Are you looking to invest in a new website? Are you unsure if you should invest in a bespoke website or whether an “off the shelf” templated option?
In this article, we discuss both choices’ pros and cons, highlighting which option may be better for you and your business.
What should a “good” website do?
A good website enhances your digital presence, engage with your audience and effectively convert visitors into leads or sales.
Click here to learn more about the elements of a good website.
Bespoke websites
When you arrange for a bespoke website to be built by a web design agency, you’ll be working with a full team of designers, developers and marketers who understand your business’s needs and target audience.
There are many tricks when it comes to web design, in regard to user experience and technological best practices like SEO.
Using their knowledge and experience they can create something that not only looks great but generates a return on your investment too.
Pros
- Unique
A bespoke website is designed to your business’s needs, colours fonts and imagery can be used to express your brand personality without limitations. - User Experience
During a website design process, an initial planning stage is used to identify your customer’s unique journey whilst on your website. Planning this out in the early stages ensures that the website is designed and built with your customers in mind ensuring that every experience is smooth and enjoyable. - Technical integrations
There are little to no restrictions on functionality and technical possibilities. The latest in coding technologies allows you to integrate other tools seamlessly. - Expansion Opportunities
Bespoke websites are built for evolution and can grow with your business over time. New pages or features can be built as and when you need them and you are not limited to how many pages your website has. - Integrated content management systems
Simple and easy-to-use content systems are integrated as standard, allowing your team to update the website content when needed. This is especially useful for SEO and content marketing purposes. - Built with search in mind
Your website needs to be built with organic search in mind. Website speed and device responsiveness are two key areas that Google identifies when indexing your website. Websites which are low in speed or that are unresponsive to different device types can be penalised, making It harder for your website to gain visibility.
Cons
- Project length
From start to finish it can take 8-12 weeks to design and build a website. A lot of planning and strategy is involved to ensure the website is built exactly for its purpose. - Budget expectations
Your investment in a website will be higher than opting for a templated approach, as you are paying for the time and skills of a group of experts. - Collaboration
You will need to set aside time to review the project at specific milestones and provide feedback throughout the project duration. A lack of collaboration between the business and the web design agency can cause the projected timeline length to increase.
Templated websites
Templated website builders, like Wix or Squarespace, provide an “off the shelf” approach to web design.
Once you’ve registered your domain name, you can build out a website yourself from a number of standardised templates.
Pros
- Cheap
Templates are good for those with lower budgets as they have little to no upfront costs. You can create a website on Wix from about $20 a month. - Quick turnaround time
If you or someone you know is building the website in this format for you, you could have a live website in a number of days.
Cons
- Limited design
Other than the ability to change a few colour swatches, you are limited creatively by the design of the template. - Unnecessary Code
As a “one size fits all” approach the code used to build the website is very generic and needs to cover a range of elements that may not actually be of use to you. This excess code can slow websites down and again negatively impact your speed. - Standardised User Journey
The journey around your website is standardised, there is no understanding of your user or their specific needs when using the website.
So which option is right for you?
As a web design agency with over 26-year experience, we’ve seen the web world change completely over the past few years. With technical advancements, an “off the shelf” approach is more readily available to consumers than ever before.
Templated websites are a good option for those just starting out, however, whilst we understand that budgets may be a deciding factor on which approach you choose, we would highly recommend working with trusted web experts.
Regardless of which industry you are in, your business’s online presence can have a huge impact on success.
Having a well-built and well-designed website could be the difference between gaining or losing new opportunities for your business.
If you’d like to find out more about our services as a web design agency, please call 01702 471 015 today to speak to our experts.
