With hundreds of templates to choose from, where do you even start? Here's a simple framework that takes the guesswork out.
Picking a template feels high-stakes. It's the first real decision you make — and a bad one can waste hours of customization. Here's the good news: it doesn't have to be hard. Follow these four steps.
Your instinct is to scroll through all the templates and pick the prettiest one. Resist this. Instead, filter by your industry first. Templates are designed around the sections your specific business type needs. A law firm template has the right flow (hero → practice areas → team → contact). A restaurant template has what restaurants need (menu, location, hours). Starting from the wrong industry means rebuilding from scratch.
Every color, font, and most copy you see in the preview can be changed in minutes. Don't reject a template because it's in blue when your brand is green. The structure is what matters: How many columns does the services section have? Does the about section have an image placeholder? Is there a testimonials section? These are the things that take effort to add later.
Look at the template's section count and order. A template with 8 well-placed sections gives you more to work with than a minimal 3-section template — even if the minimal one looks cooler.
More than half your visitors will see your site on a phone. Click the mobile icon in the builder to see how your chosen template looks on small screens. Some templates are better optimized than others. If text is tiny or images are cut off on mobile, it's worth switching templates now rather than after you've filled everything in.
The biggest mistake people make is spending two hours comparing templates instead of building. Pick the one that feels closest to what you need and start editing. You'll learn more from actually customizing it for 20 minutes than from staring at the preview for an hour.
"The best template is the one you'll actually finish customizing."
There's also a blank template. Choose this if: you have a strong visual identity already, you're a designer who wants full control from the start, or you're building something that doesn't fit a standard industry. The blank canvas starts you with just a hero and footer — you add every other section yourself.
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