Strong online marketing is the backbone of any business owner’s marketing efforts and it usually initiates from website design and development. A business website showcases your products and services on the web. It helps build the identity and position of a brand in the eyes of the online customers. Most of the business owners go for a custom designed website to put their brand online and grow their business. However, getting a custom designed website is not a good idea in today’s fast paced and competitive online market. A custom designed website has various drawbacks as compared to a premade commercial template. Let’s have a look at some of them.
Involves Huge Investment
Spending thousands of dollars on customized website design is absurd as you can easily get an industry-specific design from any free website builder. A simple custom designed website would cost you somewhere between $1000 to $5000 depending upon your budget and requirement. Some professional designers may charge you even more. For a small business owner, making such an investment can be daunting and risky. On the other hand, a free website builder offers you to choose from hundreds of business-specific design templates in various color themes. These templates are also professionally designed to suit your business needs and offer the same value as a custom design. As the owner of a business, you have complete freedom to choose the colors and design that will complement your brand personality and create your masterpiece.
Time Consuming
A custom designed website will typically get completed in 6-8 weeks depending upon the intricacies of the functionality involved. A more complex website may take longer development time and effort. In comparison, a premade template takes no time at all. You can customize your website in minutes and go live the same day without having any technical knowledge. It does not involve any sort of coding and is visibly attractive and professional. You can also create complex websites using a website builder as the customization is entirely in your hands.
Updating may be a concern
Updating a custom website can become challenging for non-technical business owners as it would require the basic knowledge of HTML and CSS. You might have to run back to the developer every now and then for making minor changes or hire them on permanent basis for the maintenance of your website. Though, in case of a website template you can easily and quickly make any changes to your website as and when you please. You can also change the entire look and feel of your website in minutes whereas changing the design of your custom website will require good amount of time and money.
Finding the right people are difficult
If you don’t know any professional website designers or developers, finding the right one might become an arduous task as there are so many in the market. Some of them might not be able to provide satisfactory results as you may have intended. You will have to carry out thorough research before pinpointing on any one to avoid the risk of creating a poor quality website. However, if you are getting a premade template then you have to just go online and use any one of the free website builders to create your dream website.
Content may get sidelined
A website developer or designer is the last person to know what should be the messaging on your website. The content is the most vital part of a website as it captures the attention of a visitor and retains it. Writing engaging and fitting content that describes your business is no child’s play, so you will have to hire a copywriter/content writer to do it for you. In contrast, the website templates are pre-populated with industry-specific, search-engine-friendly content. You don’t have to worry about the keyword research with the premade templates, they provide content injected with well-researched keywords so that your website gets higher search engine rankings.
Conclusion
This elucidates that a premade commercial template is the most easy, quick and cost-effective method of building a business website. The only concern of a business owner with a website template can be that the design will not be unique, but this is an imprudent concern. It is very unlikely that a customer would come across the same template twice among thousands of websites online, and even if he/she does, it is very rare that they would recognize the design. And, of course these templates provide the option of customizing the website, so there is hardly a chance that you would end up looking like a clone of another website on the web. Thus, opting for a website builder is the ideal website development solution for small and medium business owners.
Author Bio: Nidhi Mattoo is a creative content writer working for WebStartToday.com. Web Start Today is a free website builder that helps small businesses creating impressive websites fast – complete with industry-specific content & images.