Create a unique online presence with personalized websites adapted to your brand. Stand out from the competition and captivate your audience.
Does your business depend on a website? If not, should it? After all, websites are not just a way for you to showcase your products, services and talents. They're a way for your customers to get help with problems, stay up to date on your business, and share their experiences.
In other words, a website is a tool that every company should consider mandatory. Even in this age when most people prefer Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and Instagram profiles, a website is a way to offer more of everything – more products, more services, more connection, more information, more support.
But if your company hasn't yet implemented a website, or if the website you have is outdated or doesn't work, you're probably in the market to have one created for you. Fortunately, there are numerous options available. You can ask someone at your company to build this new website, or you can opt for outsourcing software development services.
Why go the custom website route?
No matter which path you take, there is one idea you should consider. Instead of building your website from a pre-built framework (like WordPress), your business should consider having a custom website built from scratch.
It seems expensive, doesn't it? Given the advantages of a custom website, the return will outweigh the initial cost. And while having a developer (or team of developers) build a custom website is more expensive than having them tweak a framework to fit your needs, it's not a cost that will break the bank.
Let's look at some reasons why your company should use a custom website.
One of a kind
You've spent a lot of time and effort creating a company that offers a unique product or service. You are not a turnkey company selling the same widget as Company X. What you offer is a unique product with a unique service.
So why deploy a cookie-cutter website built on the same framework everyone else is using? Sure, you could buy a third-party theme, but that theme has likely already been used by other companies or individuals. Therefore, when someone visits your website, they may recognize it from a competitor.
You don't want that. In a market that has been flooded with similar companies selling similar products, you need all the help you can get to stand out from the crowd. Having a personalized website that doesn't look like everyone else's will go a long way in helping you step out of the shadows of sameness.
It shows that you are serious
For a while, many companies turned their backs on the website. Instead, they chose to focus primarily on referring potential customers to Facebook. These companies realized that everyone was already on Facebook, so why alienate them? So instead, these companies used Facebook as their main online presence.
This quickly backfired as Facebook's algorithms began to make it increasingly difficult for potential customers to find these businesses.
But that's not the only downside of relying on social media platforms, as it made it seem like you didn't really take your business seriously. The same goes for those who rely on pre-built and readily available frameworks for their website. Nothing says, “We’re okay with an incomplete solution” like a company trying to be taken seriously when deploying a website based on a WordPress template.
Don’t take this the wrong way – WordPress is a great platform and can, with enough work, be taken seriously. But at the end of the day, it's still a WordPress site. It's like driving a Yugo with a Ferrari parked in the garage.
Want more, have more
One of the biggest problems with using a pre-built framework for a website is that you are limited to the themes and plugins offered for that framework. Yes, you could use third-party software development to build a custom website plugin, but that plugin will still be limited by the APIs and other connection bits offered by the framework you use. While WordPress can do a lot, it can't do everything. And the more you try to get WordPress to meet your demands, the faster you'll discover that it probably can't deliver.
When you have a custom website, it is only limited by your developer's skills. So, if you have hired a strong team of developers, the sky is the limit for what your website can do. You want more, you can have more. Do you want a large website that includes all the features that suit your business? You can have this. Do you want audio, video, third-party login, accounts/user management, blogging, e-commerce, reviews, and everything else that comes with a powerful, feature-rich website? A good development team can deliver this for you.
But if you want your website to use a pre-built framework, then all these features will be limited.
Familiarity and responsibility
Another good reason to opt for a custom website is that the development team that builds your website will be incredibly familiar with it, inside out. This means that when something goes wrong, not only are they responsible for fixing it, but they will also be familiar enough with the site to be able to fix it quickly. This equates to less downtime and less lost profit.
The end result
If there's one thing business owners immediately understand, it's the bottom line. And while you may have to spend a little more upfront for that custom website, in the end, you'll save money. With this customized website, you'll be able to offer a better user experience, sell more products and services, and enjoy more uptime and faster solutions when something goes wrong.
So, contact your favorite nearby or offshore software development service and ask about custom website development.
If you liked this, be sure to check out our other articles on web development.
- What is Redux and why is it important in Web development
- What is Sustainable Web Design and why it matters
- What is Web Design?
- Why You Need to Add a Support Bot to Your Website
- Why You Need to Care About Your Website Vitals
Source: BairesDev
