Flexible Website Templates: Changing the Web Design Landscape

In today’s society, you can customize almost anything, mugs, watches, phones, you name it! Customization not only gives a personal touch but also lets the customer have a small grasp at the reigns. As web design continues to evolve within B2B marketing, we’re seeing a higher demand for easy website customization. Say hello to flexible website development templates!

What is Flexible Template Design?

Flexible templates are exactly as they sound. Designer, speaker, and writer Yesenia Perez-Cruz characterizes flexible template design as a collection of reusable components assembled to build any number of applications. Flexible website development templates allow the admin to reorder, remove, and add different designed components with ease to create multiple layouts for different pages. These components have already been defined, created, and developed by the web designers and developers for the admin. 

Example: Backend of WordPress CMS

Flexible templates are a type of template that can be used on designated pages in the backend of a website. It’s not uncommon to use static fields in conjunction with a flexible website development template. Static fields are commonly used in standard templates used in most websites today and don’t allow any changes to be made by the user. By using both flexible and static fields within the flexible template, this ensures certain pages keep consistent design elements even if the bulk of the layout differs from page to page by using flexible content.

Why Flexible Templates?

When thinking about the best template for a website, there are many kinds to choose from. The most common are as follows:

1. Drag and drop builders (i.e. Beaver Builder)
2. Standard Templates
3. Flexible Templates

Drag and drop builders provide too many component options, are easy to break, and have a steeper learning curve than other templates. Standard templates are also set in stone and require a developer’s work for any changes that are needed. 

Standard templates are preferred when working on websites that include language translations, for example. Since flexible templates provide an infinite amount of layout combinations, having to update the translations every time a layout is updated can create more work for the admin in the long run. Static fields are much easier and more straightforward to translate, which is why they are recommended. Let’s be honest, you want to keep your website fresh but you don’t make updates every day.

Flexible templates are considered the middleman or “just right” option when it comes to what type of template to use and in our opinion the best template for a website. We already know that flexible website development templates give clients the customization they’re looking for, but this isn’t just a one-way street. Digital agencies and companies who build these templates also benefit from the outcome. By using flexible templates the following areas can be largely reduced in terms of time and cost when quoting a website redesign.

• Content entry
• Content review
• Web developer updates

Whether it be personal or client-facing, a website should be redesigned or updated every 2-3 years. In a recent study, 11% of web designers say their clients have the ability to update their own websites once built, and 30% claiming they have to update a client’s website on a monthly basis. That’s pretty low!

We understand that not everyone is a tech genius. Some may have never touched or seen the backend of a website. There are few pain points when using flexible templates for the first time. In some cases, flexible templates can become overwhelming if there are too many component options to choose from and the starting point isn’t clearly defined. That’s why training by the original developer is crucial!

On the other hand, the proper usage of design components can be easily disregarded depending on the amount of content provided. This can really affect the front-end design of the site. Remember that old saying, “The customer is always right?” Sometimes if marketers are given full reins to the backend of a site, what comes out visually may look like a masterpiece to them but not necessarily to the average designer or user. Although this may seem like flexible templates get a bad rep, this doesn’t happen often. 

Final Thoughts

In many ways, flexible templates are the best template for a website and a lifesaver when it comes to website redesign. You can finally get the customization you’re looking for by having the ability to select components that best suit your content as well as update and add or remove assets, content and pages in the backend of a website on a regular basis. All of this can be done at your leisure! It’s still important to keep in mind the pain points of flexible template design but understand how this template alleviates unnecessary updates needed by the original designers and developers in the long run. If you’d like to see some examples of what we can do with flexible templates, please feel free to get in touch! As always, we’re here to help.