When making the decision for a new website, you have to choose between two approaches: using a template or creating a custom website from scratch. At first glance, it may seem like going with a generic template could save you time or money, but that’s not necessarily the case; there are many benefits associated with a custom website that should be taken into consideration:
- Current: A custom website is designed in real time, which ensures best practices in website coding are used, meaning your site will be up-to-date for all browsers and search engine optimization. It is hard to tell the age of a website template, and if it is dated additional time and money will be needed to bring it up to today’s standards.
- Unique: A custom website is distinct and stands out in a sea of copycats. When you choose a template, it's impossible to know how many other people have chosen the same template. You may inadvertently end up looking exactly like a competitor or an undesirable brand who select the same design.
- Flexible: A custom website allows you to represent your brand and personality. Fonts, imagery, structure, layout, shapes and colors can all be designed to match your style and preferences. Templates do have some customization points built into them, but they can only bend so far before they break. Ultimately, a template may not be able to deliver everything you want it to.
- Protection: If you like being in control of your brand, a custom website ensures that you can modify every aspect of your site, not just the parts of a template that have been designated to allow edits. With a custom site, you own and control your brand and design.
- Scalable: Templated websites are made for a specific size and structure, which can make them hard to scale if you want to do more. Custom websites are designed to your needs from the beginning so scalability is not an issue.
Some people assume that using a template will save on website development costs, but this is not always true. Templated sites often require a lot of customization that may be equal or greater to the amount of time that would be spent coding a new site. You can liken it to the cost and time of building a house from the ground up, or renovating an old house to match your needs. Depending on the amount of work needed, you may be better off starting from a blank slate. RemedyConnect has been developing custom websites that meet each clients’ unique business needs for nearly 17 years. Contact us for expert advice and consultation.