Many individuals and small businesses are content to put up a website based on a template, especially if it’s their first foray on to the Internet, because it’s simple to install, requires little tailoring, and it’s ready to go pretty quickly. However, it isn’t long before owners realize that their template-based websites look like hordes of other sites on the Internet, and offer little of distinction to visitors to make them stand out.
Little or no design time is needed in such cases, because the design has already been decided, and all that’s really needed is to plug in the name of the business before you’re off and running. But isn’t your unique business entitled to its own unique website – and as a business owner, aren’t you entitled to present yourself to the world in a way that’s entirely your own?
Advantages of a custom website compared to a template website
A website needs to be more than a pretty template that appeals to the masses; it needs to function as a window to the world for your business, inviting Internet users to learn more about your company and its products and services. Every web page, and every piece of content should be somehow informative to readers about just what it is that you do, and how their lives can be made better by continuing buying from you and by reading the useful information you provide. That’s what custom web design is all about.
A custom website is always more SEO-friendly, which will cause you to be ranked higher by search engines, whereas a template-based site is relatively restricted in its implementation of good SEO practices. You can’t really use good online marketing techniques either on a template site, especially on your front page, which is crucial to getting your message across. If you really want customers to find your website, it should be a custom website instead.
Another advantage of having your site custom-built is that you’ll get continuous support from the designer/developer, both technical and informational. Template-based sites have little or no support available, because all the work has been done already, and you have to accept it as is. In other words, you’re on your own.
The advantage that should stand out the most though, is the fact that a custom website stands out from others by virtue of its higher quality and sophistication, its superior functionality and ease of navigation, and its uniqueness in a setting where so many websites look virtually the same. When customers view cookie-cutter websites, they tend to form that same opinion of your business – that there’s nothing special about it, and it’s just like all the rest.
Rise above the crowd
From the above, it should be clear that a custom website is the way to go, from almost any angle you choose to look at building a site. To earn all the benefits of a custom built website, contact a web design team like Big Splash Web Design, and make your small business website perform like a Big Business company.