Differences Between A Custom Website vs. Template Website

Do you know the key differences between a custom website vs. a template?

As a regular web user, you likely see both types of websites all the time without thinking about it too much. Before you decide fully on one or the other, it’s beneficial to know the differences between website templates vs custom design and how it applies to your vision, budget, and ROI goals. 

Before simply hiring any website designer and developer, you should know that certain website aspects like plug-ins, integrated features, and other additions aren’t always built-in. They are also not guaranteed to function 100% as your website goes live. It takes the right team with enough experience and expertise to customize your website for an optimal customer journey from start to finish. 

It is crucial to understand the key differences between a custom website vs. a template before you make a decision that will impact the future of your business.  

Need a custom website for your business? Contact Exults today.

5 Differences Between A Custom vs. Template Website

You’re ready to use what you have to revamp your business’s website to fully reflect your brand and its purpose. But you’re still not sure exactly how much help you’ll need to get what you want out of your website. It’s easy to overthink something like this, but it may help to break down each one before getting into the nitty-gritty details.

What Is A Custom Website? 

A custom website is typically built from scratch and coded to include the integrations you want to offer your visitors to enhance their experience. A few of these integrations include items like…

• Chat capabilities
• Pop-ups
• Drop down navigation
• Contact forms
• Interactive scheduling

In addition to creating the exact user experience you envision, having a custom website vs. a template allows you to infuse your brand’s personality throughout with endless design options like…

• Consistent branding throughout
• Scrolling style
• Font and headline options
• Embedded videos
• Multiple photo galleries

And so much more! Custom websites are best for businesses needing a unique look and feel with added plug-ins and capabilities. This type of website design takes considerably more time and effort than a website template.

What Is A Template Website? 

Finding a website template for your business is much different than building a website from scratch. However, you will be limited in the number of features and custom integrations that are available. This is because a template is pre-designed or set to a specific amount of additional features that you’re capable of using. 

Using a pre-set website template means you can worry less about your website’s overall design. This type of website design is best for businesses that need to keep the user experience straightforward. But, there are a few drawbacks involved in going the templated route.

Here are 5 areas of focus to refine your website needs…

1. Code

As mentioned before, a custom website gives you the power to customize the user experience down to their final click – from choosing a dropdown style to ensuring branding is consistent throughout. Many people think these types of features come standard with any website build. However, this isn’t always the case.

First things first…The biggest difference is the one that you don’t see as a consumer, and that’s the code. 

To keep it simple, custom websites are built using custom code. As a result, it does require longer development hours; however, the end product is not limited by a templated framework and is instead highly flexible. And you own the website outright – meaning no one will have a website exactly like yours. With a solid developer, you reduce your risk of security breaches as hackers will have to spend dedicated time on your website alone to crack it. Templated websites provide hackers the opportunity to attack websites on a bigger scale. 

The downside is that your site may crash more frequently with updates unless you have a development team on standby to manage your website updates. 

Templated code is great for easy-to-launch sites and standardized development. For some companies, this is great as you may not use your website as a key driver in your business. So if you see your website as a brochure rather than a member of your sales and marketing team, templates may be the best option for you. Usually, templates are in the form of website builders. These are great for visual people because it offers a transparent view of what your website will look like when you’ve added all the necessary information.

Want to combine ideas from different website templates into one custom website design? Talk to the Exults team today.

2. Functionality

Do you have a special program for returning customers? What about seasonal promotions?

Depending on your website’s needs, you may prefer having a custom website vs. a template. Certain actions are simple and can be easily built into a template. But you may want to take your design a step further and go from “Call Now” leading to a contact form to “Schedule An Appointment” leading to an interactive calendar instead. Or, perhaps, you need an e-commerce website that allows users to safely navigate and purchase products.

Defining the functionality of your website is best done with a web designer or developer that can think through all of the possibilities from a user perspective. It’s essential to get this nailed down before putting anything else into action.

Whether you want to ensure a seamless mobile experience or create timely notifications with your colors and branding, compare a quote with a custom website developer compared to using a template. Fewer features on your website might leave you feeling as though using a template is the most effective way to communicate your business’s message.

3. Scalability

Regarding website design and development, scalability often goes hand-in-hand. On one hand, a template may not grow with you and your business as you reach higher revenue goals. On the other hand, a custom website means more routine maintenance to keep your website up-to-date and aligned with your business as you grow. If you have a trusted team of developers in your corner, you can worry less about maintaining your website and spend more time offering valuable information to your target audience.

Along with being able to maintain your website, having a custom-built website gives you more power in real-time to make changes as you see fit when reviewing your bounce rate, keyword standing, etc. A website template will usually let you change most copy or content, but certain other features may be set and unable to change.

4. Design

One of the major benefits of having a fully custom design versus being locked into a template is that your brand’s voice, tone, style, and branding can be intertwined into everything from headings to special effects that appear on certain pages. Your website will stand out compared to others in the same industry because it will have your company built into every aspect possible. 

Building your website from scratch with custom website design services means having FAQs with easy-to-read dropdowns and interactive graphics, videos, and beyond with your brand logo, colors, font choice, and so much more built-in. For many business owners, this is an ideal choice to stand out as a company and break through the noise associated with duplicated content, reused designs, and stock images. However, this can be a costly choice when compared to using a web template.

In addition to saving money, you can also adhere to a stricter timeline from strategy to launch. A website template is done for you and, for the most part, is set as far as features and functionality. Because of this, you have more control over its content and how quickly you plan on producing said content to be published on your website. After plugging in the right information into the pre-designed template you choose, you can launch your website knowing the technical details are taken care of. Again, a drawback here is that you’re limited to only what’s available.

5. SEO

Content is still king. And unique content will always be favored by popular search engines like Google. Because using a website template limits some of your ability to be creative, you won’t likely be largely distinguished as having more original content as a custom-built website. Even more, if you’re using pre-set copy, your SEO rank is susceptible to taking a hit. Unique copy with properly researched keywords and SEO strategies is more likely to appear at the top of most search engines. If SEO isn’t a concern for your business, this may not matter as much to your or your team when it comes to launching your website.

Beyond these 5 differences, choosing between a custom website vs a template usually comes down to one essential facet of your business – your budget.

Custom Website Design And Development All With One Dedicated Team

Still trying to decide whether you want to go with a custom website vs a template? 

Choosing a web template can be an ideal choice for companies without a website at all or startups without the larger budget of a well-established business. They can be a comprehensive tool used to showcase your services, company, and a way to connect with your potential customers.

Exults specializes in custom website designs for businesses across the nation. Interested in a custom web experience for your business? Get started with Exults today.