A template or a custom design?
A template is quick and cheap; a custom design makes the site work the way your business does. Which one suits you depends on what the site has to do.
A template is a layout someone else made for another business. You put your own logo, colours and texts into it. In a custom design, the layout is built from scratch around your visitors. Both produce a website, but they answer different questions.
When a template is enough
For a campaign page that will only be live for a short time, a new venture that hasn't settled on what to say yet, or a brochure site of a few pages and contact details, a template is a reasonable start. Speed and budget come first; the site isn't expected to set you apart.
The hidden costs of a template
Weight: To be useful to everyone, templates carry many features you will never use. This can make pages slow to open, and a slow page hurts both your visitors and your search ranking.
Sameness: Other companies in your field may be using the same template. Visitors can't tell you apart from your competitor.
Plugins: Every missing feature is patched with a plugin. As plugins pile up, updates can break one another and security holes multiply.
Content bent to fit: Your texts and images get shortened or stretched to fit the template's boxes, when the layout should be built around the content.
What custom design changes
Custom design is not a choice of looks but a matter of order. First comes why visitors come to the site, what they look at to decide and what they should do in the end. Every screen, from the first screen of the home page to the contact form, is drawn in that order. And since the code is written only for what that site needs, it carries no extra weight.
A custom design also carries your brand across the whole site with the same consistency. When your catalogue, your social media and your website speak the same language, your customers recognise you everywhere.
Three questions to decide
Does the site have to bring in sales or quote requests? If so, you need to build the visitor's path around your own business.
Do you need to show on the site what sets you apart from your competitors?
Will the site be used for at least a few years? On a site that will live long, the differences in speed and upkeep grow over time.
If you answer “no” to all three, a template will do the job. If you say “yes” to even one, a custom design will cost you less effort in the long run. At Methodda we design and code every site from scratch around what that business needs; you can see the difference for yourself in our projects.