Many companies (including us) offer both web designs built from templates, and fully custom designs built from scratch. Which is better? Custom design or template?
In order to answer that, let’s look at the difference.
Custom Web Design
With a fully custom web design, The designer will work with on you to determine what you would like your site to look like, maybe ask for examples of sites that please you. Then they will work up some sort of wireframe (or plain paper) design for you to approve, ask for changes, or completely disapprove, in which case the process starts all over again, eventually coming up with a design that both fits your desires and your budget. If you have a bunch of money you need to spend, this is one way to go.
This article will explain what to expect when building a website
Web Design From Template
A design company that offers pre-built designs (see ours here), this process can be much quicker, easier, and at a much lower cost. The designer will show you a collection of templates for you to choose from. After you have made your choice(s), they will work with you on the colors, fonts, text, photos, etc. that will make up your site.
See, with a web design built from templates, you still have complete control over what your website will look like, except for the major parts of the layout itself. And even those can be changed somewhat for minimal or no extra cost.
The template is basically a pre designed website layout with placeholders for images and text. These can usually be moved around. Other elements can also be added, such as contact forms, maps, video, etc.
Which should you go with?
That all depends on what you have in mind with your design, the time you wish to get this completed, and the amount of money you wish to spend on the site.
Also, the amount of templates available, and the diversity of designs that the designer has plays a key part, For example, if you look at the DIY companies like Wix and SquareSpace, all of their design templates look pretty much the same, while we have 30 front page templates and 15 additional pages to choose from. These were all built in house by us. Plus we have access to hundreds more from different sources.
custom design or template
Whichever you choose, please go with a designer that will work with you one-on-one. And understand that those DIY sites sound cheap, but you get what you pay for. You’ll find that especially with a design from template, the overall cost will be less in the long run than with a do-it-yourself site (and you won’t have to do it yourself).
If you have any questions on this, or any other topic, feel free to email me at larry@southmetroweb.com.
Our website is southmetroweb.com
