://www.effective-website-secrets.com/External CSS - It used to be (not too long ago according to dozens of our customers), that the majority of their table-based templates did not use external CSS. Not a good design strategy as it makes it very difficult for the end user and does not allow for effective website maintenance.
So in effect, a web designer who designs sites for clients or a webmaster who owns multiple websites, is spending far more money with a membership service with them and getting far less for their money.
Again, these flexibility differences makes our membership service far more valuable and unique, hence, a *slightly* higher price and you pay only for those items you need.
I will certainly forward your suggestions onto our managers here, as we are always looking into new products and services that will help our customers and members develop effective websites so that they are successful online. Any further comments are welcome.
Ric - Tech Support
BasicTemplates.com
// posted by BasicRic on 11/26/2005 10:53:00 AM / Permanent Link
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