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Small Business Resource Review: Template Monster

by Veronica Stone on February 29th, 2008
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Template Monster is an online store that offers the largest selection of ready-made website templates online, mainly for newly established websites and businesses. They also have an enormous inventory of pre-made Flash templates, logo templates, WordPress and other CMS themes, and osCommerce templates for online stores. Template Monster’s templates and other products are all completely customizable and ready for download and immediate use.

Bloggers may not find Template Monster as useful as owners of websites, as WordPress already has many free themes available for use on blogs. The e-commerce templates are perfect for use when creating or arranging an online store, and templates are available based on three different e-commerce engines. The templates offered by Template Monster are compatible with nearly all hosting companies, and can be used for any type of online store or business.

Template Types and Selection

Templates on Template Monster can be purchased individually, and are separated into categories on their website. Purchased templates can be customized as needed and as often as you want, to create or update the content on your website. Template Monster offers a larger variety of format types than anyone else online, and they boast the largest selection currently available on the internet.

If you are looking for a web template for your website or business, Template Monster has many different web template options available for download. Available ready-made designs include Flash templates, Flash Intro templates, SWiSH templates, and Dynamic Flash photo gallery templates. All of these website templates are customizable, and come with stock photos, clip art images, a font collection, and a month of included web hosting. Template Monster also provides customers with 24-hour support when they purchase a Flash website template.

If you want to arrange an online shop, the e-commerce templates from Template Monster will be the perfect fit for your website or business. Template Monster offers osCommerce templates, CRE Loaded templates, and Zencart templates, all of which are fully customizable. Template Monster’s CRE Loaded templates allow you to easily add or change items sold through your store, and make it easy for you to upload images, text descriptions, graphics, and process credit card payments.

The corporate design section of Template Monster’s website contains many products useful for businesses that are seeking graphics to assist in their branding campaigns. This section offers logos, logo sets, icons, and corporate identities that are all fully customizable and can be easily changed to fit any specific brand or business. The corporate identity template consists of a set of pre-designed objects used to determine the style of a business, and includes a logo, business card layout, envelope, and standard letterhead. This set is ideal for a newly established business that might not yet have the financial resources to spend on a professionally designed and managed corporate style.

Templates for blogs are available all over the internet, but Template Monster offers a stunning selection of CMS (content management system) and blog templates. Even if you are new to HTML, using a CMS template will give you a professional looking blog that is easy to manage. Blog and CMS template types available through Template Monster include WordPress themes, Php-Nuke templates, PhpBB templates, Joomla templates, and Mambo templates.

Special Features and Ease-of-Use

The Template Monster website is easy to navigate, and the system for browsing and purchasing templates is simple and straightforward. You have the option of either narrowing your search results by using drop down boxes, which allow you to sort your results by product type, category, and style, or by searching for a specific HTML editor.

Most of the templates offered by Template Monster use unflattened Adobe Photoshop PSD files, but some are fully coded HTML templates. Template Monster accepts payment by credit card, and templates are delivered quickly - sometimes instantly. One negative point to keep in mind is that Template Monster’s markup is not the greatest, and the templates load slowly for users without broadband. This may be an issue you will need to consider, depending on your business and site traffic.

Template Monster provides users with email and chat support, makes available a comprehensive user’s guide, FAQ, and a searchable archive of submitted questions.

For those running their own template store, Template Monster allows you to establish your own chat system that connects your website visitors directly with their live chat support.

Affiliate Program

Besides providing your new business or website with an enormous variety of template designs, Template Monster offers an easy way to monetize your website with their affiliate program. Template Monster’s affiliate program includes a detailed commission statistics program that enables you to track your earnings and monthly traffic statistics for your template store. There is also an ad campaign tracker available, which is an analytic tool that allows you to gauge the usefulness of your advertising channels. You need only include a modified link in the promotional ads or banners that you use on other websites, and the tracker also monitors the number of clicks and conversions each ad generates.

You earn money through Template Monster’s affiliate program by referring visitors through your affiliate link to the Template Monster website, or by setting up your own online store with the ready-made store templates and scripts that Template Monster offers. You can also refer other affiliates to Template Monster’s affiliate program. This allows you to receive 25 percent of whatever they earn as commission. Affiliates earn 20 percent commission on all purchases made via their template store or affiliate link.

An important feature of Template Monster’s affiliate program is that it uses permanent cookies. This enables you to earn commission from purchases made months after one of your visitors is referred through your store or link. You can also choose any template from the Template Monster website and pay for it using your commission, while receiving a 20 percent discount.

Overall, Template Monster is the best source for templates if you want something professional, attractive, and easy-to-use for your business or website. Other sources of templates online offer a greater number of features than Monster Template provides, but those competitors have only a fraction of the template selection that Monster Template has. Plus, you can earn money through their affiliate program, and your templates will pay for themselves.

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