Custom web design: advantages and disadvantages

Sometimes you want to design a website, but you do not know what kind of design to use, whether to start from scratch to make it a truly unique site or to use a template so that, apart from being a faster process, it is cheaper and needs less thinking time and effort.

For this reason, in this article we explain what web design is and the two variants of it. In this way, you can decide which is the best for your company and what advantages and disadvantages it brings.

What is web design?

Depending on the objectives set and how we understand that the solution that should be provided to achieve them, a web site is designed in one way or another. From a more technical point of view, the development from a pre-built system either an HTML template or WordPress theme, offers good enough solutions for most businesses. Others, not so technical, believe that designing a custom website from scratch is the best way to go, even if you have to spend more money doing so. However, while it may seem strange to be able to develop a website without using it, there are people who do. In other words, it is more common practice than you think.

When creating the website from scratch, it is important to consider how easy you need the website administration to be. If the pages of this website are static and do not need to be updated frequently, custom development may be a good option.

When it comes to designing a web page, it is customary to opt for the option that provides the most benefits and advantages; and which usually fulfils, to a great extent, the needs, putting us in the place of clients. This is why evaluating the characteristics of a custom web design is a very important process.

Web page design is a very good option when customers need maximum customization in the portal, and also meets the tastes, needs and the most specific sections demanded by their own and direct users. This means that the design of a customized web page implies that the client will have a unique, outstanding and exclusive page that sets the company apart from the competition. This is why, unlike existing web templates, custom web design can offer a greater scope and advantage at the time of developing the page.

How can this be done?

Web design based on templates or themes

You can use a content management system such as WordPress together with a template, mainly known as a theme, of those that are in the store, either free or paid. The second option is to develop a website without a content manager, with a template that can also be purchased or bought. In this case the template is nothing more than a pre-developed design in HTML, CSS, Javascript, and sometimes even PHP and any other programming language necessary to implement it. However, these files created with this language are modified according to the information to be displayed and uploaded to the server.

The fact of using a template in WordPress provides a facility to manage the content, so that it already has predetermined spaces to put it and how it is the best way to present it. The option of the template without content manager is more used for pages where it is not necessary to adjust anything in short periods of time. In the case that a change is needed, it will be totally necessary to understand how to use the programming languages that have been used or premeditated.

The fact of creating a design through templates gives a great variety to choose the one that best suits for the realization of the web. In addition, the site is done more quickly and at a much lower cost. However, the design is not unique, that is to say, it is possible that there are other companies or other websites that have a theme very similar to your own. Even if you follow your own corporate style, it is not so easy to offer a differential point. In addition, it is possible that, as it has a great abundance of functionalities, the loading speed is not optimal.

Custom web design from scratch

The possible disadvantages that are created with template-based web design are great advantages for custom design created from scratch.

As in the case of templates, you can create your own custom web design from a content management system, such as WordPress, which is usually recommended whenever possible, or from scratch without a content management system or with a custom content management system.

When a website is created with its own content management panel, it is usually a website in which the maintenance will be little or very specific. Therefore, the functions are usually very limited. In addition, it can also be the case that it is a very large and complex web project, so that none of the standard content management systems offer the functions to properly manage the website. That is why, in this case, the development of the design is much more expensive, both economically and temporally speaking.

Working with a tailor-made design system helps to ensure that the features and the design made by the professionals are fully adapted to the target audience and their needs. In addition, as it is a project created from scratch, it is more likely to stand out from the crowd as no one else will have a platform created like it. Therefore, at the SEO level, it is more favorable for search engines if it is innovative. In terms of functions, the number of actions that can be performed is much larger. However, the creation from scratch requires knowledge and experience due to the complexity of the whole process. The loading time, too, will be better and faster than in the case of templates. 

Advantages and disadvantages of custom design

Advantages:

Unique and customized design

A custom design will allow you to have a website that will not look like any other in the market. It will be a unique and customized design, that is to say, few or practically no competitor’s website will have the same or similar model. Therefore, this will help to be able to differentiate from the competition and have an own and particular brand image.

For positioning and brand recognition purposes, if you can develop an excellent and recognizable user experience, the only brand they will be able to relate it to is your own. In addition, a unique and recognizable design brings prestige.

Use of what is really necessary

There is a huge amount of incredible and excellent web templates. However, most of them, by the same necessity of having to provide services to different types of business websites, will have a lot of elements and functions that do not really have to be needed; and what they will do is take up space, make your website heavier and get in the way (both the creator and the visitors). If something does not add real value, then it should not be in the web design.

In short, the fact of having more content does not mean that the website is better. It is necessary to be clear about what you want to put and if it is really essential for the development. Sometimes, putting more content makes the loading time more difficult or creates disinterest towards the users.

Optimal loading speed

In relation to the previous point, the possibility of avoiding a large number of functionalities and tools that are not necessary will allow you to have a much lighter website, which will ultimately result in a much faster loading speed. This is one of the most important features for Google’s algorithm at the moment of positioning a website. When the web is given by a template, it is possible that the loading speed is lower because sometimes it has more functions than necessary. However, the creations are already made so that they do not hinder too noticeably this time.

Designed for SEO strategies

The participation in the creation of the elements of the website will allow the creation of a design in which every detail takes into account SEO optimization from the beginning, going through all the features that this entails. It is not necessary to optimize an existing template, since all web design actions are thought with the strategic objective of SEO. Therefore, performing a web design with templates requires less worries for it to be a favorable optimization. It is useful to create a list of necessary elements in which can serve to remember each relevant element in SEO. In this way, it will help to keep everything in mind when implementing the strategy.

Continuous improvements are created

The creation of a company and the website must be continuously improved and updated according to the changes made in the outside world. Therefore, it is imperative that the design is thought out so that it can be permanently adjusted and improved in each of its areas without having to make a new design. This helps to create an improved strategy for users to have a unique and unparalleled experience.

For example, if you want to create a website about your company and, over time, you need to improve and remodel it to create an e-commerce, the design should be versatile to create this new section without having to create the website from scratch.

Different functionalities

The fact of making a web design from a template, if you want to add new features that give value to the web, you may need to install a plugin. This happens especially when you want to place a new section with content in a space not designed with the idea of performing this function. However, it can add value and uniqueness to the website. On the other hand, with a custom web design you do not have this problem because in development the possibilities are almost unlimited and you can adapt, add and transform what you want when you want on the website.

Technical support

It is important to have a technical support service in case something goes wrong with the design. In case of any doubt or mishap that may arise during the creation, the creators of the design will be able to find a solution. Therefore, it is very important to have a team of professionals behind you to make sure that there are no errors or problems in the development of the activity.

Creating a secure site

Although this is the last advantage, it is one of the most important. A custom-designed website will allow for greater security and protection against cyber threats since it is not open source. In addition, the fact that everything is built based on code and plugins makes the hacking process more difficult.

Disadvantages:

Cost

It involves a higher cost than the templates already designed, because in this case you need a staff and a qualified team to carry it out. In addition, as well as having a template the only thing you do is to provide new content and adjust it to the users, while the work behind a creation from scratch is more laborious and more materials are needed.

Weather

Since everything is done from scratch, this process requires much more time to develop. It is not just taking something and redesigning it, but you have to think about how you want the design, what kind of content you want to expose and in what way, the colors, the typography, the positioning strategy you want to adapt… there are many elements to take into account that must be discussed and studied for the whole to be beneficial.  

In addition, because the creative possibilities can be endless, this can make design development lengthy.

It requires a lot of time for the design and it is possible that the immediacy may make it lose its timeliness.

Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that a custom web design requires a greater investment of time and resources than a template. However, if your goal is to have a solid, robust and bulletproof website, this is the right decision.