Templates: The key to faster, more effective web design
Like instructions or a user’s manual, page templates give you a structured guide for fast, effective web design.
Key takeaways:
- Templates can give your webpage content a standard, uniform structure that fuels your website’s cohesive appearance.
- Customized templates include your style preferences and content priorities.
- The most helpful templates include multiple content components that let you present information in a variety of ways.
Author: WG Content and Hannah Barker
Last updated: 04/23/25
Thirty years ago, websites were new, relatively simple — and inconsistent. Most had bare-bone designs, haphazard page structures and content that was often tough to follow.
Fast-forward three decades. Today’s websites — including yours — are largely robust. They have dozens of pages filled with rich written and visual content. The sheer volume of information can lead to complications when it’s time for a revamp or overhaul.
Let’s add one more fly to the web redesign ointment. No two content management systems (CMS) are alike. They’re all built differently. So, for your new content to appear correctly on the page, your writer needs to understand how your CMS displays content before they put pen to paper (or, in this case, fingers to keyboard).
That’s where page templates come in. These tailor-made tools arrange your content based on your organization’s style preferences and priorities. This streamlined structure helps ensure a smoother web design process and a more accessible website.
How does WG Content approach page template creation?
At WG Content, we know your CMS may be uniquely yours. Your system may have specific requirements that dictate how you input content into your website. And you may have a wide variety of page styles that fill your content needs.
“Every client has different web needs and different preferences,” says Hannah Barker, WG Content senior content writer and editor. “Our goal is to understand those needs and preferences, so clients and writers don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single time they need a new page of content.”
Outlining your web redesign priorities is only one part of website content development. Including your web development team should also be part of the process.
“In most cases, it’s helpful to talk to the web team before you start drafting content. They’re often the ones who make content go live on the website,” Hannah says. “They may have certain requirements, and if they can tell us how to format content or content components in a way that’s easier to code or design, we can create the most functional template from the start.”
The fundamentals of page templates
Page templates are valuable tools because you can customized them to fit your specific needs and preferences.
“With page templates, you’re setting up a system so you and your team can be more efficient as you create any type of web page,” Hannah says.
The specifics of your page template will vary based on your preferences and needs. However, most templates share many of the same fundamental elements. These include:
- Content components: Components like accordions, buttons, callouts, carousels, promos and widgets, that provide multiple ways to present information in a consistent format.
- Headings: Tags, such as Heading 1, 2 or 3, that define the hierarchy of your information, and make it easier for writers to organize your content.
- HTML structure: Tags like <head> or <body> that outline the framework of a page.
- Metadata: Character counts, descriptions, keywords and titles that boost search engine optimization and social media activity.
- Style specifics: Colors, fonts and spacing that govern the visual appearance of your web page.
An essential part of fast, consistent, on-time writing and design
A good page template is like a clear set of instructions, Hannah says. Think of it as a handy “how-to” that walks your writer through putting the right content or design component in the right spot.
Templates aren’t simple plug-and-play tools — each page has unique content with a distinct purpose. But a template designed around your preferences that also incorporates the needs and web design requirements of your web development team can fast-track your project.
With a well-designed template, you can:
- Address design hurdles or requirements to support a faster go-live timeframe
- Create a consistent look and feel across all pages
- Ensure your writer concentrates on content that fits the appropriate page structure
A nationally recognized health system serving Silicon Valley recently turned to WG Content to support a website redesign. For this project, WG Content produced a new content strategy and used customized templates for a content development plan that refreshed existing content and created various page types.
The limited role of artificial intelligence (AI) with templates
AI is consistently gaining ground as a support tool for content development. Still, Hannah says AI can’t replace the human interaction needed to create a high-quality template. At this point, the automated tools aren’t sophisticated enough to weave together input from the many teams that contribute to template design.
“When creating a template, you’re talking to different teams, trying to identify and understand their needs,” Hannah says. “You also have to work directly with writers and other users to see how people will actually use the template. You may need to user test and update the template until it’s in a good place. This iterative process requires a lot of interaction. And AI can’t replace that people-to-people, user experience just yet.”
But even with this shortcoming, AI can help with limited tasks. If you give it specific instructions, you can trust the tool to:
- Detect content holes to fill in existing copy
- Identify questions your new content should answer
- Outline and suggest a page structure
- Update a style guide, noting places where you need to apply updates to existing content
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4 template tips for top-notch template use in web design
Adequate planning and simplicity are the keys to creating and using a template effectively, Hannah says. If you follow these tips, it can be a cinch to create an accessible website that blends valuable content with an attractive design.
- Choose web components carefully: Components are a great way to engage your audience, but you don’t need all of them on a single page. Instead, be sure to choose components with a function that matches your page’s purpose and content needs. For example, a button highlighting a short phrase makes it easier for users to find and engage with a call to action than a full sentence buried in body copy.
- Create a separate instruction page: A clean template design makes it easier for your writers to organize content. Put necessary template instructions in a different document, or even have a short template training.
- Determine details early: Before creating a template, get clarity around style preferences, page types and structure, and components.
- Engage the web team: Work closely with your web team when you can. They’ll clue you into any coding obstacles that you should avoid.
WG Content sets web redesigns up for success
At WG Content, our writers are specialists in content creation, and they’re content technicians, too. When it comes to applying your content to your CMS system, they get it. And they create efficiencies along the way. So, if you’ve got a big website redesign in the works or on the horizon, let’s talk. Contact us and start your project today.
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