Template websites are an interesting subject. In today's world, they were created to help Mr. Average Joe create a website for his company or personal use because he doesn't have any design skills or web experience.
There are tons of websites devoted to providing Mr. Average Joe with a template for his website. There are Flash templates, there are HTML templates, CSS templates, and many, many more available for download. Few are free, but most are very affordable. For a small business owner or an entrepreneur, a template website may well be a decent idea. These categories of businesses may not ever reach the world on a grand scale and they surely won't have much money to throw around upon their startup. If the company is not going to reach everyone anyhow, it means that the design of their website is slightly less important because it really won't have a huge effect on the impact of the brand (unless it is atrocious) because it simply won't reach that many people. However, it could be argued that it could change the way the small number of people who view the website look at the brand, which would obviously be a bad thing. Nowadays, a website is a fairly standard accompaniment in the business identity package because the internet is such a growing, must-have technology. These types of businesses hear about the need to be represented on the internet, but they may not have the funds for a professional designer to create their website and get it online, even if that means it will be different and better than their competitors. However, if they can buy a cheap template and hire Cousin Bob for a case of beer and a home-cooked meal...well, that's sounding like a pretty darn good deal.
Larger businesses, especially those who strive to broaden their target audience, need to pay more attention to their representation on the internet. More people will see the website and thus, more people will have an opinion of the brand based on its internet presence. Template websites convey such things as cheap, uniform, unimaginative, uncaring, easy, basic, bland, boring, bottom-line, cut and dry, passé, as well as many other negative adjectives. Probably the most horrendous thing about template websites is that any company could have the same website layout as you! This company could be a competitor, or it could be a scammer, or it could be a company that is completely opposite from yours. The point is, templates are generic. I don't think any company that has the means to hire a designer to create an original website that will be different and most likely better than its competitors sites should ever fall back on the use of template websites just to save a few dollars when the message of their brand is at stake.
