Preface
If you’re here reading this, chances are you are on your way to creating a new website for your business, either by starting fresh or by redesigning your current website.
When starting out planning your new website you should probably think about these important factors: your budget, your timeframe, establishing your brand through your website, features, and technology, size, and scalability. Assessing these factors in combination will make it easier for you to decide which is better for you.
Custom websites
What is a custom built website?
A custom website is developed from scratch based on a set of specifications and expectations to bring a conceptual idea to life.
What are the Pros of a custom website?
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Fits exactly your business needs – You have more control over the design, features, and technology used, thus perfectly reflecting your brand. If a website requires complex functionality, it is almost impossible to find a template that completely satisfies your needs.
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Uniqueness – Custom websites achieve a high level of uniqueness because the initial design is developed based on your business and your brand. With templates, it’s more likely your site will look like your competitor’s.
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User Experience – Achieves a high level of user experience for your website visitors, effectively improving your conversion rates.
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Effective Marketing Tool – Businesses with clear long-term marketing strategies can create a website that truly reflects their marketing strategy.
What are the Cons of a Custom website?
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More expensive – To achieve all the above goals, many professionals, from brand strategists to copywriters to UX designers to developers, need to co-organize and develop your custom website. Thus you need to have a clear budget for your custom website (see also next chapter).
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It takes more time. As there is more work involved, more time is needed to complete and successfully launch your new site.
What is the rough cost of a custom website?
Working with a web design agency or a professional in the EU economic region, the cost for a custom website might look like this:
| Website | Time | Rough costs |
|---|---|---|
| Business Website | 190-260h | 30.000€ - 70.000€ |
| E-commerce | 350-750h | 80.000€ - 120.000€ |
| Landing page | 20-50h | 2.000€ - 15.000€ |
What is a template-based website?
Template websites are pre-designed templates usually available online for a low cost and sometimes free. There are tools like Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress that not only allow users to work with pre-built templates but also add and edit content after it is originally launched. In fact, there are about 455 million WordPress-powered websites worldwide, that’s about 37% of the internet, as of the time of writing, making WordPress the most used CMS worldwide.
What are the Pros of a template-based website?
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Cheaper than a custom website – A smaller initial investment to launch the website. If you have a lot of free time and your design requirements are basic, you could potentially create a website even by investing your own personal time, or, even better, hiring a web developer to guide you through the selection of a suitable website template and setting it up for you.
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Fast – As the template is already pre-built, all you need to do is insert your content, and images and perform some minor edits. You can hire a web developer to perform this quickly for you.
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You can start small and expand later. With a CMS like WordPress and the help of an experienced web developer, you can start with a pre-built WordPress theme, and expand later on specific features you want to add, through the use of commercial or free plugins.
What are the Cons of a template-based website?
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Doesn’t fit your business – You have less control over the design, the features, and the technology used. If a website requires complex functionality, it is almost impossible to find a template that completely satisfies your needs.
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Doesn’t reflect your brand – With templates, it’s more than likely that thousands of others have purchased the same template/theme as you.
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Limited functionality – If a template lacks certain functionality, it is quite difficult to add or alter unless you’re an expert or hire an expert to add this functionality for you adding up to the costs you initially trying to minimize.
Bottom line
A high-quality website will always be a sound investment.
That said, quality custom websites do not come cheap. Not every company is in a position to afford one. If your budget is less than 10.000€, for example, a template-based website is probably your best choice. Template websites give you pre-packaged design, saving you the cost of having someone do these things for you. The tradeoff is the limitations that come with them. Template sites can be clean and functional on the surface, but their quality usually ends there.
For those companies that aren’t limited by budget and timeline, a custom website is nearly always the way to go. Website templates come with too many limitations on brand expression, functionality, and scalability. Any up-front savings they offer will usually end up costing you more down the line. A custom website is built specifically for your needs, tailored to your brand’s unique identity and positioning, and configured to grow with you into the future.