When you are looking for a new website, you have 2 main options. You can go with a template web design, which is generally purchased from a marketplace, or you can go with a custom-design website, which is produced uniquely for each client and each project. 

Most people think that a custom website design is going to be more expensive, but that is not always the case. Depending on what the template provides out of the box and what you require with features and functionality for your website, a custom design may be the less expensive option. 

Let's take a look at some of the reasons why you should choose a custom website design over templates.

Ultimate control over layout and aesthetics

A custom website design is a perfect platform for businesses that want complete control over their online presence. By working with our web designer businesses can create a user-friendly design that reflects their brand and meets their specific needs. A custom web design also offers greater flexibility when it comes to the interface layout and aesthetics. 

Our discovery and design process looks at the specific problems your audience has and how you solve them better than your competitors, our web designers develop a user journey for every page to qualify visitors and deliver conversions.

A custom professional website can be designed to work seamlessly with other marketing initiatives, such as social media campaigns and email marketing efforts. This is especially important for any business with an online store. 

We design a website for high performance

We design a website to be a high-performing resource that includes fast page loading speed. HTML, javascript, and CSS play an important role in website performance.

HTML is the foundation of all web pages. It defines the structure of a web page and how it will be displayed in a web browser. 
Javascript is a programming language that helps to make web pages interactive. It can be used to create drop-down menus, form validation, and animation.

CSS is a style sheet language that helps to control the look and feel of a web page. It can be used to set fonts, colors, and layout. 

By producing only the code that the website pages require to run, our website designer can enhance the time to render the website to the user's browser is very fast. This is of particular advantage if you service clients in non-metropolitan regions and website visitors who are not in Australia.

By contrast, a template usually suffers from 'code-bloat', the flexible nature of using template page builders, for instance, comes at a significant technical debt to the performance of the website. This can be specially compounded for websites with many pages such as an online store. Poor loading speeds can turn away new visitors, potential customers, and important sales.
And not only is speed affected, but security is also compromised with added layers of vulnerability, and the long-term viability is usually unknown as the code has to remain compatible with all the other plug-in functions that are usually incorporated into a template website build.

Hand coding achieves truly optimal results

Hand coding a custom website may seem like a lot of work, but it's often the best way to achieve the desired functionality. A highly trained professional web developer will have the skills and experience necessary to create a custom solution that meets your specific needs.

In addition and as discussed earlier in this article, hand-coding generally results in cleaner, more efficient code than would be possible with a drag-and-drop website builder or pre-built template. As a result, hand-coding is often the best option when you need comprehensive custom website functionality. 

The design work becomes your intellectual property.

It may come as a shock that purchasing and using a pre-built template does not come with the design copyright, which means you do not own it. The template comes with a license which allows you the use of the design for the singular install of your website.

It may seem a little trivial however in cases where brands explode and their companies grow to be huge businesses, this can present legal issues in establishing IP rights, especially when moving into an IPO phase or the sale of the business.
A custom-designed website will become a fully owned asset of your company with no incumbent copyright issues in the future. This can be very important for websites that have created unique and specific user journeys.

You can still use the CMS you love.

A custom-designed website can still use popular CMS platforms like WordPress without affecting performance. This is achieved by experienced developers who understand how to utilise the platform whilst keeping the load times and server resource usage low.

Once the website is completed, it can be self-managed by the business owner without any technical knowledge being required. For smaller businesses, this can save a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on website maintenance costs.
Custom features and functionality become a whole lot easier to design and build as the developer is not attempting to change a template design- that really isn't meant for change! In WordPress for instance custom fields that have full editor capabilities are called Advanced Custom Post Types and these are built as the result of our discovery process where our client has identified an area of the page they would like to update regularly. A great example of this would be tour itineraries for travel businesses.

Many familiar services and features will remain the same as you are already familiar with. This almost hybrid technology solution retains resources that are commonly found without creating significant technical debt. The native blogging tools be made available, and popular website tools for search engines such as SEO Yoast can still be utilised. We aim to create a unique professional look and feel without adding elements of complexity to your business operations.

Fully responsive mobile design

In 2022 it is a non-negotiable for a website design to not be mobile responsive. A mobile website design is the best way to ensure your website looks great and functions properly on all devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones.

At BZ, all new website or online store projects are designed from the ground up with a mobile devices in mind, so you can be sure that all elements will work together seamlessly on all screen sizes. The whole process includes stringent QA ensuring elements such as engaging videos and professional images all render perfectly across any device.

In addition, the BZ web design team create a mobile website design mock-up at the design stage for approval, so that you can be confident that your website will look great on all devices.

A mobile-friendly website is the best way to ensure that all traffic to your have a positive experience on your site regardless of how they access it.

So... my print designer can't design websites, right?

A truer word may have never been spoken. A web designer has a completely different skill set than that someone in graphic design. Here is a little rundown.

Graphic designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate an idea that inspires, informs, and captivates consumers. They develop the overall layout and production design for various applications such as advertisements, brochures, magazines, and corporate reports. Many graphic designers also specialise in logo and brand development.

Graphic designers have a wide range of skills and abilities. However, not all of them have the same skills and abilities. Designing websites is a profession that requires a different set of skills, and in general, utilises a completely different set of tools. A print graphic designer does not have the same specialized skills required for web design.

A web designer is in the business of designing websites and digital platforms. He or she creates the look, feel, and layout of a website taking into consideration the business goal and objectives, conversion optimisations, and overall user journey and how the pages all connect. Additionally, a web designer understands the implications of mobile and how a design needs to be created to work flawlessly across all devices.

A web design professional may also code the front end of the website. So while a print graphic designer may be able to design a beautiful website layout, he or she will not be able to code it properly without the help of a web designer.

Conclusion

If you want more control over the final product, choosing a custom design is likely the better option for you. With a custom design, you can work with a web design professional to get exactly the look and feel that you want for your site. Importantly you will almost certainly attract more traffic, convert more visitors into customers and brand advocates.

A custom website design will be is far superior to a template design and in many ways more effective also. You'll be able to ensure that your site looks great and functions optimally on all devices.

If you have a specific idea about how you want the site to look or function you can discuss how to work that into the overall web design.

So, if you're looking to get a new website designed, be sure to hire a web design agency that specialises also in the technical and software field. They will generally have in-house / on-staff developers that work directly with the design team on producing the platform. This is certainly a good indicator they have the capabilites required.