Portfolio Herick Correa Is it worth using pre-made WordPress templates?

Welcome to the Marketing Sem Censura channel. My name is Roberto Gaspar and today we’re going to talk about websites developed using ready-made templates versus websites with custom layouts. To talk about this topic I brought a specialist, Erick Corrêa. He is a designer with a postgraduate degree in Digital Marketing, a long-time partner of mine, we have already worked on several projects together inside and outside the agency, and he has developed hundreds of websites over the years and has a very solid position on the subject. So I’ll bring Erick Corrêa here so we can talk.

Hi Roberto, how are you? Hi Erick, good evening. So today you brought a somewhat controversial topic, right? Ready-made templates or websites built from scratch, right? Man, when talking with you there’s no way it wouldn’t be controversial. So I brought this topic right away so we could spend some time discussing it because it’s important to clear up these doubts. Many people have questions about ready-made templates. A lot of advantages are sold about ready-made templates, people who build custom sites also sell many advantages, but it’s important for us to clarify these traps. So I think as a first question to set the foundation: what’s your opinion? What do you think is more appropriate for someone who wants to build a website? If you want to have a good website — I’m a company, right? I want a website — what do you think is better? Using a ready-made template or hiring someone, an agency or freelancer, to build a website from scratch?

So, as a developer, I have a certain bias against ready-made templates. But I’ll try to present a valid argument here.

I don’t rule out ready-made templates. I’ve already used them for some friends and family because I believe that ready-made templates, within the arguments I’m going to mention, have some issues. Just like websites built from scratch also have some issues. But ready-made templates have a particular problem. And I don’t feel comfortable selling a ready-made template to a client because of the issues I’m going to mention, but mainly because I need to have some level of familiarity with the person to say: look, maybe my work won’t turn out that well because I’m using something that wasn’t built by me. So something might go wrong and I’d like you to understand that it wouldn’t be my fault. Do you understand?

But you need that familiarity. You can’t just go to a client and say: look, I’m going to give you something I didn’t build myself, but I’m charging you for it, right? And if it turns out bad, it’s not my fault.

So I’m careful about that. But speaking seriously now, I think there are some things we need to take into consideration when choosing between a ready-made template and building a website from scratch: weight, security, licensing, and management. Which one do you want to start with?

Licensing affects the budget, right? When we talk about licensing.

And that’s something people often don’t see. I’ve seen many cases of people buying a ready-made template and then hiring someone to customize it and running into other problems. Later, when it comes time for maintenance, they run into licensing issues that become a trap.

Tell us a bit more, since you mentioned licensing. What arguments do you have regarding licenses?

Well, here’s the thing. It’s great: you buy a ready-made template, nice, it comes from ThemeForest or somewhere else. And then what happens?

You buy it, install it and sell it to your client. Fine. But suppose it used WPBakery as a page builder or Elementor as the base page builder.

These plugins are good and useful, but in most templates they already come with expired licenses, because maybe the template was created five years ago and still uses that old version. And eventually the template itself will need updating because WordPress updates plugins. Maybe I installed a calendar plugin, maybe a contact form plugin.

These plugins will update. They will update queries, functions, PHP objects. WordPress will update. For example, right now we’re seeing several PHP updates.

PHP is now evolving like Java. It’s moving from 8.1 to 8.2. Someone decided to work on that and now it’s evolving continuously. So for example, PHP 8.1 is already stable.

And WordPress still has some small issues with PHP 8.1. But they work hidden. If you disable debug mode, nobody sees them. Eventually WordPress will update to fix this. When that happens, it may change objects, syntax, or something else in the programming structure.

And then you’ll be forced to update licensed plugins like WPBakery, the theme builder, Elementor, and also the template itself.

So you have two options.

Either you become dependent on the template and every year you pay those 49 or 59 dollars to keep downloading updates — which is very difficult for clients to do. Imagine you built a website for a doctor or a physiotherapist.

They won’t know how to download and update the template. At most, if you made a small tutorial, they’ll know how to click update inside WordPress.

But if something breaks — that’s it. It won’t update because they don’t have the license.

So what will happen? They’ll think: I’ll update the plugins because my developer told me if I see that little number at the top it means there’s an update. He said I just need to check the box and click update.

They update.

Then plugins update, WordPress updates, syntax changes, objects change, maybe even security rules change — but licensed plugins and the template won’t update.

And now the site breaks.

What does the client do? They complain to you.

But you delivered the site working.

And then you say: but I delivered it working.

And the client says: but now it isn’t.

Do you understand? You create a very negative reaction.

So one of the biggest problems with ready-made templates is licensing. Because eventually it will be charged.

You end up creating a post-sale problem for yourself because of that bad maintenance experience.

Exactly.

Licensing is basically that.

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In terms of weight, since we’re talking about these upgrades you mentioned from WordPress, PHP, and these evolutions — does a website become heavier when it uses a ready-made template compared to one built from scratch?

Imagine the following: a template is designed for multiple types of use cases.

So, for example, when you’re building a website from scratch for a physiotherapist — let’s use that as an example — you structure your HTML semantically, defining exactly what the sections are, what the titles are, what the articles are, everything properly organized. You create specific image sizes for that context. You don’t generate a large number of image crops assuming those images will appear in many places for many different use cases.

So it already starts there, even in terms of upload. There’s not only the site loading weight, but also the weight of the site on the server. Because if you upload an image, WordPress usually — when you build a site from scratch — you disable its default image sizes and let it generate maybe 3 or 4 types of sizes for desktop, tablet, mobile.

But templates are built for many types of use cases. You might have a site for a physiotherapist, or for a dance school.

So they anticipate multiple layout variations.

The template core, the PHP of the template, doesn’t change. What changes is the CSS. Sometimes some components as well. But the functions file is the same for all models of that template.

So what happens? It suddenly generates 5, 6, 7, even 8 formats for a single image.

So for each image, if you upload a 1 MB image, you might end up with almost 5 MB stored.

If you upload 50 images, that’s already a problem.

Now comes loading time.

Because when you buy a template, usually you go to the template page and it shows several demo models you can download as a base.

And those templates force you to load many file fragments, includes, PHP pieces.

So the processing time for the server to assemble a page — let’s say for that physiotherapist — requires loading include, include, include, include, and each include makes a database request.

Because it works differently.

If the template worked through APIs, you could make a single request, bring a large JSON response, and then assemble the page dynamically and cache content.

But they don’t do that.

You don’t have content caching.

You have a template built from many fragments, and each fragment queries the database.

Recently I tested a ready-made template where I had to use Cloudflare behind the site just to avoid getting stressed by the loading time.

And my internet connection isn’t bad.

So there was no reason for it to be slow.

But it was.

So there’s the issue of weight, loading time, and server storage.

Because most people buy limited hosting plans — 10 GB, 20 GB.

Shared hosting, right?

If it’s shared hosting, then the site won’t load properly at all.

And then the client comes with that low-cost expectation — they want to pay little, they want a ready-made template, but they also want performance, security, SEO, everything.

Once a friend of mine said ready-made templates are like a Puma car.

Have you ever seen that car?

It looked like a Porsche body with a Beetle engine inside.

Old-school.

He said ready-made templates are like that.

A Porsche outside with a Beetle engine inside.

Exactly that.

Most people won’t know what a Puma is, but that’s exactly it.

But of course, if you hire a bad developer, you can have the same problems even with a site built from scratch.

But it’s much easier later to go to an agency like Titânio or to an experienced freelancer like me or other professionals I know and say:

Let’s fix this.

Let’s reduce formats.

Let’s remove includes.

Let’s reduce database queries.

Let’s create classes that perform a single query and return everything the page needs.

That can be done.

With a ready-made template, you don’t have that autonomy.

You don’t.

So for me, weight is basically that.

You mentioned weight and that reminded me of some projects in exactly this situation — someone built the project, sometimes another agency used a ready-made template. We have clients today who came to Titânio in this scenario. When we look at the template, it even has e-commerce installed.

It has a huge e-commerce area with payment features, and the client only has an institutional website with no intention of selling anything online.

It makes no sense to have all that installed.

But as you said, whoever builds these templates wants to sell to everyone.

They create something that fits everyone.

A layout adaptable for physiotherapists, architects, lawyers — like you mentioned.

Even people who want to sell online.

So it comes with a lot of extra features that were supposed to help.

But if you don’t know how to remove those things properly, the site becomes slow and heavy.

And sometimes you even need a more expensive server just because of the template.

In terms of security, do you see vulnerabilities when using ready-made templates?

Security… well…

Just finishing what you said about templates coming with e-commerce included:

The problem is that this creates database clutter.

WordPress says when you uninstall a plugin it removes everything.

But I’ve seen many cases where it doesn’t.

And a lot of leftover data stays there.

So you need to be careful with database issues too.

Now about security.

Security is a bit subjective.

When you use a ready-made template, you’re always worried because you don’t know if the developer created a function that sends your data somewhere else every time you save something.

You don’t know if there’s some hidden API request point where the template developer could access your data or admin password.

Just like you install a plugin like reCAPTCHA that blocks login without verification, you could theoretically have hidden scripts monitoring login data.

Hidden JavaScript fields could capture everything typed into login fields.

It could store credentials.

Or even behave like a keylogger recording everything typed.

I’ve never personally encountered this case.

And apart from friends and family projects, I’ve never used ready-made templates for clients with real access levels.

But it’s a possible risk.

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Thinking about this scenario you mentioned, I think it also depends on common sense regarding where you buy the template. Not buying a ready-made template from a random marketplace without any credibility or finding a suspiciously cheap PRO plugin version somewhere unofficial. If you go to sites like Envato or ThemeForest, you already have a higher level of security.

Yes, but I don’t think even they can fully control that either. Only if someone reported something. But you won’t find a company that works with serious technology projects saying: let’s use a ready-made template for this client. They would call their senior developer and say: take a look at the security of this template and see if there’s anything suspicious. It’s very unlikely.

Then the developer would analyze it and report it. But that rarely happens.

It’s difficult even for them to monitor that level of control.

It’s not like an app store where you submit an application and there’s artificial intelligence validating your source code.

They don’t have that.

So security is basically that.

We talked about technical attributes.

In terms of layout, it becomes more a matter of personal taste. There isn’t much difference there because you have an infinite number of ready-made templates available.

But now touching on the issue of price — there is an advantage in terms of cost when you compare it with development from scratch.

Do you think price should be part of what someone evaluates when deciding what to invest?

Do you think it’s worth it or not?

I think it’s worth it depending on what you are building.

For example, Titânio works with school campaign landing pages, especially for enrollment periods.

Nothing prevents you — if I’m not mistaken you build them using pure HTML with nothing behind them.

But nothing prevents you from using a ready-made template that you customized once and then reused every year for enrollment campaigns.

For example, enrollment 2023.

Then later, using the same template, you just change colors and details.

So nothing prevents that.

Because it’s something that doesn’t contain sensitive information.

Now, for example, imagine you have a blog.

Your blog reaches 50,000 visits per month.

That’s already significant.

Then it reaches 100,000 visits per month.

You start thinking: if I monetize this properly I can generate revenue.

But if you have a security issue and someone sees your site has high traffic, they might take it from you or hijack your entire content.

So there are security issues.

There’s also weight.

With 100,000 visits per month, how are you going to optimize your site’s performance if you’re using a ready-made template?

Imagine you have 100 simultaneous requests.

That’s not even that much.

But your server is already under pressure.

And you’re still loading eight images per request.

Each image in WordPress is a database entry.

So the system queries which images to load among several available versions.

There’s no way to optimize that easily.

Because it’s a ready-made template.

So if you plan to build a blog expecting 100,000 monthly visits, a ready-made template won’t help you.

Now, if you’re building a school enrollment site, that’s different.

You could even just use Elementor without buying a full template.

Then there’s the discussion about Wix too.

That could be another conversation.

But it’s worth evaluating.

Between ready-made templates and Wix.

There are different use cases.

For example, Instagram sales pages.

I once saw a page selling a product that removes scratches from cars.

I bought it.

It doesn’t work.

Don’t buy it.

But that kind of site doesn’t involve sensitive data.

You don’t have registered users.

You don’t have thousands of posts that could be hijacked.

It’s just a small landing page promoted on Instagram.

If it goes down, you just create another one.

Done.

You’re not building with SEO in mind.

Not performance either.

Traffic comes mainly from Instagram.

So in this case, it makes sense.

Even because of cost.

Maybe it makes sense to use a ready-made template.

Even for paid traffic campaigns.

Although paid traffic already involves Google optimization considerations.

Loading time matters.

User bounce rate matters.

If the site is too slow, paid traffic performance suffers.

Some templates are fast.

Some are heavy.

It depends.

But for Instagram or Facebook promotion, depending on your goal, it works fine.

It’s worth the cost.

Erick, I really liked our conversation.

I hope it helped clarify things for everyone who watched until the end.

I think the main point you brought is that it depends and needs evaluation.

You explained the pros and cons well.

If someone wants to contact you, what’s the best channel?

LinkedIn?

Instagram?

Do you have a portfolio so people can learn more about your work?

Just search for Erick Corrêa on Google.

I’ll be there.

It’s not the most updated portfolio in the world, okay?

Because, as they say, the shoemaker’s house has broken shoes.

There are about fifty projects still waiting to be added.

But any designer who has a 100% updated portfolio can throw the first stone, right?

There are many agencies like Titânio that say:

Hey, there’s a project here.

Can we start?

And it’s always urgent.

Yes, like:

We have a project to start tomorrow, but actually it was supposed to be delivered yesterday.

I say:

That’s normal.

Nothing changes.

Marketing works like that.

Designers always work like that.

Clients never have time.

Never have deadlines.

And I also work at a technology company.

I work at GM5.

Which, by the way, is a very good company.

Nobody knows it.

But it’s very good.

Seriously.

I’ve worked there for eight years.

Eight years.

Nobody knows it.

I tell people:

You don’t know it?

Do you know project X?

Yes?

That’s ours.

Nobody knows.

But it’s a great school.

So that’s my business hours.

After that comes the second round, which is Titânio.

And the portfolio — just find me on Google.

Get in touch with me.

If you want to talk, we talk.

I send screenshots.

I send projects.

But from the portfolio you’ll mainly understand my style.

Great.

And speaking for myself here, from the projects we’ve already done together — even before Titânio — we’ve had a long partnership and I highly recommend Erick.

Thanks a lot, Erick.

I won’t take more of your time.

Thanks to everyone who watched.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

See you in the next video.