# What is Template?

> A template is a ready-made website design that you fill in with your own words and photos, often shared by thousands of other businesses.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/glossary/template
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-26

Also called: theme, website template, pre-built design.

Templates, also called themes, are pre-designed layouts sold or given away by website platforms. You pick one, swap in your logo, text and pictures, and publish.

They are quick and cheap, but they were designed for nobody in particular. Sections often do not fit your business, and the structure may not suit what your customers need to see first, such as your phone number and service areas.

Plenty of agencies build on templates too, which is fine if the price reflects it. The question is how much has genuinely been designed around your business.

## Why it matters for a small business

A template can make you look identical to the competitor down the road, and one designed for a yoga studio will not put a tap-to-call button where an emergency plumber needs it. If you are paying for bespoke design, you should be getting it.

**Example:** Two local roofers realise their websites use the same template with the same stock photo of a smiling man on a ladder. Neither looks especially trustworthy.