Why prebuilt sites will cost you more than they’ll save
You have a restaurant, therefore this restaurant-themed website template will work just fine – right? Not really. That generic template won’t take into account your businesses’ unique offering or brand, and certainly won’t cater specifically to the needs of your audience, on a functional or emotional level. It means you’ll be missing the part that actually attracts and converts leads. You’re also missing out on the benefits of tidy code and good search-rankings – both things you won’t be able to see immediately.
That means that while using a pre-built template can save you cash in the short term going to market with one will cost you long term. Here’s what you’re getting when you pay to get your site custom built.
Bespoke design wins business
Design matters. It can’t just look good, it also has to look like your brand. Research has shown that 75% of a business’ credibility is based on their website and 94% of that relates to the design. But the difference between an excellent site, and one that’s just OK is often very hard to see – but the subtle refinements can be the difference between success and failure. Excellent design and UI that are cohesive with your brand means your site stands slightly taller than the others in the crowd – speaking without words to your values, approach and positioning.
To do that, spend time with your designer so they can craft something that represents you and draws in your clients. Users will see that craft, and get a feeling of quality and credibility, even if they can’t tell you why.
Great usability builds credibility
So now your site looks good from the outside. Perfect. Once a user is interacting with your site, its functionality will prove – or discredit – the promise the design has made. Is your site fit for purpose, or is it all just for show? The seamless usability of your site tells people if they can trust you – when they can move effortlessly, complete the tasks and get the info they need, interacting with your site feels easy. They’ll trust that they’ll get the same experience with you. A clunky or confusing site? This makes people run away – quickly. Dead pages, slow load speeds and confusing page hierarchies create obvious issues, but more subtle usability problems will swiftly erode a user’s faith in you too. Are buttons in logical places? Is it easy to find information? Is the text neatly arranged? It is often suggested that having no website online is better than having a bad one – when you’ve interacted with a poorly constructed site, you can’t help but believe it.
Tidy code saves money
If you’ve ever bought a cheap knock off, you’ll know first-hand that you really do get what you pay for – and your website is no different. Like that cheap stool, a website will break easily, and will be unusable sooner than it should.
Well-built websites tend to run into fewer issues and are easier to fix if anything does break. That’s because the code is so clear and concise that there’s just less to go wrong. And if it does, any developer can quickly read it and rectify the issue. Badly written code means an expert will have to waste time stripping out elements that make no sense to anyone except the original developer. Seasoned developers know this is the biggest headache in the industry so we walk a very straight and narrow path to create clear and readable code. Cheaper options tend to be a mash-up of code, various languages, and even sections of code that are ‘borrowed’ from elsewhere. This makes for a very unstable, very unmanageable platform. A well-developed website should be readable, editable, and fixable by anyone with knowledge in the code language. This also makes future expansion simpler – anyone will be able to work on it, not just the original developer. This saves you time and money, gives you more options and means your site will keep working for your business longer.
Secure hosting saves you time, hassle and money
The last building block to your website is the environment in which it’s kept: your web-hosting provider. You can have the shiniest, best functioning website in the world, but if it’s running on an inadequate server, it will fall off that leader board real fast. A bad server means a bad website. Apart from being slow or unresponsive, it will also be less secure. When your customers complete your contact form, or buy a product from you and enter their credit card details, they trust you – you can’t risk making your users vulnerable. Bespoke developers know this, and will ensure your hosting provider is the best that you can get for your budget. No website can be 100% secure, but 99.9% is a whole lot easier to stomach than being 50% secure.
Web development: make an investment that pays off
Your website design, build and management needs to be a big investment because this is exactly what it is – an investment for your business. Done well it will earn you money, winning business and building trust. A poorly built site will do the opposite – it will become a liability. The best shot you have of ensuring yours is the first, rather than the second is to engage a developer to build a site that exactly suits your needs. Anything off the shelf will soon become an extremely expensive bargain.
