Building a website can be compared to building a house. Like houses, websites are basically built one at a time. And like houses, they can be built according to either a unique design commissioned specifically for the project, or from a catalogued design that has been used repeatedly.
For houses, these designs are called blueprints or floor plans. For websites, the design is called the template or theme.
When cost and time are considerations, choosing a design from a catalog is the way to go, whether it’s a blueprint for your house or a theme based website design.
The Economical Choice
By designing web themes and templates that are sold repeatedly from a catalog of designs, the economy of scale brings the design cost down. Compared to the thousands of dollars that a unique custom design can cost, a stock theme can be very inexpensive, often less than $100, and depending on your needs, even free choices are available.
The Quick Solution
By starting with an existing theme, it’s possible to build a website in just a few days. The theme is the shell of a web site without any content. The work of constructing the site is mostly done. Like buying a house that’s already built, you just decorate and move right in!