Custom Web Design Vs. Templates What You Need To Know

Custom Web Design vs. Templates: What You Need To Know

by with No Comment Web Design

Custom web design or template? This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get. And for good reasons.

For starters, the design you choose can either make or break visitors’ experience, which ultimately affects your conversion rate.

Even more confusing, both options offer certain pros and cons that make it difficult to choose one over the other. Which brings us back to the question – which is the best web design option?

Well, while there is no one answer that fits everyone’s unique needs, check out these 7 important factors:

Uniqueness

Style and aesthetics vary with people. Do you want a design that is specific to your website or a general template that can be found on any other website? If a unique custom-made design is to your taste, we advise you to stick with creating your web design from the ground up because no matter how much you tweak a general web template, it can never be as unique as a custom-made design. But if you are okay with a quick ready-to-use design, you should totally go for a template. Both options are okay depending on the type of business and what you need. For a professional website, you definitely want to look towards custom-made ones. But a template is okay for a personal site.

Scalability

In terms of scalability, rest assured the best web design option are custom-made websites. If you need a website that is easy to manage, fits into your unique business model, and allows you to add as many features as your future needs demand, you should absolutely choose a custom-made website. The scalability is second to none. But a web template will be fine if you are okay with limited features and scalability. Just don’t get your expectations high and you will be fine.

Time

How soon do you need your website to be up and running? A day? A week? A month? Every project comes with a time frame. If time is your focus, you should consider templates. Truth is, a custom web design requires a lot of work to achieve. You do not expect that to be as fast as ready-to-use templates. The bright side is that the duration of a custom design depends on the designer. Two designers working on the same project may finish at different times. So, make sure to discuss with your designer from the start. Don’t be afraid to tell them your expectations and see if they can deliver at the stated time. If your time is reasonable, you will easily find a designer that can work with you. Just don’t expect it in a day or two.

SEO

Search engine optimisation is a vital part of every website today. Your on-page SEO is just as important as your off-page SEO. Therefore, if you care about attracting traffic to your website, you should totally consider having a custom-made web design by an expert. As professionals, they know what your website needs to boost its SEO. The complete search engine optimisation comes with the pricing, hence you are fully covered. Yes, you don’t need to pay separately for the expert to fix your SEO. Everything is covered! Templates, on the other hand, will give you little or no room for SEO tweaks. This is another major reason why templates are best for personal websites where traffic isn’t the primary focus.

Support

In terms of support, it is fair to say either of them can be the best web design option because they both have some edge. On the one hand, hiring an expert means enjoying close mentoring and support for as long as possible. On the other hand, you can get help, even though limited, from template providers. You also have YouTube videos for self-help. Basically, you will get help from both options but if real-time support is what you want, you will do better with an expert on your team.

Expertise

How tech-savvy are you? Some people are very good with tech. They can easily manipulate their way through web design with little or no guidance. If this sounds like you, then you can choose to either create your custom web design from scratch or build on a template. If you are not so tech-savvy, you could also manage to use a template. Web templates are typically easier to design than working from the ground up. However, if you know nothing about web design, your safe bet is to hire a pro, else you risk wasting resources.

Cost

When considering cost, we can all agree that template designs win without a doubt. For as low as £100 or less, you can get any template you want. This makes it a favourable option for people on a tight budget. It is also the reason templates are common among small businesses and personal websites. That said, keep in mind that despite the high cost of custom designs, they offer certain perks that you cannot get from templates. So as you weigh the cost factor, be sure to weigh other factors too. You need to understand which option suits your needs more before considering the cost.

Best Web Design Option: The verdict!

Having considered all 7 factors, you can see why no one can tell you the best web design option for your needs. Our advice to you is to carefully consider all factors and see which option provides the best benefits for you. Still in doubt? Don’t hesitate to contact FOME for help. 

11 Popular Web Design Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid

11 Popular Web Design Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid

by with No Comment Web Design

Want some expert advice? Beware of these web design mistakes!

Websites are invaluable to every business of the 21st century. These mistakes can destroy your marketing effort.

Now that you are ready to create your official business website, you have to choose between hiring a web designer or creating the website on your own. Either option is fine, provided the person handling the task knows the do’s and don’ts.

A lot goes into creating a professional website. It is so much more than a random template from the web. In case you don’t know it yet, you are trying to sell to a tech-savvy generation; which can easily tell apart a poorly designed website and a professional website. That means the nature of your website can either invite visitors in and increase your conversion rate or chase visitors away and destroy your bottom line.

Looking back at all the beginner mistakes we have corrected so far, my team and I decided to compile this article to help you know 11 Popular Web Design Mistakes Businesses You Should Avoid.

Clumsy and Cluttered

Anyone can quickly differentiate between a well-built website and one built by an amateur. How? Well, time has shown that most amateur sites are clumsy and clustered. An amateur would struggle to create a website that is user-intuitive and well arranged. A professional, on the other hand, understands the hierarchical trajectory of the information and just the right amount of information to put out there.

As you take on this DIY project, be sure to use the right structure and easy navigation. Create the site with the users in mind.

Poor image and multimedia quality

This sits at the top of modern-day web design mistakes because everyone thinks a smartphone is all you need. While it is common knowledge that image and multimedia are part of SEO best practices today, only a few marketers understand how to tweak this in their favour. Besides the alt text and SEO jargon, smart marketers understand that a photo can be either inviting or discouraging. The essence of having images is to catch attention, but that goal will be ultimately defeated if the image is of poor quality or totally irrelevant.

A photo that looks perfect on your phone will come out blurry when stretched across a wider screen. Therefore, if you are looking to stand out, you should invest in a good camera or get good stock images from the web. Don’t settle for just anything!

Not Mobile Compatible

Is your website designed for mobile phones? Yes, it is not enough to have a perfect desktop version. Part of the modern-day SEO best practices involves optimising your website for mobile phones. This is no surprise, though, because people have moved on from the desktop age. Today, the majority of organic traffic comes from mobile users. Therefore, you will need to make your website compatible with mobile phones so mobile users can enjoy the same experience as desktop users. This is key if you are looking to leverage this gold mine.

Adverts and pop-ups at the wrong time

True, your website is the best place to strengthen your adverts. Notwithstanding, it must be done perfectly or else it could discourage visitors. As part of the information hierarchy, we advise you to let your visitors get a warm welcome to your site before throwing ads at them.

Multiple Pop-ups

The only thing worse than getting pop-ups at the wrong time is battling with multiple pop-ups. Yet, lots of websites fall into such web design mistakes. Imagine being bombarded with multiple pop-ups as you open a web page. That is enough to discourage your visitors. Most visitors will leave immediately and others may not make it to the end of the page or the next page.

Pop-ups are great advertising tricks, however, they must be deployed properly to meet the goal. Otherwise, this advertising trick might ruin your entire marketing effort. More importantly, it is best to stick with a single pop-up per page. This is best scheduled after visitors have spent some time on your page, not immediately after they open your page.

Poor Navigation

One of the woes of a poorly designed website is poor navigation. When visitors come to your website, they expect to see an aesthetically pleasing and user-intuitive site. Nobody has the time for a complex site. If I need a manual to navigate your website, then I want no part in it.

The rule of thumb here is to go after a minimalist touch. As you explore designs, endeavour to keep the navigation as simple as can be. Your menu should be very clear for everyone to see. Additionally, the links to other pages must be clearly named and placed so visitors understand where to go without any hassle.

Slow page load

How would you deal with a slow page? Close it! That’s the answer of 9 in 10 people. A slow page will chase people off your website irrespective of the relevance of the information or the uniqueness of your product.

Long-form fields

Do you have web forms on your website? Marketers use forms for different reasons. It could be to aid communication, collect data, or facilitate booking/registration. This is very important in some industries. But it could also hamper your marketing effort if not done properly. For example, you may not mind filling out a form but that position could quickly change if the form fields are long. This is not an examination. Best keep your web forms short. Go straight to the point and make it as easy as possible.

Confusing fonts

Confusing fonts is one of the most common web design mistakes because people don’t even realise it is a mistake. It is okay to play around with palettes, images, and the likes. However, it is off-putting to use too many fonts on your website. As a professional site, people expect to see some sort of uniformity and professionalism, not a sketchy board. Whatever you do, please keep your fonts to a maximum of three. Also, note that the three fonts ought to be similar in weight. Don’t go from Calibri to Comic Sans MS.

Non-clickable Phone Numbers

Contact information is an essential part of every website, irrespective of the industry. Besides your physical address and email address, your phone number is the next most important detail in your contact information. These details foster credibility and trust. Your visitors want to know that they can easily reach you should they encounter an issue.

While having your phone number helps your website, it ought to be clickable especially for mobile users. Everyone is looking for the easiest route out. It is more convenient for mobile users to click on your phone number and call right away than write it out and then input it into their phone book.

Broken/Unclear Links

Links are used to join one page of your website to another. Visitors on a particular page can easily navigate to another page of choice by simply clicking on the right link. This enables ease of navigation and promotes a good user experience. To achieve these goals, you must ensure that the links are clearly named and working properly. Your visitors should easily tell where each link leads from the name.

Bonus Tip! Not optimised for SEO

Templates have made it super easy for anyone to create a website. However, a business website is very different from a personal website. It must be SEO-optimised to reach a wider audience. SEO is the fuel that drives content far and wide. Needless to say that poor SEO means little or no distance covered. Consequently, we strongly advise marketers to pay close attention to their website SEO – both front-end and back-end. SEO cuts across everything from the alt characters in the images and multimedia content to the web contents, responsiveness, domain name, and many more.

Expectedly, amateurs jump right into these web design mistakes all the time. Fortunately, you can completely avoid them with the aforementioned tips. Good luck!