>>I’ve also heard that website templates don’t let you get good Google rankings, but didn’t hear why. My personal feelings are that any template someone else made won’t look as good as what I can make myself out of my own head.<<
A web template is just an HTML document that you change the content for. If you don’t know enough html to add the meta data and content that the search engines look for that can cause a problem but that isn’t the templates fault.
And the thing about template is that in general, just like stock art and music, they are created by professionals. A professional designer will almost always be able to develop a better page design than an amateur does, the same is true for photography and art. That’s why they are the professional. I am not a musician (pro or amateur), so you know what I farm that part of a job out or I use stock. Just makes practical sense.
