When It’s Time For Custom Designed Website
I’ve already wrote about when it’s the best to have a template based website. Now it’s time to talk about the one that’s custom designed. So when it’s the best solution? Read on to find out.
Imagine that you go to a tailor to get new custom made clothes. You don’t do it everyday, and most often it will mean clothes for special occasion. In that case you will already have a specific type of outfit in mind. And it’s even before you’ll turn to a tailor for help. Tailor’s task is to choose the most suitable material, take all measurements and make the outfit that will be unique, but most importantly will fit you perfectly. The same is with the website.
Custom Design
Custom made website is governed by different rules than the one that’s template based. First of all, you design with specific content in mind, and without it being ready beforehand, you can’t really design anything.
Website content consist of:
- Text materials
- Videos
- Photograps
- Graphic materials (logo, icons, illustrations, etc)
Equally important is the key information relating to your business:
- In which direction is the company being developed
- Who is the target audience
- What is the purpose of the website
- How do you attract new customers
- What your customers are looking for
- What value you can provide for your customers
Many of us live in the belief that people have the time to admire someone’s website, and read the every word on it. I swear, the only people that do that are either your closest loved ones or your competition. The latter, track and take note of every mistake and every good solution. While those, for which this website was made in the first place, just scan it quickly looking for specific information. If your customer won’t find it within first 30 seconds, there’s a good chance that they will look elsewhere. Does this mean that the carefully prepared design is redundant? No, good design is invisible. Great design makes your customer reach desired information quick and without thinking.
But before you even start work on a custom design, you will need to set up your goals first and then prepare the content.
Long-Term Profit
Custom design makes sense when you know exactly what your goals are. Custom design is all about the best solutions to specific problems. If you know what they are you can address them, and fix them. It will of course take more time and effort but it will pay off, in the long run.
One thing to keep in mind. Even the best designed website won’t last forever. Things change very quickly when it comes to the internet. But well designed website will last longer and will give you opportunities to expand and adapt over time.
In contrast to template based website, custom design start with the blank page. That means we are not limited by existing frames and we can look for new interesting ways to reach your goals. Which ultimately will return your initial investment, and then start making you money.
Custom designed website raises brand value
Each of us wants to have something unique. Something that distinguishes us from the competition. Something that people will admire and remember. Having a unique website, which in addition is useful, definitely adds value to the company. But remember that looks is not everything. Equally important is the effectiveness of your website. Are your potential customers finding valuable information on your website? Is it easy to contact you? Is your product well presented? These are the important parts.
So when you should invest in custom design?
- When you defined what you want to put on our website
- When you know who is your target audience and what they are looking for
- When you defined your goals
- When you already have an experience with personal or company websites
Individual website design is not a piece of cake
Custom designed website takes a lot more time to complete than the one that’s based on a template. Depending on how advanced solutions will be, the time necessary to build it can vary from few weeks to several months. Therefore it’s crucial to calculate the investment with the long term profits. Sometimes it makes more sense to start with something simpler and build things up and expand over time.