The benefits of custom website development vs. using templates
Businesses have been exploring different options to build a robust website or revamp an existing website to match the pace of the changing digital environment. As “customization” becomes prevalent in the digital landscape, global businesses are getting inclined toward custom web development.
On the other hand, template-based websites have also emerged as a smart, cost-effective, and instant option to have a digital presence. They give you seamless possibilities to explore ample pre-build site compositions and choose one that best matches your digital requirements. So, whether you hire website developers or employ your in-house team to get started with your web development project, let’s first evaluate the benefits of custom and template-based websites so that you can choose the best way to get a website developed.
Table of contents
Custom vs. template-based web development
Factors affecting the decision on the type of web development
- Budget
- Time
- Scalability
- Types of functionalities
- Security
- Maintenance and updates
Benefits of opting for a custom website over a template-based one
- Uniqueness
- Performance & speed
- Security
- Responsiveness
- Ease of use
Deciding between custom development and template-based sites
Endnote
Custom vs. template-based web development
Choosing wisely between custom and template-based web development is a crucial step that defines and determines the success of a business’s online presence.
Template-based websites are built upon pre-designed layouts; businesses just need to drag-and-drop elements and place content to create a well-designed website. This saves them time and money that would have been otherwise invested in creating a website from scratch. However, in this approach, web design and elements like features & functionalities can be easily customized later to depict your brand’s persona in the best light.
On the other hand, in custom web development, the website built is specifically tailored to your brand’s products or services, adding to its uniqueness. The designs, functionalities, navigation, and the entire site architecture are created strategically considering your target audience. A custom website gives you an edge over your competitors and helps you achieve your business goals and objectives while building robust brand value.
Let’s now clearly understand the feature-based differences between custom web development and the use of templates for website development.
| Aspect | Custom web development | Template-based web development |
| Customization | Provides more customization opportunities and is best for developing web solutions tailored to your specific needs | Limited customization and constraints to pre-design website templates |
| Development time | It is a time-consuming process as the development starts from scratch | Faster development using existing templates |
| Design flexibility | Provides complete design freedom and enables developers to create unique site designs | Limited design flexibility as there are predefined layouts |
| Development cost | Incurs larger cost | Lower initial costs, as templates are often affordable or free |
| Scalability | Custom sites are highly scalable and can be adapted to the growing needs | Templates come with limited features that are fixed and hard to scale |
| Uniqueness | It lets developers create a distinctive and original online presence | A template can be associated with more than one website creating the possibility of similar designs |
| Required development skills | It requires proper technical expertise or hiring skilled web developers | With basic web development skills, it is possible to create a site using templates |
| Maintenance and updates | Requires ongoing maintenance and updates, which can be costly | Easier maintenance with template updates issued by the provider |
| Data protection | Custom development offers the flexibility to implement robust data protection and encryption measures | Template-based solutions may not offer the same level of data protection |
| Third-party dependencies | It allows for careful selection of third-party libraries and tools with security in mind | Template-based development may rely on predefined third-party components, which may introduce security risks |
| Project scope changes | More adaptable to changes in project scope and requirements. | May face challenges accommodating significant scope changes due to template constraints |
| Code quality | Often results in higher-quality, optimized code | Code quality may vary; some templates may have suboptimal code |
It’s important to choose the approach that best aligns with your project’s goals, budget, and timeline. After this quick distinction between custom development and template-based sites, let’s now move toward a factor-based comparison between both approaches.
Factors affecting the decision on the type of web development
The biggest dilemma for businesses is how to decide whether they need a custom website or a template-based website. Here are some critical factors that influence the decision on the type of website required.
Budget
Custom web development typically requires a higher upfront investment. This is because it involves building the website from scratch, which necessitates more time and specialized skills. So, if you have an extensive budget, custom web development is certainly the best option for you wherein each aspect of web development is tailored to your unique requirements.
The use of templates is often cost-effective in terms of website development. If you have a limited budget, a template-based website is the best option to choose as it can be easily built within $ 6000 with an upfront cost of $ 1000 per annum.
Time
Custom web development projects generally take longer to complete. The average time taken for website developers to build a custom website is four to five months. This is because the website is built from the ground up, including design, functionality, and coding.
Conversely, template-based development is often much quicker, as it leverages pre-designed layouts and functionalities. A template-based website (6-8 page template) can be created in just 60-100 hours. This is advantageous for projects with tight deadlines.
Scalability
Custom websites are the best option for a growing business as such websites can easily handle huge traffic without affecting the speed and performance. Web developers focus on key metrics like page load time, server response time, uptime, throughput, and various other things to ensure the high speed and scalability of custom websites.
On the other hand, template-based websites are not suitable from a scalability point of view as these websites depend on the capabilities of pre-built templates, which are often limited.
Types of functionalities
A custom website supports extensive functionalities allowing businesses to keep their users engaged. Template-based websites need to be more adaptive to accommodate extensive back-end requirements when compared to custom websites.
Security
Custom web development allows developers to implement security measures like robust user authentication, data encryption, and access controls. Also, with custom development, developers have complete control over their code, which lets them write high-quality and optimized code less prone to security vulnerabilities. This is particularly important for projects in highly regulated industries like healthcare or finance.
On the other hand, templates may have vulnerabilities that are discovered and exploited more widely, as they are used by multiple websites. This can make template-based websites major targets for attackers.
Maintenance and updates
In custom web development, you have full control over the codebase. This means you can proactively address issues and perform routine maintenance tasks. It lets you tailor updates to your specific needs. Also, you can prioritize updates that align with your business objectives,
Template-based websites often rely on templates provided by a third party. These templates may receive regular updates, including bug fixes, security patches, and feature enhancements. While template updates can provide general improvements, they may not address specific customization or feature requirements. This can limit your ability to tailor updates to your exact needs.
Benefits of opting for a custom website over a template-based one
Uniqueness
When it comes to uniqueness, custom websites outperform template websites as these websites are built as per the client’s specifications. There are no limitations regarding graphic designs, navigational aspects, or structural elements of the site. Website developers do their best to offer you a unique look and feel via custom websites that perfectly reflect your brand’s persona.
A template-based website may not offer such uniqueness and feel as the most prominent templates are the ones that have been downloaded thousands of times by various other businesses. Additionally, web designers also struggle with the availability of a few parameters of a template like limited icons or other serious issues like incorporating desired functionalities.
Performance & speed
A custom website is built using streamlined codes offering high speed and better performance. A template website can contain clunky themes and plugins making them bloated and load slower than custom websites.
Additionally, custom websites are built keeping in mind the target audience, and hence, the navigational aspect is also well defined, helping them reach desired results faster and more conveniently.
Although a template website is an easier option for users to get started and find what they want. The problem arises when a user lands on these sites via a referral link or search engine result, the site may get lost in the results as these websites are not optimized for personalized search.
Security
Choosing to develop a bespoke website with a tailor-made CMS is a much more secure option than a template website. Custom websites are built with secure and clear codes that are not easily accessible to hackers. On the other hand, the codes of freely available template websites are more vulnerable as hackers just need to find a single piece of malicious code to hack hundreds of websites.
Website developers use unique codes for custom web development, whereas template websites contain similar plugins that are used across a wide range of websites.
Responsiveness
Custom websites offer streamlined solutions including responsive designs that are optimized for both mobiles and desktops. Website developers in India build custom websites keeping in mind several aspects including target audience, site objectives, number of features, and SEO. Hence, these websites undoubtedly offer seamless user experience across a wide range of devices.
On the other hand, not all templates are optimized for high speed and optimal performance and they don’t allow responsive designs as compared to custom websites. Additionally, most developers who build these templates do not regularly update them to ensure adaptability to the changes. Hence, you must consider aspects like SEO-friendliness, load time, the organization’s goal, and the customization capabilities of a template before choosing one for your web development project.
Ease of use
A well-strategized custom web development process ensures interactivity and offers smooth navigation adding to users’ convenience. On the other hand, template websites use standard menu structures that are more prevalent in the market, making them easy to use. What sets a custom website apart from a template website is customized design, layout, and navigation, and developers ensure that the result matches users’ expectations.
Pre-built templates also offer customization options for developers but there is a limited scope for this in template-based websites. The expertise and knowledge of the development team also play a critical role in ensuring ease of use in template-based websites.
Deciding between custom development and template-based sites
Despite the several benefits of custom website development, template-based sites are quicker to launch and more cost-effective. These are the best for businesses looking forward to launching a feature-rich website instantly. Also, the code reusability in pre-built templates provides immense convenience to web developers to quickly insert content and desired functionalities into template websites. Hence, such websites are a quick way to start with a digital presence and attract visitors.
On the contrary, custom websites require immense time, effort, and money to be launched. When you hire web developers in India, they work on each requirement of the client and code for their website accordingly. As these websites are developed from scratch, aspects like planning, designing, development, and testing take time to be implemented.
So, if you have time and budget constraints, template-based sites are a practical choice. Otherwise, for long-term benefits, custom development is recommended.
Endnote
A custom website best reflects your brand’s image and is optimized for speed and performance. Moreover, these websites are built specifically to overcome hurdles and challenges faced by businesses. Although template websites are swift and easy to use, they can’t match the performance of a custom website.
Hence, we can conclude that a custom website is ideal for all types of businesses if they invest the required time and money, whereas a template-based website is suitable for startups and small businesses looking for an ordinary digital presence.
