In this age of content management systems and pre-made website templates, does one still find advantage in going for custom web design over pre-built web designs? If there is a big difference between the two, will it affect your choice of a web hosting company? Here are web design and hosting hints for you.
If you are part of a company just planning to set up its first website or just an individual venturing into the world of internet marketing, web design and web hosting are the two primary considerations.
Big or small, private or company, your website should exude a personality of professionalism and credibility. To help you choose between custom-tailored web design and web templates here is a list of the advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of custom website:
- Exclusive design – building a website design from scratch will give you assurance that your website will stand out from the rest.
- SEO compatibility – since you will be hiring a web designer to code your site from scratch, you will be assured that your site is search engine optimized.
- Flexibility – since the blueprint of the website is completely original and based on your company’s needs, you will have no problems of updating the site in the future.
- Maintainability – custom designed websites are easy to maintain since you and your web designer knows the code.
Disadvantages of custom website:
- Cost – most web designers will charge more especially if you want to integrate a system into your website other than being a static or brochure-like portal. Your best option here is to use an open source CMS or content management system. For instance, if your website requires daily update, without the web designer doing the coding for each update, you can use blogging platforms like Wordpress or Typepad.
- Time-consuming – custom websites take time to make. With a limited time and budget, you may find this option quite expensive since most web designers will charge higher to projects with deadlines.
Advantages of website templates:
- Fast development – there is a template for every type of website, whether it is for business, medical or real estate. The idea is to grab an existing design and tweak to fit your needs.
- Low cost – usually priced at $10 to $60, depending on the complexity of the design, the pre-built web designs are relatively cheaper.
Disadvantages of website templates:
- Non-exclusivity of the design – some templates though is made with exclusive licenses, which means you can purchase template for your own exclusive use. But then again, that will cost you more.
- Coding complexity – if you decide not to hire a web programmer or designer, you might find it difficult to customize a web template. That will cost you more time.
Your choice website design will depend on factors like time-frame, budget, frequency of updates for your site, and knowledge in website coding. You have to remember also that some web hosting companies offer custom or pre-built web designs and CMS hosting. Your web hosting needs will also cost less if you decide to have your own design, whether it is customized or pre-made.
In this age of content management systems and pre-made website templates, does one still find advantage in going for custom web design over pre-built web designs? If there is a big difference between the two, will it affect your choice of a web hosting company? Here are web design and hosting hints for you.
