An HONEST Review of Custom WordPress Sites
Are you thinking about creating a website for your business, but you don’t know what kind to choose?
You have two main options:
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- Should you have a custom website made just for your business?
OR - Should you use one of the readily available WordPress templates offered on the web?
- Should you have a custom website made just for your business?
The answer to this question depends on what you’re hoping to get out of having a website. If you just want a place to plop your information online, don’t bother with a custom website. A customized pre-made template will meet your needs.
However, if your goal is to do business transactions online, get leads for your business, or interact with potential customers, a template just won’t cut it.
How to Choose?
There are many advantages to both custom WordPress design services and standard templates. Depending on your company’s unique needs, there is likely one option that makes more sense for your digital marketing profile.
Let’s take a quick look at the main pros and cons of a custom WordPress design. Depending on your specific needs, a custom website may be the right choice for you over a template option. With cost as the most likely barrier to going custom, it’s important to consider the many benefits a custom site can bring to your bottom line.
Pros of a Custom Website
- The fully customized and unique design elements will help you stand out in a crowded field.
If you spend any time at all online, it doesn’t take long to spot the many template websites that are out there. Custom sites really do stand out because they have that little extra something that is eye-catching and engaging right from the start. When it comes to building your firm’s online presence, you can get exactly what you want with a custom website. Metrics for measuring this include bounce rate, conversion rate, session duration, and even organic traffic acquisition.
- Any features that you need can be built-in to suit your exact needs.
One size does not fit all for e-commerce and online stores. If you require any advanced functionality of any type, it is much easier to get those features when you opt for a custom WordPress design of your site. Not to mention, your SEO will be improved with a custom site since more of your page is “unique” in the eyes of Google.
Don’t try to force a square peg into a round hole. Businesses grow and change, and these changes can affect the way you present your firm to the world. Custom design allows you to create the aesthetic that best reflects the current state of your company and allows you to easily update it as necessary.
- Changes are straightforward and easy to make because they don’t have to fit into a pre-designed format.
Say you want to add a new business or product line to your site. Or, maybe, you want to add some advanced functionality to your site that will make doing business easier. A custom design can easily accommodate those requests.
When you need changes to either the function or aesthetics of your site you can get them. You don’t need to modify your desires due to the limitations of a template.
Cons of a Custom Website
- As with most things, the custom option for websites is more expensive than off-the-rack, generic templates.
Choosing a custom website requires a larger financial investment than using a template format. When this expense is measured against the additional market share that a robust online presence can offer, the financial commitment for the custom site can be offset.
If your company does not require any unique functionality, it may make sense for you to stick with the many website templates that are available today. Say you’re looking for a place to put your business’s hours, contact info, and maybe a mission statement. Any website template will allow you to do that.
However, if you need a place to conduct online business, sell your goods or services, or provide customer care, you’ll need more than a template can offer. For a high-functioning, tailored website, go with a custom site.
- It will take a longer period of time to get your site up and running.
Building a website from scratch offers a great payout in the long run, but it is not an overnight process. Anyone who is looking for a quick fix or wants to be live in a matter of days may bristle at the lead time that comes with a bespoke website. Custom WordPress design takes longer to implement because it requires more work than simply plugging the info into a template and publishing it immediately.
- The investment into the site may make you hesitate to make significant changes as your business needs change.
After you have invested a substantial amount of money into your custom site, you may be reluctant to make any serious changes in the future due to the added expense. While stylistic changes or simple design elements can be changed with ease, if you are wanting to completely refresh and overhaul your site every few years, the expense of doing so may hold you back.
On the other hand, if you don’t update your website as often as you need to, you run the risk of falling behind. In the digital world, change is inevitable. Keeping your website up to date is now a part of the cost of doing business. How much you choose to invest can make a big difference in the success of your enterprise.
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Is it time for you to create or update your company website? Deciding between custom WordPress design and a pre-made template can be a difficult decision to make. There are aspects to both options that work for specific needs. Sometimes, it’s not a clear-cut decision. Going through the pros and cons of each should make it easier to decide what suits your business.
If you want a custom site that gives you both the flexibility and design freedom that you need to build your brand profile, we can help. Let’s talk about how we can meet your digital needs and make your website stand out. If you have opted to go custom, we can get you the custom site that meets all of your needs.
Today’s online world is more crowded than ever, making it difficult to create the market presence you need. Let us help you create the website that will get you noticed by all the right people!