Custom Website vs Template: Which is Best for Your Business?
A website has become the most essential part of every business. Therefore, many businesses have made their online presence by launching a website.
As you have planned to invest in a website, one question might be revolving around your mind, whether to build website from scratch or use template?
For years, templates have remained one of the go-to solutions for businesses to launch a website efficiently. On the other side, custom made websites give the freedom to businesses to design in their own way.
To make your task easy, we have done detailed research on the custom website vs template and found some essential aspects that can help you choose the best one for your business.
Before we move ahead, let us first go through the basics of a custom & template-based website.
What is the Difference Between Custom Website and Template?
Custom Website vs Template: A Detail Comparison
1. Budget
A website is the most vital digital asset of your business through which people find you and judge your credibility. Therefore, it is essential to invest in a quality website for your business.
Before investing, the first & foremost factor that you have to consider is the cost. Based on the budget, you have to determine whether to go for a template or a custom website. Let us discuss both things in detail.
Custom WebsiteIf you have enough investment, choosing a custom build website is the best option. The cost of a custom build website varies based on the size, features, etc.
For instance, if your company earns $2 million every year, investing $20,000 in a custom website is fine. A custom website is worth the investment and offers a higher ROI.
In short, if your annual revenue is more, investing in a custom-built website is good. Moreover, a custom website directly affects your brand performance.
Template WebsiteIf your budget is less than $20,000, the template is the most suitable option.
A template comes with a built-in design and hence saves your cost upfront. After your site is ready, you need to pay between $12-50 per month to keep the site running.
If you think the template is clean and functional, then it too has its drawbacks.
ResultA website template is the best option if you want to develop a website at a low cost. However, if you don’t have budget constraints, a custom website is worth considering.
2. Time
The next important factor that you need to consider is the time taken to develop a website.
Custom WebsiteTo create & launch a quality custom website requires 2 to 4 months or more based on its complexity.
Moreover, there is no magic pill to speed up this process due to many things. The process includes planning, wireframes, content, design, development, testing, etc.
Lastly, it is not a better option to create a full-fledged website in a limited time as it will cost you more in the future.
Template WebsiteIf you want to launch your website as soon as possible, you need to go with a website template.
If you want to launch your product early, one better strategy is to develop a single landing page or go for a minimalistic website design using a template.
The time required to build a website using a template is a maximum of 2 months.
ResultIf you want to launch your website immediately, you can go with a template. On the other hand, if you are not in a hurry to build a website, then go with a custom website.
3. User Experience
UX plays a very crucial factor in the success of your business website. Therefore, before choosing a template or a custom made website, you should think of the UX design of your website.
Custom WebsiteIf you want to provide a top-notch experience to users, you should go with a custom website design with your eyes closed. Also, it gives you the ability to attract more audiences and get better conversions.
Template WebsiteIn the case of a template website, the user experience depends on the individual developing it. Some of the most basic decisions, such as organizing content or laying out the navigation affect the user experience.
Although an individual creates a website using a template in the best possible manner, it still looks confusing to some end-users.
ResultA custom-built website is the best option as it gives you the freedom to provide the best-in-class user experience to the audience.
4. Brand
The next important factor you need to consider when comparing custom made websites vs templates is the brand.
Custom WebsiteA custom website is like the ocean, where you can put anything you want as per your needs. In short, a custom website allows you to integrate all the things you want into your business website and provide a personalized experience to users.
Template WebsiteTemplate-based websites do not offer the type of personalization you want for your website. In short, a template doesn’t showcase your site’s personality, identity, and overall positioning.
Moreover, a website is the most crucial virtual platform of your business that represents your brand. A template-based website has many limitations and does not allow your company to express its message to users well.
ResultIf your purpose is to represent your business as a next-gen brand, go with a custom website. If you are not focusing on brand building, you can go with a template website.
5. Functionality
Functionality consists of many things, and the type of functionality needed in a website depends on the business.
Custom WebsiteIf you want to develop any high-end website or an eCommerce website, you should create a custom website. The reason is template based websites do not offer the flexibility needed for any big website.
Besides this, when comparing custom web design vs website templates, a custom website offers better security & is less susceptible to attacks.
Template WebsiteThe template website lacks the necessary functionality. Most of the template websites are not entirely responsive, meaning they don’t work smoothly on both mobile & desktop.
As per the current digital era, half of the website traffic comes through mobile; hence, having a responsive website is highly important.
Lastly, one of the main drawbacks is that template-based sites can be hacked easily by attackers.
ResultA custom website is a better option here as it has a wide range of functionalities as compared to a template website.
6. Flexibility & Scalability
Flexibility & scalability are two of the essential factors responsible for the growth of the website and the business.
Custom WebsiteWhile in a custom build website, you can integrate features based on your needs and budgets. Moreover, a better strategy is to hire a website development company to build a custom website. Why?
They have available resources and a team that can develop a website that meets your current goals and is also scalable in the future. Lastly, custom built websites allow you to add functionality without affecting the traffic.
Template WebsiteTemplates are not suitable for every kind of website. Various templates come with a lot of functionalities. When you add or remove any functionality in a template, it directly affects the code & then the user interface of the website in the long run.
Here, a template-based website may look great in the initial stage; however, what are the consequences when a company starts growing? The additional features in a template affect the site speed, and your site can’t handle the traffic easily. Moreover, you will face issues in adding functionality to your business website.
ResultA custom website is a feasible option because it allows you to build a website with limited features and then expand it with more features as per the need.
7. Maintenance & Support
The most important task that every business thinks about is building & launching a website. However, the actual game starts after it because you need to invest sufficient time to keep the site running.
In a template as well as a custom website, adding new pages and maintaining the site is an easy task. Despite this, many people are not able to maintain a website.
Custom WebsiteWhen you choose to develop a custom website from a website development agency, they help you launch your website with ease and offer quality customer support. Apart from this, they provide sufficient training after the website launch by which you can maintain your business site efficiently.
Template WebsiteIn a template-based website, you do not get quality support from the template service provider & hence, you find it hard to maintain. Besides this, a template doesn’t provide better customization. Therefore, it is challenging to manage it.
ResultA custom website is the better option here as it is easier to maintain compared to a template website.
Conclusion
Initially, it might be challenging to choose between a custom website and a template website.
However, if you ask the correct questions and compare template vs custom website in detail, you can get your answer quickly. For example, if you want scalability, you should go with a custom website. Based on your requirement, you can decide the best from a custom website and template website.
Whether you want to build website from scratch or use template, you can reach out to us.
WebyKing provides website development services and has delivered the best website solutions to clients worldwide. Hence, we can understand your business needs and then offer you the best solution as per your needs.