I have been reading a lot about template driven websites lately and the fact that in today's market you need a more SEO friendly website. You know the ones, the same look as the others and you are limited on what you can do. I am sure you all know these and many of you in fact might have one. We in fact have a product that does the very same thing. These sites are attractive as they usually have a very little start up cost.

But now a days the merit for custom sites is becoming significant and Agents are now looking for websites that are more SEO friendly as well as more customizable. Agents want to stand out, have greater degree of control and have more integration with controls such as blogs, listing data and 3rd party applets.

So what are the pro's and con's to a template driven website?

Pro's

1: The most significant pro for a template website is the price. Typically you have a very low or no start up fees and only a small monthly fee.

2: Sites are usually simple to use because you usually have fixed and limited parameters to work around.

Con's

1: Most template sites are SEO un-friendly. They have long URL's like www.yourdomain.com/page.asp?id=23445&pageid=45655, while a much friendlier URL might be www.yourdomain.com/page.htm.

2: Little or no flexibility in page and structural design.

3: The "template" look.

So does this mean you need to look at a custom site? Well maybe - but you have another option too. Semi-custom sites blend the economy of a template and the customization of a fully customizable site. This can be done because you begin your website with a design that is already in place and because a lot of the work of building the structure is done these site are generally less expensive than a fully customized one.

So with this semi-custom approach you can get some of the cost benefits of the template sites but ALL the benefits of a fully customized site. Take a look here on some of the features you can get . Semi-custom sites are a great alternative in today's economy and with these site you don't have to worry about loosing any of the advanced features like IDX, flexible design, custom look, lead management, etc. A semi-custom site designed right can look unique and preform just as well as a custom site costing thousands more.  So if you are considering getting a new website or perhaps giving an existing one a face-lift, try taking the semi-custom plunge.