What is Better: Template Based Vs. Build It for You Website

[CALTCAgent]

Hello,

I am asking this for an independent agent only.

I am a novice when it comes to websites. I am curoius which most people think is better, a template based website versus paying someone to do it all for you ?

Or maybe doing it all yourself ?

If so what software can allow a novice to build their own site and have it still look good and possibly easy changes ?

What I see:

Template based:

Not knowing what the template will allow before purchasing it. Not knowing how easy the changes are to make in the future. Often have a recurring monthly fee. Must fit what you do into a template that you communicate to a designer.

Build it for you:

Pros: Have a professional looking site. Somebody to make changes for you in the future.

Cons: More expensive. You must know what you want and need before it is built. Changes will cost in the future.

Build it yourself:

Pros: Do you know how. Time and effort. Less expensive.

Cons: Time and effort. Possibly not as good as if you paid someone.

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions ?

Lead generation:

Does any of the above ( template, build for you, build for yourself) have an impact on your potential for SEO or PPC marketing ?

 

[lrixford]

As you have indicated there are advantages and pros to each. However there are some options that let you combine the pros of each. For example Insurance Website Builder provides you the ability to choose from a design library and have it fully customized to match your branding and agency message. Being designed exclusively for insurance it includes all of the forms and site features (such as mobile and schema markup) required to target today's online insurance consumer.

Once your website is live you are able to make changes to your site via an interface designed for insurance agents. However, we know you get busy and might not be able to make changes to your web page. No problem! Just give us a call and we can do it for you.

When you site is perfect you can take advantage of our on-demand SEO support, lead and social integration, and even blog authoring. Don't have time? We can do it all for you. This includes blog writing, social media posts, email marketing, and website changes.

Finally, as the years pass and you want to upgrade to a new design, all the work and effort you've developed on your pages throughout the years can be kept as you change your design without the cost of building a new site.

I would avoid buying a template site and apply it to something like WordPress unless you really know what you are doing. I wrote an blog about it a few years ago.

If you would like to learn more feel free to call us at (800) 383-3482 or at www.GetITC.com.

Thanks,

 

[CALTCAgent]

For example Insurance Website Builder provides you the ability to choose from a design library and have it fully customized to match your branding and agency message.

What parts can be customized ?

Certain parts cannot be changed from the template from what I understand.

Once your website is live you are able to make changes to your site via an interface designed for insurance agents.

How does a person know how easy or hard that interface to work with before purchasing ?

Obviously after the purchase, if it is hard to work with, it could be an issue.

However, we know you get busy and might not be able to make changes to your web page. No problem! Just give us a call and we can do it for you.

There is a cost for this ?

When you site is perfect you can take advantage of our on-demand SEO support, lead and social integration, and even blog authoring.

Is this part of the package or extra cost ?

Don't have time? We can do it all for you. This includes blog writing, social media posts, email marketing, and website changes.

Are the rates on the website ?

Finally, as the years pass and you want to upgrade to a new design, all the work and effort you've developed on your pages throughout the years can be kept as you change your design without the cost of building a new site.

There will be a cost for new design I assume ?

Thanks!

 

[JohnWalker]

I am a novice when it comes to websites. I am curoius which most people think is better, a template based website versus paying someone to do it all for you?

I suggest paying someone to set up and configure the site intially and provide ongoing support while you learn how to make changes yourself.

Even template based websites can require an above average understanding of coding to configure.

what software can allow a novice to build their own site and have it still look good and possibly easy changes?

Choosing the right platform is really important. It will dictate performance, functionality, interface, limitations, and much more. This is the engine that runs your site.

Some popular options include:

Drupal - good for customization
WordPress - good for blogging
Magento - good for ecommerce
ITC - good for insurance
WIX - not good for anything besides dragging and dropping

Depending on the platform you choose, making changes to an already configured website can be super easy to learn. But learning how to set up and configure a website can take years.

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

My advice, don't go custom for your first site.

Work with a company like ITC that can help you set up the site, has an easy to learn interface for customizations, provides back end support, and is designed specifically for insurance.

I think their system is worth the money and I personally didn't notice the limitations until my site was grossing well over $100k in new biz annually.

They were even helpful when I moved my site from their platform to a custom Drupal/WordPress solution.

Good luck.

 

[CALTCAgent]

and is designed specifically for insurance.

Thanks for the response. Great info.

I think you are a P & C agent and with ITC I think I see a lot of the example sites are of P & C agents.

So that brings me to a couple of questions:

1. Will they work as well for other Life & Health focused agents. For example someone that focuses on LTC products ?

2. The custom built site designers will say that if thousands of people have the same template ( I know different text and wording) it will somehow not be good. Possibly consumers will notice or something else.

Just relating what they say. Somehow the sites are not unique and not sure if google recognizes that. I would think SEO is only about the written content but I don't know for sure.

I think their system is worth the money and I personally didn't notice the limitations until my site was grossing well over $100k in new biz annually.

I am curious, what limitations were you finding at the grossing 100k point ?

They were even helpful when I moved my site from their platform to a custom Drupal/WordPress solution.

That is good to know.

 

[lrixford]

1. Yes we have many Life & Health Agencies that use our platform. Some live examples would include Brighton Insurance Services Home Page, Oakwell Insurance Group Home Page and Welcome to Mike Suess Insurance - Mike Suess Insurance. We have many more and really can customize it to your needs.

2. We use templates as a place to start. You can actually mix and match features, colors, designs, and images from multiple sites or work with our team to come up with something uniquely your own. We know that insurance agents are not graphic designers and wanted to give a place to start from when coming up with a site.

We'd love to talk to you and show what you can do.

 

[JohnWalker]

2. The custom built site designers will say that if thousands of people have the same template ( I know different text and wording) it will somehow not be good. Possibly consumers will notice or something else.

Just relating what they say. Somehow the sites are not unique and not sure if google recognizes that. I would think SEO is only about the written content but I don't know for sure.

I think you fundamentally understand of what a template is but not how it works.

Even if you work with a web designer that's going to build you a "custom site" they're going to start with some form of template. There's almost no reason for a developer to scratch code things like navigation menus, footers, and sidebars.

A template is just standardized layout for your site. It will include html descriptions for things like the navigation, the side bar, the footer, ect. And regardless of which platform you choose, all templates can be modified.

Duplicate content is mainly an issue for written content. Most sites follow a standard layout for things like your header, footer, navigation, and sidebar. Google won't penalize you for having core website elements like the ones I listed.

I am curious, what limitations were you finding at the grossing 100k point?

Probably nothing you'll ever have to worry about. I'm currently running a hybrid Drupal/Wordpress/ITC site. I'm a control freak and want every element down to specific lines of code to be written to my specification.

I wanted to add specific modules and plug ins so I used Drupal on the front end but I think the best blogging platform is Wordpress so that's what I use to run the blog portion of my site. ITC still has the best system integration for insurance agents so I still use them for quote management, email marketing, insurance forms, and other industry specific features.

I'll admit my old ITC site performed way better than my new one does (for now) and I'm still trying to get the site optimized to IWB standards. Basically I traded my well oiled machine for a hot rod that needs a lot of work ....

That is good to know.

From my experience, they're definitely good people and keep your best interest in mind. Laird even give me some real quality optimization advice for my new site!

 

[CALTCAgent]

1. Yes we have many Life & Health Agencies that use our platform. Some live examples would include Brighton Insurance Services Home Page, Oakwell Insurance Group Home Page and Welcome to Mike Suess Insurance - Mike Suess Insurance. We have many more and really can customize it to your needs.

Thank you. Those look pretty good to me.

2. We use templates as a place to start. You can actually mix and match features, colors, designs, and images from multiple sites or work with our team to come up with something uniquely your own. We know that insurance agents are not graphic designers and wanted to give a place to start from when coming up with a site.

I didn't know you could mix and match. I thought only if the template allows. I did look at your templates and actually wanted to do a few things different. I wasn't sure what I could and couldn't do.

Possibly there would have been an extra cost for things I wanted.

We'd love to talk to you and show what you can do.

Sounds good. I did talk and was thrown off when they said only 3 changes and wanted me to communicate what I wanted everything to say.

Maybe 3 changes is plenty. Some of the things I wanted it sounded like they were hard to do.

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Duplicate content is mainly an issue for written content. Most sites follow a standard layout for things like your header, footer, navigation, and sidebar. Google won't penalize you for having core website elements like the ones I listed.

Good to know.

Probably nothing you'll ever have to worry about. I'm currently running a hybrid Drupal/Wordpress/ITC site. I'm a control freak and want every element down to specific lines of code to be written to my specification. I wanted to add specific modules and plug ins so I used Drupal on the front end but I think the best blogging platform is Wordpress so that's what I use to run the blog portion of my site.

Drupal /ˈdruːpəl/[3] is a free and open-source content-management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License.[2][4][5] It is used as a back-end framework for at least 2.1% of all Web sites worldwide[6][7] ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and government sites.[8] It is also used for knowledge management and business collaboration.[9]

New word for me, lol

Nice posts guys, very good info!

 

[JohnWalker]

It is used as a back-end framework for at least 2.1% of all Web sites worldwide[6][7] ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and government sites.[8]

Whitehouse.gov
Investor.gov
Teslamotors.com
Shiftins.com

 

[lrixford]

CALTCAgent,

The three changes are complete design mock ups of your changes. So they can include many smaller changes.

We're also flexible when going through the design process. Since the sites are customized we understand if you have some last minute changes.

Next, I always remind people that websites are living breathing entities. You'll change it over time. You'll find something four months later you want fixed. That is when you can use the console to make the changes yourself or call in to our support department who is open when you are, even Saturdays.

Finally, I might be the president of ITC. However, the little secret is that I wrote the Insurance Website Builder back in 2005. So it is my pride and joy. I love to see it help agencies, like yours, succeed.

Look forward to working with you in the future.