Recently, we have been meeting with a lot of business owners who have questions about the best way to get lasting value from their web design projects. It seems that everywhere they turn there is another option – including some that are fast, cheap, and easy.
For instance, take the trend of DIY web templates. You have undoubtedly seen these advertised on YouTube and even television. For just a few dollars a month, they promise the chance to build a brand-new web presence from some easy fill-in-the-blanks forms.
Additionally, there are numerous freelancers and overseas web design companies who will build a website from an existing design for next to nothing. Given that many business websites look similar, and there are time and money savings to be had, it’s only reasonable for people to ask us whether they really need to pay for custom web design.
The answer, of course, is that it depends. It depends on your budget, and what you’re hoping to accomplish. For a solopreneur startup with absolutely no money, a website template might be a good starting point. Using one of these services is certainly better than having no online presence at all.
However, for an established business – or one that is growing beyond the work-at-home stage – custom web design has distinct advantages over templates and a one-size-fits-all approach. Let’s look at a few of the most important benefits that come with having a website built specifically for your company…
Your Business Has Unique Strengths (and Your Website Should, Too)
No two businesses are the same, so no two business websites should be identical, either. You want a team of designers and developers doing custom work for you so you can put your most important advantages upfront.
You have only seconds to impress a first-time visitor to your website. Do you want them thinking that you’ve got exactly what they were looking for, or that your website looks just like a dozen others they recently visited? There is a subtle but important value to standing out in a crowded marketplace.
Custom Web Designs Have Technical Advantages
Having a custom web design isn’t just about finding the right look. Web templates are made to work for virtually any type of business, which means they have to be loaded down with dozens of fonts and plug-ins that can slow a website down or cause compatibility issues.
Conversely, when you have a website built specifically for your company, the back-end programming can be cleaner. It can be created with only the software and content elements you need. That speeds things up and makes it less likely you’ll run into problems from extra bits of code that are lying beneath what you and your customers can see.
Business Web Design is All About Making Sales and Profits
When you put the customization and technical elements of a unique web design together, what you get is more sales potential. In other words, the business website generates more business.
At the end of the day, getting a web presence for your company isn’t about spending as little as possible or getting online as quickly as you can – it’s about generating sales and profits for your company. Keep that in mind if you’re tempted to take shortcuts that can hurt your bottom line later.
