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When you set up a blog you have a very important decision to make regarding design. Should you select an off-the-shelf template or select a blog design? There are advantages to doing it both ways. Here’s a run down of the benefits you can expect from going either direction:

Blog Template - If you choose a blog template for your business, you first need to consider what is the appropriate template for your blog. Not all blog templates are created equal. One of the most important considerations you’ll need to make is the optimization of your template. You can choose an attractive blog template, but if it isn’t optimized for search engines then it’s not important how pretty it is. Here are some other things you need to think about for templates:

• One side bar or two? Give this careful thought. If you have two sidebars - right and left, two on the right, or two on the left - then you have less space in the middle where your posts are. You might have more space for things like ads, blogroll, etc. but is it worth it? What will go into your sidebars? What is necessary and what is fluff? You’ll need to know. If you are running an affiliate blog then you might want two sidebars for all the affiliate banner ads you plan to display, but if your blog is a company blog for a service business then you might not want those distractions in your sidebar at all.
• Who else is using your template? Some people say if you are using a popular template then you are cutting your business short. It depends. Are a lot of people in your industry using the same template? If so then you might want to reconsider using it and go with an original design or another template. But if not then you might be OK with a particular template.
• Templates are free. You don’t have to pay for a blog template. But you will have to pay a designer to design you an original design.
• Could be easier to install. A template might be easier to install depending on how the orgiginal blog template is designed. Be sure that you understand any installation issues with a custom designed template.

Original Design - Pride of ownership is a big selling point. If you have an original blog design then you own it. It’s yours. No one else can copy it. You can boast of your originality and it can look really cool, give you a big boost in your image to your targeted customers. That’s a huge selling point. But is that the only benefit?

• Sidebars. You still have to decide how many sidebars you want. You can also give your original design other bells and whistles like dynamic footers, flash headers, etc. but be careful with those because you still have to consider search engine optimization. Don’t get so snazzy that your blog doesn’t pass the SEO test.
• Cost. Can you afford to pay a fancy designer to build you a blog design? Custom blog designs can run anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand. Can you afford it? Many bloggers who have purchased a custom blog design have said that it was well worth the expense and that through advertising they have more than made up for it. But that isn’t the case with all of them. Plan your monetization strategy well and make sure that you can afford the expense before you invest.
• Installation. Will you be installing the design yourself or will you have to pay someone to install it. Some custom designs require that you pay a technical person to set it up just right for you. Be sure you consider that expense, if necessary.

There are benefits to having your own design, but that doesn’t mean you should do it. For a lot of people, the cost far outweighs the benefits. It is something you have to give careful consideration to before you invest in an expensive design. The content of your blog is far more important than design and that is something you should always keep in mind.