If you are looking to set up a new website, there are a lot of things to consider. One such thing is the website’s design. Most businesses and individuals are hesitant to hire a web design company due to the costs involved. Thus, they opt for ready-made templates. While it does reduce the effort required to set up a website, the templates present numerous challenges for businesses.
This article will discuss why customized web designs are better than templates.
Why Custom Web Design Is Better Than Templates
1. Helps Differentiate Your Brand from Others
If you opt for templates, it means your website is like countless others. If that’s the case, how will you differentiate your unique brand? Prospective clients will argue that if a business cannot even create a unique website, how will it add value for us? Therefore, you must opt for unique, customized web designs by a leading web design company. If you are still unconvinced about why you need a custom website design, check out the article “Digital Brand Identities and Their Importance.”
2. Support Challenges
Suppose you buy a template website that appears quite appealing. Everything is going as intended until you encounter an issue. You are trying to reach out to the template developer, but you are not getting any positive response. It is the story of millions of template buyers. Unfortunately, the developers only provide support for a limited time and then move to the next project. If you face issues, you must find a web design company to help address the problem. Isn’t it better to avoid templates and hire a web design company to create a unique design in the first place?
3. Mobile Responsiveness
Most templates are designed to be visually appealing. It is what generates the sales. The problem is that the templates are not designed with aspects like mobile responsiveness in mind. Therefore, even if you buy a stunning web design template, it might not be viewable on mobile devices. Again, you will need to hire developers to make it mobile-responsive.
4. Professional Team Of Web Developers
When you opt for a customized design, you are availing of the services of a professional team of developers. These developers have considerable experience working across different niches. Your business can benefit from their experience. Their work and suggestions will help you gain an edge over your competitors. For example, most customized web designs now support voice search.
Although you might think it is a needless feature, voice search is increasing. When your website already has such a feature, you can begin capturing the market much quicker than your competitors. It will take them some time to revamp the design and content to support voice search.
5. Search Engine Optimization
The first thing that you will do after setting up a website is to invest in search engine optimization (SEO). It refers to the process through which a website is ranked on Google and other search engines. It generates organic traffic for the website. A template does not cater to SEO as effectively as a custom design. Therefore, after buying a template, you will need to do a lot of tweaking to ensure that it is SEO friendly.
6. Page Loading
A template is designed to support many third-party applications. The issue is that it can reduce your website’s loading time. There is considerable research that states the importance of having fast loading times for a good user experience. For example, numerous studies found that if a website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, the visitor will close the tab and move to the next. With internet speeds increasing globally, the demand for faster loading times will only intensify. Here is how you can optimize your website’s loading speed.
7. Scalability
Another issue with templates is scalability. When your business and requirements grow, the template does not grow with it. In other words, you need to change your web design as you experience growth. In contrast, a customized web design is designed with scalability as a top priority. Hence, your website enables you to meet growing demand and add new functionality with considerable ease.
8. Ownership
The code and ownership stay with the developers when you buy a template. In contrast, when you opt for a custom web design, you have complete ownership and control over the design. You can use it in any way you desire, including selling it to other businesses.
Should You Buy a Template?
After reading the above points, you might be thinking, why do many individuals and businesses buy templates when there are so many issues with them?
Well, despite their issues, they do offer benefits. The most notable benefit is the time to market. The most obvious choice is a template if you need to set up a website quickly. Secondly, there is a template for every business niche, from eCommerce stores to construction businesses.
In addition to this, templates are much more inexpensive than customized web designs. The reason is that the template is not designed for single use. Instead, it is offered to countless individuals and businesses. So, opting for templates is the best choice if you are on a tight deadline and budget. If required, you can edit them later.
Custom Web Design Vs Templates: A Comparison
| Aspect | Custom Web Design | Templates |
|---|---|---|
| Differentiation | Helps differentiate your brand from others. | Limited uniqueness as templates are widely used. |
| Support Challenges | Professional web design companies offer continuous support. | Template support is limited; often requires external assistance. |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Custom designs can be tailored for optimal mobile viewing. | Templates may lack mobile responsiveness, requiring additional development. |
| Professional Team | Access to a skilled team of developers with diverse expertise. | Relies on template developers; limited expertise and focus. |
| Search Engine Optimization | Custom designs are inherently more SEO-friendly. | Templates often require additional SEO tweaking. |
| Page Loading | Custom designs allow optimized loading times for better user experience. | Template reliance on third-party applications can impact loading speed. |
| Scalability | Custom designs are built with scalability in mind, adapting to business growth. | Templates may lack scalability, requiring redesign as business expands. |
| Ownership | Complete ownership and control over the design and code. | Ownership and control stay with the template developers. |
Custom Web Design Case Studies
Volpi Foods
Volpi Foods, a long-standing purveyor of fine-cured meats, sought an SEO partner but faced limitations with their existing website template. They opted for a custom WordPress design, leading to an elegantly functional site.
This redesign delivered significant SEO benefits, including a 17.04% boost in organic traffic, a 48.87% increase in new users, and enhanced keyword rankings. The new design streamlined product and recipe pages, making them more informative and user-friendly. Schema implementation further improved search engine visibility.
Volpi Foods’ custom web design not only enhanced aesthetics and user experience but also yielded substantial SEO improvements, solidifying its position as a leader in the cured meats industry.
Sweetie Pie Organics
Sweetie Pie Organics, a company catering to expectant and breastfeeding mothers with innovative food solutions, greatly benefited from a custom web design collaboration. Their Shopify website, initially based on a template, was transformed with a fresh visual identity and custom design, resulting in a more engaging and user-friendly platform.
The custom design introduced a vibrant style guide, playful icons, and unique visual elements, aligning perfectly with the brand’s uniqueness and enhancing the overall customer experience. This custom approach has paved the way for brand growth in the competitive food and beverage eCommerce industry.
Conclusion
Overall, custom web designs are better than templates. However, they are expensive and take longer to develop. If budget and time are not an issue, we highly recommend that you hire a web design company to create a compelling website. It will help you differentiate yourself from competitors and gain a competitive advantage.
Contact Matchbox Design Group Today!
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