Does these templates convert better? Really?? :O
 

I'm thinking of opening a webshop and surfing templates for it.
All of them have a huge header that covers the entire screen (same with blog templates). And below a carousel.
I must be oldschool or something because I just don't see the appeal :P

It used to be that the top fold was the most important on a landingpage to catch the surfer and making him scroll/click for more. Now there is just a big image with a link: shop now. Why??? They're already at the shop, surely showing a best-seller or latest deal would be a better option?

When ever I visit websites I found gif banners annoying and this is why I use adblocker. So for me carousels are just as annoying. Yet they are part of pretty much every template. Don't people find them as annoying?

Yes, I know I can edit the template to fit my needs and taste. I posted this gripe to see if anyone has gone from a oldschool template and updated with one of these types of templates and noticed a difference in conversions?
Or have anyone removed the FPA header and noticed a difference?

Am I really alone in thinking this? If so, what am I missing? lol

Re: I dislike todays templates :O
 

As I keep surfing and checking out templates I also see how some have popup boxes for newsletters as a default on templates. I'm not against newsletters but again, I use adblocker to block annoying popups. And more and more webmasters are adding them again as the surfer enters?

Back in the day I used to have a single exit pop and it was very productive and it didn't take away from the visitors experience on my website. Now I don't have any popups of any kind.

Again, am I the only one who thinks this is backwards?