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Choosing A Template Designer
I am regularly asked, "How do I choose a good template designer?" or "How do I know the template I am buying uses good HTML?" In fact, I am asked this kind of thing so often I have decided to create this page with my answer.
Let me say first, however, that I am a template designer myself and that I sell my work on eBay and through other venues. As such, I must have a certain bias. I do believe that all of the information provided on this page is not only objective, but it is what I personally follow when creating templates for sale. If you disagree with anything on this page, please and I will be glad to consider what you say.
The templates we are talking about here are, of course, those used to make your auction listings more attractive, and hopefully better selling. Choosing the right template designer can be a difficult thing. Sometimes you can purchase a ready-made template so you get to see it first, but if you want a custom template, typically you have to pay first and since the designer has done the work before you know if you are happy with it, there aren't usually any refunds."
Ready-Made Templates can seem like good value. Usually they sell for between $2 and $10. I sell some of these myself from time to time. However, as the person doing the listings you need to understand that ready-made, or stock, templates are sold over and over again. Typically I sell the same pattern ten to fifteen times. Some sellers sell them many more times than this. This means that there are at least ten to fifteen other sellers with the same look as your listings. That doesn't do a whole lot for creating your own identity and helping returning customers find you. There is nothing wrong with a well made stock template, but you need to consider the impact on your business identity.
Custom Templates are going to cost more. At least good ones are. Typically they run anywhere from about $25 all the way up to several hundred dollars or more. Price is not the determining factor. I sell my custom templates for $249.99 and I think they are as good as any I've seen for as much as $1000.00 or more. I've seen a few good ones for $25 too. I price mine to account for the time and dedication spent on listening to what you, the customer, wants, explaining what is good and what isn't so good, designing and coding the actual template, making changes to get to what you want, and helping you learn to use it. If I considered just the time factor, I'm not making any money, but I believe I am pricing to the market I want to serve.
Things To Consider when choosing a template designer go way beyond price. There are a lot of template designers selling their wares on eBay these days. Some are very talented. Some aren't. I recognize some that do careful hand-coded work and others that have no idea what HTML is; they just open up Front Page, Dreamweaver or some other fancy HTML editor and drag and drop until they have something that resembles a listing template. What they sell you is the output from the program that you could have done yourself -- without any more knowledge of HTML! Often this produces disasterous results. Some of these templates can be grounds for having your listings pulled on eBay due to site interference issues.
Pretty Graphics will likely be important to you and may well be the primary reason for you to choose a stock template. A good looking listing is important and pretty graphics help but there are two very important things to keep in mind:
- the primary purpose of you listing is to sell the item listed. If the template graphics take away from the focus on your item for sale, then they can be a bad choice.
- pretty graphics have nothing to do with the quality of the HTML coding and other important elements that make up a good template.
Asking Questions is the best way for you to find out if the template designer you choose knows what they are doing. First, they should be willing to answer as many questions as you wish to ask. I had one client send me a questionnair once. It contained about 25 important questions about the kind of work I would be doing. I answered all the questions to their satisfaction and got the job. They told me that one other well-known template designer refused to answer the questions, citing "too busy" as the reason. If a template designer is too busy to answer your questions, then they are probably too busy to do your work too. Look elsewhere.
Important But Subtle points can make the difference between a good template that improves your sales and one that actually drives business away. There are several well-researched items that most template designers seem to get wrong. I see example after example of stock and custom templates that are quite pretty but ignore these basic, but important, design rules. The result is that the template is actually bad for business. Your business!
Ask Your Designer if they know about these marketting and design concepts. Have them explain them to you. If they don't know or cannot explain them, then you probably want to look elsewhere.
eBay Templates are not web pages. Most template designers don't seem to understand this. There are about seven specific HTML tags and elements that amature designers use regularly without understanding that they should not be used in eBay pages (listings, me pages, store fronts, etc.) and by doing so they are putting your listing at risk. There are additional tags and elements that are either restricted by eBay or should not be used because to do so is simply bad coding. Ask your designer if they know about these. Again, if they don't, look elsewhere.
There Are Techniques used by many web page designers that are just fine for personal or commercial websites but do not belong in auction listing templates. Some of these are bad coding, some are just annoying to your customers and some can get your listing pulled by eBay. A good template designer will know about these and not use them. Once again it is wise to ask.
Java Script Code is not HTML. It is a scripting language that allows web page designers to program various functions into pages. Some Java Script is suitable for eBay listing templates and some isn't. Most template designers that I've talked to admittedly don't have any idea how to program Java Script. They use it by copying code created by others and then inserting it into their template design. This is not wrong. It saves re-inventing the wheel each time and we all do it. There is some great Java Script coding made available by some excellent programmers that can add excelent features to your template. It does help, however, that your template designer have at least some programming ability so they can understand what the Java Script does and how it can affect your listing. I've seen some pretty disasterous results when Java Script is inserted by someone without any basic knowledge on the subject. You probably want to enquire whether your template designer uses Java Script and if so, have them explain exactly what it does and how it will affect your listing.
Some Template Designers insert lots of extras into your page automatically, "just because", without consideration for the function or the effect. Colored scroll bars may look pretty but chances are the designer is using incorrect code for an eBay listing in order to accomplish this. Scrolling text in the browser status bar may seem like a good idea too, but if you alienate your customer by messing with his web browser program, what good will that do you. Right-click disable seems like it will protect your listing and pictures. In fact it won't. What it will do is cause many potential customers to hit their back button and not buy from you. Think, and ask, before allowing your template designer to add these things.
A Good Guarantee is important. If there is going to be no refund, you want your template designer to guarantee that the template will work, will not get your listing pulled, and will handle any changes introduced by eBay -- or that they will make it right. All good template designers offer a suitable guarantee.
Using A WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get -- or Drag and Drop) editor to create your template may not be wrong, but it can mean that there will be lots of extraneous code, perhaps even bad or wrong code, in your template and that the designer really doesn't know anything about HTML and especially how it relates to the special case that is an eBay listing template. Ask your template designer what they use to create their template. Dreamweaver or Front Page is not bad if the designer knows how to manually edit what they get from the program, but if they just use the raw output from the program as your template then you may be in trouble. You want to select a designer that knows HTML. You wouldn't hire a chef that doesn't know spices or other basic ingredients, or the basic techniques of cooking. You shouldn't hire a template designer that can't actually use the most basic ingredient of their trade either.
To Recap, design is important. Good looking graphics is certainly a plus. However the underlying coding and the application of effective marketting and design techniques is critical to the success you will achieve with your new template. Take the time to find the right designer who can do the job you want -- and do it right.
It's always the right time to use good code!
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