Custom Website Design vs. Web Templates

You may be asking yourself as a business owner, “How do I get my business started and how do I continue increasing the growth of my business?” A website is one thing people must have to operate a business successfully. A website allows your customers to visit your page online whether if its a coffee, construction, bakery, restaurant, and etc. website. The main thing you want to keep in mind is where do you see your business going in the next five to ten years. If you want your business to expand and continue to grow then its best to have a custom website made by a professional website design company. Therefore, we will discuss the benefits of custom website design vs. web templates.

Custom Website Design vs. Web Templates

Before we talk about benefits of having a web template, lets define what a web template means and its purpose. A web template is a tool used to separate content from presentation in web design, and for mass-production of web documents. It is a basic component of a web template system. The template operates similarly to a form letter for use in setting up a website. Web templates can be used in selling products online, display family history, display gallery of photos, display information about company or organization, and etc.¹

The purpose of having a web template is to control the look and layout of the website by providing the framework that brings together common elements, modules and components as of providing the cascading style sheet for website. In general web templates are managed with template manager, which is located on the extensions menu in the back-end (administrator) area of your site. ²

Advantages of having a Web Template

Advantages of having a web template include the following:

• Web template is cheap to purchase
• What you see is what you get (depends on what you require your web developer to design for your website)⁴
• Choice of choosing different types of designs⁴
• Takes less time input for your website to develop than a custom website
• Functionality⁴
• Looks more attractive⁴
• Being able to navigate links throughout your website⁴
• Shorter development time³

Disadvantages of having a Web Template

Disadvantages of having a web template include the following:

• So many limitations on customization⁴
• Software required for customization⁴
• Image optimization required skills⁴
• Templates are not optimized to attract search engines
• Not exclusive and unique⁴
• Antiquated coding might not work in all browsers³

Advantages of having a Custom Web Design

Advantages of custom website design include the following:

• Unique design³
• By hiring the right web developer, it will be constructed so it is search engine friendly³
• Website more adaptable for your company needs³
• Some companies may offer 30 minutes to 2 hours of free consultation services
• Added exposure through CSS galleries⁵
• Less time in maintenance to repair custom web design⁵
• More sales in your business with a better design website than a web template⁵
• Less bugs and cross browser compatibility (more visibility making it viewable to your customers)⁵
• No limits on a custom web designing website

Disadvantages of having a Custom Web Design

Disadvantages of custom website design include the following:

• Cost is expensive depending on number of pages you want for your website
• Requires a lot of time and effort in development of the website
• Takes time to research, build, test and release⁶

These are just a few of the many benefits of custom website design vs. web templates. Overall, if you want better service for your website, then a custom-built website would be more suitable for you and your business. It may cost more money and may take time and effort for your website to run smooth and efficiently; moreover, your custom website will have a greater advantage versus a web template. More people will appreciate your custom website hence this will allow customers to keep coming back to your website.

Resources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_template
2. http://docs.joomla.org/What_is_the_purpose_of_a_template%3F
3. http://www.webpagemistakes.ca/custom-web-design-website-templates/
4. http://www.entheosweb.com/website_design/website_templates.asp
5. http://www.myinkblog.com/7-benefits-of-having-a-professional-website-design/
6. http://www.thoughtmechanicsweb.com/custom-atlanta-web-design/