Is your website’s first impression the right one? The debate on custom website design vs. templates helps you determine the answer. The choice between a uniquely developed website design and the purchase of a template is often critical for modern-day digitization projects.Your website is not a digital version of a paper brochure; it is your identity, a platform where you market yourself or your business, and a business asset that taps into your customers. Choose between a custom website and template wisely, as the design has the biggest impact on your success in the digital world. Determine the right design approach to use.As is customary, we will discuss why design is integral to website development and what stays and leaves in a debate of custom website design vs. template for small businesses. We will also throw light on cost-effectiveness, scalability, and the custom website’s capability to rank better on SEPR.
Custom web design development entails designing a website from the ground up that will be specific to the needs, requirements, and style of the business. They may not be cheap initially, but custom website design benefits include sustainability, long-term cost-effectiveness, and scalability.
Having a website developed that is custom means that the layout and design are a distinguishing factor from others on the market and reflect the identity of your company.
All elements in custom site design are intended to meet the goal and objective of your business and to support your branding campaign.
Business people develop custom websites with future expansion for their business in mind, knowing that they can add new functions to the site later.
Segmentation coding allows for effective, efficient, and faster website performance, improved site speed, and Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) ranking.
eCommerce giant: A big online store requires a powerful and extensible basis for the processing of great loads and the possible topological structure of products.Healthcare provider: A hospital needs a secure, custom-built website to navigate under the rules of HIPAA and with portals for patients and integrated appointment scheduling.Tech startup: A creative applications firm needs a contemporary website to represent its skill in the modern technology application and to pull in individuals to spend in the development firm.
Website templates are pre-made designs that have had their structures predetermined and then can be altered in limited ways. Among other website template benefits, they are easy to use and cheap for companies.
There is a ready design with many styles and simple tools that enable anyone to make changes without programming.
Pre-designed website templates are cheap and will take little time to develop, making them suitable for businesses that are in need of an online platform.
Being customizable, templates are nevertheless restricted by their design and functional parameters, and therefore, template-based website limitations might influence a brand’s individuality adversely.
Local bakery: If someone is running a small bakery, one doesn’t need a bulky and complex website but a website with product images, product descriptions, an online ordering feature, and contact information.Freelance photographer: A budding freelance photographer would make it big with a decent yet captivating website that showcases her clicks and enables people to buy her pictures and receive service requests.Fitness instructor: A personal trainer needs a basic site that provides information about classes and allows one to make a booking online.
While choosing between custom websites vs templates, businesses should consider the following aspects: the amount of money that one would require, the time factor, branding issues, the custom web design advantages, and the goals and objectives of the business in the future.
Custom website design costs are a bit lavish compared to website templates. More features and more security means more cost. A decently built custom website can cost between $10000 and $100000.
Templates come cheaper; they range from $20-$200 for the template itself, not including charges for customization and premium plugins.
On average, it takes 2–6 months to design and build a new website if the company decides to use its unique structure.
Many template-based sites can be up within days or weeks, which makes them suitable for trading needs an organization may require online.
Having custom websites can be used in various ways, and anyone can design them in the way they want and according to the business type.
Templates offer little in terms of flexibility, meaning that you may be confined to coming up with a unique user experience.
Custom website development for companies brings the opportunity of having a standout web presence that accurately represents your brand and image.
As for templates, it is true that everyone could have his or her own layouts and designs, as well as the end product might look very similar as many businesses could be applying the same layouts and designs.
The enterprise site is developed with the aim of ensuring that as the business grows, there are features that can easily be integrated into the site.
Website templates for small businesses may face some challenges of growth since they would have to be redesigned or rebuilt at a later date at an extra cost.
The answer may lie in the fact that custom-coded sites are cleaner and more optimized because they are coded that way, and hence, they are ranked better and are faster in loading than template-based sites.
They may also contain extra or redundant code, which will only add more size to the site, demanding more efforts from SEO services and affecting its historical rankings.
Source: https://www.sigmasolve.com/custom-website-design-vs-templates-which-is-best-for-your-business/