Now that you have decided that it’s time to take your business to the next level by creating a new website or maybe even your first website, whats next? Creating your new website is something that requires a lot of planning and decision-making. One of the main decisions you will make is to decide whether you want to create your business a custom web design or use a ready-built platform such as WordPress. A lot of companies try WordPress as it allows them to create a new website without hiring a website designer or writing any code. But is this the best decision? Well, in this article, we shall go through the pros and cons of creating a custom website vs. WordPress.
Custom Web Design
Custom built websites are mainly built when the owner of the site wants specific modifications that WordPress cannot provide. Many times, custom built websites are developed for large complex sites with unique functionalities. To develop this type of website, you need to find a web designer that specialises in creating custom built websites. The web design company will use a programming language and framework to create the website, and some of the languages they may use include PHP, ASP, Python, Laravel, JavaScript, and Ruby.
Pros
By developing a custom website, it will allow you to make it as unique as possible while integrating some unique functionality that may not be possible when you use WordPress.
- A custom built website is more search engine friendly than a WordPress website. This means that it can rank higher in search engines than the one built with templates using a WordPress CMS. This is very important for any business that wants to gain leads and increase conversions on the internet.
- A custom built website will incorporate your company’s branding by use of design that is unique to your company. This makes your business stand out from the crowd.
- A custom built site is able to grow with the business. This means that if you make any changes to your business in the future, you can always contact the company that designed it for you to redesign the website.
- A custom built website has more support than a website built from ready-made templates. This is because it was built by a professional web designer who specialises in all types of websites so if any bug or problem occurs, it can always be fixed by the original developer.
Cons
Websites built from scratch are typically more expensive than those built from WordPress. This is because they are customised according to your business needs and require professional expertise. The process of creating a customised website takes a lot more time than creating it using WordPress. Any changes to the site may take time. You will have to rely on your developers time and availability.
WordPress
WordPress is a free website building tool which was originally designed to create blogs. Over the years, the tool has evolved and become a more complex platform for building websites. One of the main reasons why people choose this platform to create their websites is that it needs just basic web knowledge. You do not need to be a pro in writing codes and programming languages or contacting a web design agency to create a website. In fact, about 15% of all websites today have been developed by the use of WordPress, and the number continues to rise. The following are some pros and cons of this tool to help you make a decision.
Pros
Creating a website by the use of WordPress takes a shorter time compared to building it from scratch. This is because the CMS has already been developed and so you will have time to concentrate on content and design. WordPress has a library of ready-made themes. Instead of struggling to create your own theme, you can just pick one from the library and change your website’s look instantly.
WordPress provides a secure platform to build your site. This is because it’s a large community of developers that work together to detect any security loops or bugs in the system then provide a security patch. WordPress constantly rolls out updates which you can always download and install making your website more secure. With WordPress, you can take care of search engine ranking with the many SEO plug-ins for WordPress. With these plug-ins, you can make some basic SEO additions to any site such as Meta Description, H1 tags, and Meta Titles. In fact, some WordPress plug-ins can tell you how your site is well optimised for Search Engine Optimisation.
WordPress has responsive themes that help you make your site effective on mobile devices, tablets, and PCs. These themes allow the user to have a positive experience while browsing your site on any device. As we mentioned above, WordPress started as a blogging platform. This means that it still has a built-in blogging feature that allows you to easily set up and maintain a blog.
Cons
While it’s great to pick any theme of your choice from the library, you may find it difficult to customize the theme according to your preferences. In this case, you will require services of an experienced web developer who understands the functionality of WordPress.
While the platform releases regular updates and security patches, it is still vulnerable to hackers. These hackers take advantage of the time of building these patches to hack into your site and create a havoc on your website. WordPress requires regular maintenance. They keep on releasing updates and patches each year to combat hackers and pirates which may require some expertise in installing them. If you cannot do it, you will have to hire a professional web developer.
In conclusion, both custom web design and WordPress have their own pros and cons. You should decide on which method to use depending on your budget and needs.
