The Battle Rages On: Templated Website Builder Vs. Custom Designed and Developed Solutions
You probably already know how important a website is to modern businesses.
Websites, if optimized, help drive visibility, reinforce business reputation, and bring in more customers. They enable a business to convert more leads and generate more revenue, improving the business’s bottom line.
In short, an optimized website is the key that unlocks new heights for modern businesses.
Motivated by these benefits, business owners resolve to get themselves a shiny new website. But as soon as they set out to complete this important task, they are faced with a tough decision.
Templated website builder vs custom-designed and developed solutions, which should they choose?
Templated vs Custom Websites: The Battle Rages On
The battle between templated and custom-built websites has been going on ever since the existence of the two options. And with the way things are, this battle may continue well into the future.
So, business owners should learn how they can maneuver through the maze of choosing between templated vs custom-built websites and go for an option that makes the most sense for their business.
Below are some pros and cons of each of the two options when they are judged based on certain factors business owners consider when building a website:
Affordability
Templated websites are super-affordable. You can get one up and running, sometimes for free and other times at a relatively small subscription cost.
Custom-built websites, on the other hand, can easily cost upward of $1,000. The cost can exceed four figures, depending on the size of the business.
But, as affordable as they may be, templated websites lack some important features and functionalities. And so, they often remain restricted in their performance. You will find out more about these limitations further down. For now, know that these limitations often result in templated websites costing more in the long run in terms of lost business.
This is why successful businesses continue to choose custom web development despite having templated options readily available.
Customizability
One of the biggest drawbacks of templated websites is the lack of customization.
Yes, website builders do give an illusion that you have complete control over your website and you can edit it however you want. But you are only free to do whatever you want within the limits set by the website template builders. You can never venture out of these creative limits.
This is why these cookie-cutter websites often look all the same and make your business miss out on a chance to stand out from the crowd and be unique.
And in a world with thousands of businesses vying for a slice of customer attention, uniqueness is one feature you don’t want to miss out on when building a website.
Custom-built websites are tailored according to your unique business and products. This is why, while all your competitors may be offering the same cookie-cutter layout, a custom website may help you gain much-needed visibility and an edge over the competitors.
Building and Publishing
Templated websites are easier and quicker to build. With some website builders, all you do is signup, do a few clicks here, a few drags and drops there, make a few choices, and bam! You have a new website.
Building and publishing a custom website is not that straightforward. First, you cannot DIY, unless you are a trained web developer yourself. Second, even when working with a professional web developer, there is a lot of back and forth involved as the developer takes the time to understand your business and then codes every feature into the website before launching it.
But the back and forth and time are all investments that pay dividends in the long run.
Maintenance and Management
Managing and maintaining a template website is simple. You can easily do it, even without high-level technical expertise.
That, however, is not usually the case with custom-built websites. These websites often demand coding knowledge, even for the smallest of changes. This can make maintaining and updating custom-built websites a bit tricky.
But on the plus side, custom websites are often maintained by web developers. It’s a part of their package. So all you have to do is inform them of the update you want and they will take care of it.
Things are a bit different with templated websites. Since you have built it yourself, you may have to maintain it yourself as well.
Because business owners often have a lot on their to-do lists, tasks unrelated to the day-to-day operations of the business, such as updating the website, are way down on their list of priorities.
As a result, your website may remain outdated and detract from the user experience, unless you take out the time from your busy schedule to do the necessary maintenance.
Load Time
Users and search engines both love fast-loading websites. This is why website load speed is something you don’t want to compromise on when building a website.
Website builders are often designed to help people get websites that look pretty on the front end. And so, they rarely give much thought to what lies on the backend.
The backend code of a templated website often gets bloated with all the additional functionalities, plugins, and extensions. This is why templated websites tend to be slower than custom-built websites. Besides dragging a website down in terms of load speed, all of these elements can also lead to lower conversions and hence smaller revenue.
Custom-built websites don’t use that many plugins or extensions. They have most of the functionalities coded into them. And so, the code remains clean most of the time. Even if it does get bloated, the web developers working on maintaining the website can quickly rise to the occasion, minify the backend code, and optimize the website for enhanced performance.
Search Engine Optimization
Load speed happens to be an important search engine ranking factor. Search engines like Google reward websites that load quickly. Hence, slow-loading websites often struggle to rank higher.
Since templated websites tend to load slowly, they also often fail to achieve appreciable organic search visibility.
Most modern website builders do come with exceptional SEO features and functionalities. But they still lack some nuanced and more advanced features, which put them a step behind custom-built websites when it comes to SEO.
Data and Website Security
Templated websites are secure. No doubt about that. But they are more vulnerable to attacks than custom-built websites.
That’s because templated or half-baked websites are powered by hundreds of plugins and extensions. Each plugin is developed by a different programmer. And thus, every plugin you use to add functionality to your site may act as a gateway that malicious actors can use to enter your website and wreak havoc on it.
Custom websites use fewer plugins as compared to templated websites. Most of the features are coded into the website’s HTML, mostly by the same team of web developers who built the website. With fewer plugins, these websites have fewer pathways for hackers to enter the website, making custom-built websites much safer and less vulnerable to malicious activity. This is why custom-built websites are much safer and less vulnerable to being downed by shady characters and hackers.
So, Which Should You Choose?
The battle between templated and custom-developed and designed solutions will continue to rage on. That’s because both options have their pros and cons.
While a templated website is more affordable and easier to build and launch, a custom-built website is more customizable, safer, and viable in the long run.
But ultimately, the decision on what you should choose boils down to your goals, budget, and time frame.
If you want a business website up and running on a smaller budget and within a shorter time frame, templated websites may be a good option. You may have to compromise on customization, website load speed, visibility, and maybe even conversions though.
If, however, you have time and budget, then the best way forward is to invest in an optimized custom-developed, and designed website.
This website will have the potential to be more visible and generate better conversions. Most importantly, a custom website will grow with your business, something a templated website may not be equipped to do.
Templated websites are often hosted on shared servers with limited resources, which is why it is difficult to scale a templated website once your business grows or sees a seasonal rise in traffic. Besides that, these websites are often set in stone, so it can be impossible to overhaul them. If you want to get a new website, you may have to start from scratch.
Landau Consulting offers web development in New Jersey and has powered many businesses in New Jersey and beyond with optimized, functional, and scalable custom-developed and designed websites.
With a team of professional web developers and designers, Landau Consulting works with you to develop a website that’s unique to your business and optimized to help you get closer to your goals.
If you have any questions, feel free to Contact Us. For more infographics visit our blog.