Estimates show that there are around 1.7 billion websites across the web.
In other words, if you’re looking at a specific website, chances are that there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of other websites that look similar in their design.
That said, building a website using pre-made templates might not cut it, as setting yourself apart from the crowd will be challenging.
The solution?
Custom web design. This can any online marketing agency confirm you.
So, what is it, what are its advantages, and is it worth it?
Let’s take a look.
What is Custom Web Design?
Custom web design malaysia is the process of creating a website that’s specifically tailored to your business’s needs. With it, you can integrate your company’s interests, goals, and essence into the website itself.
Consequently, custom web design allows for your website to be a direct visual reflection of your business. Thus, when visitors land on one of your web pages, they will feel as your business wants them to, sending across a more powerful message as a result.
In other words, unlike template-based design, custom web design gives you more options to differentiate yourself from the competition and highlight your company’s strengths effectively.
That’s not all, though. Custom web design brings a lot more to the table. So let’s see some other ways your business might benefit from it.
The Advantages of Custom Web Design
1. Improves User Experience
We’ve talked with the experts from a company that offers custom web design in Miami. They said that user experience is the number one reason to leave template-based design aside.
That’s because user experience is one of the factors that determine visitors to convert into buying customers.
Sure, most templates can offer a good user experience, but they have their limitations.
For example, your chosen template might lack navigation features.
Consequently, users may be discouraged from exploring your website, and they might have a hard time reaching specific web pages.
On the other hand, with custom web design, you’ve got no limits in terms of navigation.
That way, you’ll be able to provide a seamless browsing experience and increase conversions.
Furthermore, custom web design allows you to create a website that caters to your target audience, as you can customize web pages based on your audience’s demographics, location, etc.
For instance, if you target younger people, they’ll likely use smartphones to access your website. In that case, creating a business website that’s meant for mobile use is the right approach.
2. Better Performance
Since 53% of mobile users will abandon a web page if it takes longer than three seconds to load, optimizing website performance is crucial.
The thing about website templates is that most of them aim to serve multiple purposes, meaning that they often provide many features and components, some of which you might not need at all.
For example, your chosen template comes with a photo gallery, but your business website doesn’t require it.
Although this might not seem like much, the template will use a lot of code to accommodate that feature, which will negatively impact your website’s performance.
With the custom web design approach, you’re in complete control of the features you want to include. That said, you won’t have to deal with unnecessary files that drag your website’s performance down.
3. Boosts SEO
Website performance and user experience are crucial factors for ranking your website in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). In other words, custom web design will help boost your SEO efforts.
But there’s more to it. More specifically, the custom approach will allow you to build Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) and create rich snippets more effectively.
In short, AMPs are stripped-down versions of your existing web pages that Google indexes and shows to mobile users.
Because AMPs are simplified, they’ll load much faster on mobile devices. Thus Google’s search algorithms will prioritize these pages when ranking them on the SERP.
To create an AMP version of your web page, you’ll have to know a thing or two about coding.
Furthermore, if you use a template with lots of redundant CSS and HTML code, you or your developers will have a hard time choosing the essential parts of a page and putting it into the AMP version.
On the other hand, rich snippets look like the usual Google search results, but they display additional data pulled from the Structured Data within a page’s HTML.
Besides the title tag, meta description, and URL you see in search results, rich snippets also display reviews, a list of company services, and other details.
Consequently, you’ll get to stand out from the rest of the search results, and users will be more likely to click on rich snippets rather than the usual listings.
To get a rich snippet, you’ll have to insert structured data into your web page so that Google understands your content better.
As custom web design gives you full control over your pages’ code, it can be easier for you to insert this data and display rich snippets in the SERP.
4. Better Scalability
If you’re looking to add new features to your website, implement other third-party integrations or bring a higher volume of traffic, template-based designs might give you some headaches.
That’s because they may not be built to handle your requirements. Thus, finding a way to go around their limitations can be challenging and time-consuming.
That said, prevention is key. It’s always better to prevent an issue rather than trying to fix it on the fly.
With the custom web design approach, you’ll create your website from scratch, meaning that you can think of potential problems ahead of time and design the website so it can handle any future issues.
5. Establishes Credibility and Authority
Lastly, a unique website built specifically for your company’s needs, which appeals to your target audience and performs well, will help you establish credibility and authority.
Custom web design allows you to appear more professional in the eyes of potential customers, making it easier to earn their trust.
Should You Choose Custom Web Design?
It depends.
Although it can bring significant advantages over template-based design, the custom approach has its drawbacks.
For starters, you’ll have to build your website from scratch. This process can take months to complete, as it involves a lot of research, planning, and testing.
Whereas with template-based solutions, you could have your website up and running much quicker.
Secondly, custom web design requires a lot of expertise. Consequently, handing the job over to the experts may be the better option. But, this makes the approach more expensive than template websites.
In other words, if you plan something simple, like a blog, or you’re running a start-up and want to have a website put together, choosing pre-made templates might be a good idea.
They are cheap, don’t require that much expertise, and you can have the website running in no time.
However, if budget and time don’t restrain you, custom web design may be a better investment.
It gives you the ability to stand out from the competition, and it’s a surefire way to boost your SEO, enhance user experience and improve website performance, all of which will bring you more profits in the long run.
Author’s bio:
Ellie Northcott is a long-time marketer, currently working as a freelancer in Miami, Florida.
Editor at Digital Strategy One.
She is also a passionate writer and loves to explore new, innovative and digital news.
In her spare time, she is an eco-activist.
Also Read: How to Get a Best Website Designer?