Do you want to customize your website?  It does not have to be an intimidating task!

The age of template website builders is here. Template based website makers market to small to medium size businesses to quickly and affordably have their own website ready to swim in the big blue seas of the world wide web. SquareSpace, Wix, and Site123, to name a few, have introduced themselves to the web design landscape and are enticing consumers with their ease of use, affordable plans, and trendy aesthetics.

However…. there’s a catch. These template website builders, although seemingly harmless to your business success and growth, can actually hinder your online presence, search ranking, security, expandability, and in turn, could end up costing you engagement, commerce, and revenue you would have otherwise retained if your business had used a custom website development firm.

Why should you customize your website?  Let’s look at the comparison.

The Downfalls of Using a Template Based Website Platform:

Using a template-based website builder over a custom website development can have the following complications:

• Lack of security
• Ineffective SEO
• Unfriendly CMS
• Limited customization
• No expandability
• Lack of code optimization

Benefits Of A Customized Website

#1- With A Customized Website, Your Website = Your Vision

Custom websites are fully customizable and expandable. Your business’s aesthetic and thematic vision should be represented accurately on your website. Customers connect to visual likeness and branding consistency. Keeping your aesthetic vertically matched across all your platforms makes recognition of your brand easy and memorable. This can only be achieved by using a custom website developer. Unlike template based platforms, custom websites are easily expandable. As your business grows and needs change, your customized website can change with you, keeping your brand front facing and engaging with your customers.

#2- SEO Ready

When you customize your website, SEO best practices become an easily obtained reality. SSL/TLS secure sites bring a major validation to search ranking systems. In fact, in 2014, Google began rewarding secure websites with improved web rankings. A custom website also allows for SEO plugins to be installed. Lastly, originality of look, layout, and content play heavily into Google’s search rankings. Only a custom built website will ensure you are standing out in the crowd.

#3- Real Customer Service/Support

A website development firm offers a dedicated and experienced team of people to help your business after your site is built and made live. There will be technological updates, content changes, marketing shifts, and important error issues that will arise and having a dedicated team to help you is crucial to your website’s success. Template based companies have chats that help in answering general questions but they will have no prior knowledge of your business and its needs.

It’s a common misconception that once a website is live, it’s good to go with no worries ahead. While this could be true if you are paying an ongoing, web developer on a monthly basis to manage your website, your website will need to be regularly maintained to run properly.

Here are some reasons why regular website maintenance is crucial for your website:

• SEO
• Checks for broken links, pages, and errors
• Improve page speed which lowers bounce rate
• Updates and install plugins
• Install new tools and functions, like AMP pages
• Ensures security
• Submit content for Google to recrawl for SERP
• Protects against data server crashes
• Database backups to save your work

#4- User Experience

When you customize your website development model, you can give your users the kind of experience they want. Custom built websites are easier to navigate and give customers a user friendly experience not found with template based platforms. To truly engage your target audience, you must customize your website to fit its best functions and your business’s needs. This kind of thought process and detailed layout design make your user feel “at home” when using your website, which is not attainable with a template.

#5- Clean Code

Building a custom website enables the creation and control of cleaner code.

Using a template platform handcuffs you to using the code they have decided relevant to their bottom line, and technical limitations. You are essentially putting the brain of you website into the a crowded field of copy and paste shortcut sites that lowers your content originality and search rankings. Google always prefers websites with organized and proper clean code and ranks such sites in higher standings.

Call Us Today!

Having a custom website for your business matters more than ever. Custom website development and design remain the most sound and practiced way to garner your business’s attention on the web. Step by step, you and your web team will craft a start to finish layout and interface that will run properly, have optimized search results and retain the target audience and consumer you are seeking on the web. Spending the extra time and money upfront will bring peace of mind, security, technological know-how and the support team you need to be a viable and successful in the digital world.