Here at Sites n Stores, we’re passionate about Custom Designed Websites. Why? Well, quite simply, they trump template based websites…every. Single. Time.
While templates can indeed be appealing for the Small Business Owner looking to establish a website on the cheap, they can ultimately damage your digital image by making you look unprofessional, generic and, well, boring.
Instead, you want a website that allows your business’s uniqueness to shine through, and Custom Design can provide you with exactly that. Custom Design allows you to establish a website that perfectly represents your business, appeals to your target market, helps you stand out against your competition and increases your rankings in Search Engines.
If you’re still on the fence about whether you should opt for a Custom Designed business website, or a template, then read on. Here are 6 conclusive reasons why Custom Design will, without a doubt, serve your business most effectively.
1. Helps You Stand Out Online
Any Small Business Owner knows that Competition in the Online Digital World is fierce. This makes standing out from your competitors absolutely crucial when it comes to giving your business the best chance of success.
One of the very best ways in which to set yourself apart from other business’s is to have a completely unique, Custom Website that is tailored specifically to your business. This will give your site visitors a completely individual experience, making them engage fully with you and your brand and more likely to keep your business at the front of their mind.
Although templates can appear to be uniquely designed, the fact is they’re available to, and used by, literally millions of other Small Business Owners. The problem with this is, that these simply become a faceless mass with no unique selling point or original qualities that set them apart. They will soon be forgotten by potential customers trawling the web, as they look exactly the same as everyone else popping up in Search Engine results.
2. Strengthens Your Brand
Almost nothing helps to strengthen your brand and develop your business’s personality quite like a Customised Website.
Custom Web design allows you to tailor your website to suite your business’s exact needs and specifications. This gives you the creative license to choose the layout, images, colours, fonts, graphics and content, all of which will serve to build the character and voice of your business. Whether you want to appear edgy and modern, professional and corporate or fun and quirky, Custom Design is the best way to reflect and emphasises your unique brand.
Ultimately, this means that you’ll be better positioned to appeal to your target market, as you can tailor your site to their interests and aesthetic preferences. It also means that as soon as a prospect visits your website, they’ll have a clear idea of ‘who your business is’, helping to build trust and form a relationship.
Alternatively, templates can have the complete opposite effect. By using a completely generic layout, you’re essentially killing any chance you had of establishing an engaging, likable and memorable brand. Templates can seriously damage your digital image, by confusing your brand with everyone else’s.
3. Humanises Your Business
When establishing strong customer relationships, humanising your business is key. People connect with people, so it’s important to portray yourself as just that, instead of a faceless robot. And, you guessed, Custom Design is the best way to achieve this.
Custom Design allows you to add certain elements into your website which can increase your overall ‘human-side’, making you more appealing to prospects. You can build you entire site based around your customer’s experience and needs, making you appear the perfect online host who cares about their clients’ individual requirements.
Templates, on the other hand, offer very little in the way of increasing the human element of your business. Rather than a whole suite of customisable features that you can pick and choose based on what most appeals to your audience, you’re given a very standard set of options. This means that instead of being able to utilise creativity and helpful tools that create a unique experience, you’ll be stuck with a very mechanical, impersonal website.
4. Scalability and Adaptability
Every business has the potential to grow, and this means your website should be given exactly the same opportunity.
Unfortunately, template based websites don’t accommodate this kind of expansion, meaning that as your business expands, your website can’t change to reflect this growth. Perhaps you want to re-brand, change your graphics or offer an entirely new range of products – well, unfortunately, a template design will be of little use to you.
Custom Design allows your website to grow alongside your business, meaning your products and services are always represented to the best of their ability. This ensures that your site visitors are completely aware of all you have to offer as a business, and allows them to follow your success as a Small Business.
This also means that you, the ambitious Small Business Owner won’t face any limitations when it comes to setting your sights high when it comes to growing and expanding your business. The sky literally is the limit, and a Custom Website can take you to these new heights.
5. Increases Your Professional Credibility
While template based websites tend to look lazy and suggest a level of unprofessionalism, Custom Design helps to boost your image as an authority in your field.
Remember, perception is everything online and a professionally created Custom Website will give you the best chance of appearing as an industry leader. Not only will your site have the look and feel of a professional website, but you will be able to integrate tools and features your customers may require, such as a booking system, forum or impressive photo gallery. All of this will increase the trust your audience has in your ability to provide them with excellent products and services, making you their number one choice.
Template based websites do none of this. As well as making you look generic and boring, they also hint at poor turnover and profit, as it’s assumed they can’t afford a professional website.
That’s not to say that all Custom Websites are unaffordable or out-of-reach for the Small Business Owner, but this is the perception online. It just takes a little bit of research to find a web developer who fits your requirements. Here at Sites n Stores, we pride ourselves of offering extremely cost-effective options that suite the budget of any business.
6. Be Search Engine Friendly
Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, often causes business owners a lot of unnecessary confusion, worry and stress. But Custom Design can eliminate this altogether. The right Web Developer will be able to create a site that ranks well in Search Engines, such as Google, by incorporating effective keywords and meta-data that aid Search Engines in recognising your site as genuine, informative and useful. This will typically see your website move up the search rankings, making your business become more ‘findable’ for potential clients searching for your products and services.
Most templates are simply designed to offer a pretty exterior with, unfortunately, not much going on internally. In other words, they are not necessarily geared towards SEO, meaning you could be missing out on this extremely powerful Digital Marketing Tool altogether. This would pose a serious detriment to your business. If you can’t be found by prospects, you have little chance of receiving the traffic you need to drive sales.
By now you should have got the message that Custom Design really and truly is superior to template based websites in every way. While templates serve to deplete your business, detracting from your overall brand image and limiting your expansion, Custom Design gives your business the best chance to flourish and grow in the way it deserves!