Template web design vs. web design from scratch…is there really a debate on which one is better? It’s only natural that custom web design from scratch is the winner—when done by a true design pro and within your available budget, that is.
Design From Scratch Is More Expensive
Sometimes, doing a complete from scratch web design can be prohibitively expensive on a micro startup kind of budget. There’s little doubt about this. Custom websites, built from the ground up from scratch, are very time-consuming and very demanding of professional expertise and knowledge resources. While true from-scratch designs can be affordable for smaller sites, when you get into large dynamic websites, there is just a lot of code and a lot of time and brainpower that must go into putting it all together block by block.
Compromise Somewhere In The Middle
Fortunately, there are efficiencies that your web development professional can take. For example, using a pro-grade framework CMS (content management system) or open-source software like WordPress can save a bundle on back-end development.
In other words, it’s possible to walk the line right down the middle between “template” and “from scratch” by using pre-built software for the behind the scenes functionality of a website. By doing this, and designing a completely custom front-end (the part that the visitors will actually see), you can really achieve the best of both worlds within a reasonable budget.
Templates Are Cheap
Using a pre-built design template and just filling in the blanks with your own content—the least expensive web design option—has its pros and cons too. Pros are simple…it’s quick and it’s cheap. But the cons are more plentiful, especially for those that really value their image and brand as a professional organization or business.
The downfalls to using an off-the-shelf design template include the fact that it’s just not your own design. Sure, you can customize it a little bit to be closer to original, but to professionals and average web visitors alike, most template-based websites just have that unmistakable generic look. In other words, they just look like a template…something’s not quite right about them and they just seem a little bit off.
The Bottom Line?
1. The best web designs are built by experienced web designers from scratch. They’re unique and fully customized to your very own specific goals. It’s an investment, but one that definitely has its benefits for sure. And for many small businesses and organizations, design from scratch is actually surprisingly affordable.
2. It’s not always a bad idea to seek compromise and use a professional grade framework or CMS system to bring some degree of efficiency to the web development process. This is for the backend only though—going this route would still need to embrace fully custom front end design.
3. Templates are an option, but should be a last resort for those with the very tightest budget. Usually having some kind of web presence is better than having no website at all—but it’s important to know that if a site is very badly done and just looks cheap or shoddy in any way, it’s going to damage your reputation. Use templates only with extreme caution.
Until Next Time.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.
