Templates are something that is worth investing on when it comes to running a website. This is because most of the time, it may be a onetime investment rather than a monthly or a yearly thing. It will take years before a site would change its template. Like the logo, templates are something that very much defines the site as well.
There are a lot of templates available for the Joomla content management system. Some of these are free while some requires purchase. There is a big difference between paid and free and one of these differences is that paid templates are used by only a small number of people as compared with the free templates. This allows the site to look more unique and less of a cliché.
When getting a template, it is absolutely necessary to know how much the site owner is willing to spend on it. The lesser he or she is willing to spend the lesser the choices are. A good budget would be around $150-200.
Do not look at it as something that is excessively expensive and worthless. Think of it as an investment to attract potential visitors or customers. Change the mindset to think that even though it costs that much amount of money, it will take years before the site owner will want to change the templates again. In the long run, the overall cost of the template would only be $10-20 per month (considering a change of template in 2 years for a template that costs $240)
After that, find a design that suits the overall theme of the website. If it is a gaming website, allow it to look cool and stylish but if it is a site meant for the professional audiences, get something that looks professional and simple.
Here are just some of the tips on getting a good template. There are loads of sites that sell premium templates which gives the site owner a lot of designs to choose from and if that doesn’t work, consider hiring a designer.