DON'T GET RIPPED OFF! The popularity of DIY templates attributes to the surge of non-tech types with no design skills who offer quick and cheap websites – individuals who don’t know HTML and have never written a line of code. They can get a free or cheap website template, copy and paste text into it and upload some photos, therefore they don't even need to know HTML or be trained in web design whatsoever. Your 10-year old could do it. (I'm totally serious.) It's about as simple as a Word document - type some text, choose a font and insert a few photos. Sounds like the best thing since sliced bread, doesn't it? NO!
Tragically, a lot of these non-tech people are seeking easy money and claiming to be experts on web design, and even worse, many are charging the same price as custom websites designed by trained professionals who put a lot of time and labor into building your brand image and hand-coding your website. It not only devalues their training and expertise that they’ve spent years developing, but it rips people off – YOU by providing a quick “shortcut” way to throw together a lackadaisical template-based website without a lot of work, skill, or creativity.
A custom website expresses your own personality and individuality. Your branding will stand out when a website is designed to fit you, rather than trying to fit you inside the constrictive walls of a template. Custom websites have no limitations on graphics and functionality, unlike templates that limit the number of graphics and text that can only be placed on designated spots of the template. Custom websites can be coded to do whatever your imagination can dream of! They are flexible and can change with you. In the future you might want major changes to the design and/or functionality. If your website is built with a template, you may have to start over with a completely new template. It’s much easier to change the layout and functionality of a custom website.
It’s disheartening when a client hires me to redesign their website that had been thrown together with a template, with no design flair and a gob of spelling errors. Even worse – they paid $1,500+ for it (more than what it would have cost for the same-sized, custom designed website), unaware that it was built with a template that required so little time and by someone with so little or no skill.
My final words on this subject - it will be hard to impress potential clients with a cheap template. Be careful who you hire. Don't buy a hot dog for the same price as lobster (or pink radicchio if you're vegan). Whether you decide on a custom website or a template make sure your website is built by an accredited professional web developer.
Related blogs:
- Hacking Hazards of DIY Templates
- MYTH: Custom websites cost more
- SEO is better in custom-coded websites
