Almost every company nowadays has a website. If you do not have a website for your business, you lose good opportunities, potential customers, and most of all, money. As a result, nearly everyone has a website, and it becomes harder to stand apart but your website design may be what makes you different.
People use different ways to make themselves easier to recognize and remember. A good and quality graphic design is one of the most crucial things you’ll need to succeed. Customers will remember you easier if you have a unique design. It offers you a significant advantage over your competitors.
It will be much more difficult for someone to trust you if your site looks bad, has a poor design, and is of low quality. It is no longer just about your name or logo but about the whole feeling that your site will create in the customer.
The design needs to present your company the way you want. When it is stylish and recreates the feeling you want, it will attract more and more customers. Each day more businesses are becoming convinced of this and are starting to invest more money in graphic design. In our blog, you can read why design is so crucial to the success of your business.
In this blog post, we’re going to look at the differences between a custom design and a theme for your website. There are differences between the two that are worth mentioning. After reading this article, you can decide which of the two options is more suitable for you.
Custom web design
Custom design is when you create a website from scratch. Start from nothing and make everything yourself. You work with a professional web designer or developer to make it. It requires a lot of experience and knowledge, and not everyone can do it.
The design will be made entirely according to your needs and requirements. It will be what you want. You will be able to have all the features you want.
Also, there won’t be a second site with this design. It will be different from all others and unique. Users often like this.
Pros
- You can make your site according to your requirements. You will have all the features you want. There are virtually no limits to what kind of website you create since you are the one who creates it. You control the design, layout, and functionality. Everything can be fully customized and have all the buttons and functionality you want.
- There will be no second website with the same design. You can make everything absolutely custom. You have control over everything, so you can do whatever you want. Your design will be unique.
- You can change everything at any time. It will also be much easier to make changes to a custom website.
- The site can be easily optimized for search engines from the very beginning.
- Custom websites tend to have faster page load speeds. Building a custom website allows us to have full control over the backend code where we can build the website to be performance-driven and minimize the use of plugins or apps.
- Full design control means you also have control over the website experience and can seamlessly align it with your business goals.
Cons
- One of the main downsides of a custom website is the cost. A unique design is much more expensive than a theme. Pricing varies based on what you want on your website and any functionality you want to be added. Many things determine the price, and it can even be twice that of a theme website.
- It takes much longer. Sufficient time should be devoted to both design and coding. All this takes a long time, and not all companies are ready to wait. If you want your website up and running now, this option is not for you.
- While you’ll have more access to support while you’re building your website, you’ll likely have to pay extra for ongoing support. If you run into a problem down the line, it will be an additional expense.
Theme
Themes are pre-existing code written by someone else that you can use to build your website. There are hundreds of thousands of themes, some free, some with a purchase price. Each theme is different, many customized for specific industries. But they all define the structure, page layout, capabilities, and functions.
For some clients, a website that serves a few simple purposes that require little or no custom requirements, a themed approach works well. Some of the money they save on design and development time can be invested back into the site’s SEO structure and link building to specifically generate traffic or some type of advertising.
WordPress themes are equipped with a variety of features in a range of styles to suit almost any need.
Pros
- This option is much cheaper. If you have a smaller budget it is perfect for you. Most themes are priced between $10 – $100.
- Almost no skills are required. You can choose and use any of the themes yourself.
- Installing the theme requires no more than a few clicks. After that, you need to customize some things like the color, type, and size of the font for example. Then you are ready to go. It takes significantly less time than a custom design.
- Most themes come with long-term developer support at no extra cost. It means you don’t have to worry about WordPress updates or changes negatively affecting your website.
Cons
- There are limits to how much you can customize a theme. It is difficult to change the overall navigation, text and image parameters, icon selection, and page layout. Images and copy must fit within the pre-defined spaces defined by the theme.
- You must rely on the theme’s built-in features or plugins. It means finding plugins that fit well with it. You also don’t want more than 5-7 plugins or you risk slowing down your website. Also, you should keep an eye out for their updates.
- You won’t have a unique design. Another website may have the same one.
- Support from the theme developer may not be as fast as a developer who built your site from scratch. Thousands of people can email them with questions every day, and it is never certain when they will be able to pay attention and help you. Also, they won’t be as familiar with your website as a developer who built it from scratch.
Once you know the differences between a custom web design and a theme, you can decide which one is better for you and your business. Like most things, there are several factors to consider, such as your current budget, time constraints, and the individual needs of your website. Once you know the pros and cons of both options, it will be easier for you to choose the right one.
Ultimately, there are pros and cons to each option. Some businesses take advantage of the reliable custom options of working with a designer, while others thrive with a theme. It all depends on the website you want and your requirements and desires.
We at Dreamtech have experience in this field and know how to help you. We know how to create the ideal web design that you will like. We will do our best to achieve success. If you are interested in our creative services, you can see what we offer or contact us. If you want to schedule your free consultation, you can do it here.
