Custom vs Template Websites. Which Is Right for Your Business?

A website is the foremost display of the brand, and should be created to set a perfect first impression in the eyes of the customers. Custom and template are two ways a website can be developed, depending on the business scale. But whatever the design may be, it should accurately reflect the brand’s identity. 

Custom Website- Custom web development services are made for a large-scale business where everything is tailored according to the brand and the requirements of the individual. It is made from scratch by web developers and designers and aims at speed, user experience, and responsiveness. SEO can be implemented powerfully in this kind of website development. 

Template Website- This is mainly for small-scale businesses that want to go live within days. Pre-styled templates are chosen, which can be customised only to a certain extent through WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. There is no such hassle, but a generic appearance of themes for different websites is possible due to the availability of significantly fewer customisations and repetitive templates. The implementation of SEO is simple, accompanied by mobile-friendly designs. 

Comparison based on some key features

Budget-Friendly- Choosing a template website for a small-scale business is always advised, as it is budget-friendly. It is ideal for small businesses with a limited budget. Custom websites are often not a good choice for small-scale businesses as they require more budget. A template website will be the best option with a lower upfront cost, making it suitable for startups.

Control and Scalability– Custom websites are more suited to power and scalability. They provide a broader scope for clean and efficient code and can handle traffic spikes without crashing. It offers multi-language support and can expand globally with CDNS. On the other hand, template websites have very basic scalability and come with a slow loading time. The features are bloated and are not preferred by large-scale businesses. 

Focusing on Performances, SEO, and UX- For an enhanced user experience, a website should be custom-designed as it should justify the brand identity. Unlike other websites with a generic template, it should differ from others that use the same template. 

High-traffic site(rebranding and redesigning)- Custom web development promotes transitions, storytelling, and custom animations, which help redesign the digital experience. Template websites do not have a factor of uniqueness, and they are not optimised for core web vitals, which directly affects the SEO and UX.
* Custom web development is the best way to rebrand or redesign the website to preserve and increase traffic.*

Structure Control- Template web development does not allow proper control over the structure, which limits us from being able to customise the headings, URL, or metadata fully. Custom development websites will enable the user to develop more trust and authority by having complete and proper control over the structure, leading to the use of backlinks, adequate schema markup, and clean code. 

Conclusion

Both custom and template website has their pros and cons. Starting your business with any one of them is of no harm until and unless they benefit your brand identity. It depends on the requirements of the business and what type of website design it wants to follow. Features like time, experience you want to offer, budget, and the need for customisations in the website play a huge part in the design selection.
Custom web development services often aim for higher traffic and scalability, tailored for large businesses to achieve the desired results.