A custom website design is one that has been created from scratch for a specific organisation or individual.
A customised design is a template or theme that has been altered or adapted in some way.
The meaning of ‘custom’ tends to get distorted in the world of web design. The word custom is often confused with customised.
Be sure your ‘custom website design’ is not just a ‘customised design’.
So, what are the benefits of a custom website design over using templates, themes, or website builders?
A lot of time and investigating goes into a true custom web design. This is to ensure that the design properly represents your business and the products or services you offer. It will also consider your target audience to enable your site to stand out from your competition.
There are so many templates and themes available from various repositories and so many ways they can be slightly modified…you would think there would be something that could work for every company.
Templates and themes are very generic and created with many different scenarios in mind but the ‘one size fits all’ does not work with website design for professional businesses. No company is the same, each one is unique in some way.
With a template it is more about how to fit your business inside the template whereas a custom website will be designed around your business.
No design template will be unique to you, there will be many other companies and websites using the same template. This could mean your audience confuses your website with other websites they have seen. By having a custom website design, you eliminate this happening as your site will be unique to your business.
A custom website allows you to stand out more and be easily distinguished from your competition. Yes, templates and themes can be customised, but the core elements are still the same.
A custom web design is created solely for your organisation and your requirements. There isnt really a limit on the functions you can create with a custom website.
This means you can create a better experience for users of your site. For example, if you sell wallpaper and you would like a calculation function on your site to inform users how many rolls they need – this is totally achievable with a custom website. You will struggle to do this when using a template or website builder.
Custom websites are built using only the necessary code and plugins, so are well optimised from the start.
Web templates however, generally have lots of excess code or components which will slow the website down. Similarly, some website builders rely heavily on many different plugins in order to function.
Too many plugins will reduce the load and response speed of the site, this is very difficult to rectify without removing some plugins or excess code.
This might not strike you as a problem, but search engines like Google will notice. Ranking high in search engines is no mean feat but is much more difficult when page loading speeds are slow.
GT metrix is a good free tool tool to check the speed of your website.
Custom websites can easily be continually optimised and made responsive across all devices. Many themes are not fully responsive so have function issues when viewed on mobile devices – another reason to go for custom website design!
Even if you are a small business, it is much better to have a custom website to accurately represent your business. You may have the conception that it’s too expensive, but view it as long-term investment and start with a basic custom website then as your company grows you can simply scale and add to it. This also gives the potential for a much higher return on investment. The beauty of a custom website is that it’s very flexible and tailored to you.
Still not convinced? Check out this post on why professional design is so important!
At Guzzbury Studio, all our websites are custom designed. We do not use any pre-built themes or templates.
Get in touch with us to request your quotation
