How Web Design Templates Are a Chink in Your Armor
Imagine you’re in a battle. Swords, chainmail armor, catapults. But this battle isn’t your average old-school medieval era fight. It’s a battle for your customers. You and your team are competing against all your real-life competitors. The prize? The attention and business of potential customers.
Like any good fighter, you’ve probably got a host of tools that will help you in the battle: great branding, quality SEO, email marketing, content marketing, and a strong social media presence.
But what about when it comes to your website design? Have you made sure that your website will hold up to the pressures of war? If you are currently using a template for your website, you may have a chink in your armor that you didn’t even know was there. Keep reading to see five reasons why pre-built website templates are a weak point in your online marketing battle plan.
1. Templates Are Not Created With Your Goals in Mind
Here’s the thing. You aren’t investing hours of your life for your website to just sit there and look pretty. You are creating this site to come one step closer to your goal, whether that is greater awareness of your brand, or product purchases from your online store.
When you know what your goals for your website are, you can then create the website around the goals. This way the whole site is oriented towards pushing visitors towards them. However, when you purchase a template, the foundational structure along with the bells and whistles are not going to align with your goals perfectly. This creates problems. Your website is not going to convert visitors the way that it should, defeating the purpose of having a website in the first place.
2. You Can’t Customize Templates Exactly How You’d Like
If you have limited coding experience (like the majority of people using templates for their websites), you will not be able to customize the template the way you think you will. Often, little details throw template users off. Details such as image sizing, font size restrictions, general layout, color scheme, and more are difficult for a novice to change. These little details can affect the effectiveness of a website dramatically, and when using templates, they are tough to get right.
3. People Can Identify Quality Websites
People can tell when they are browsing a quality website. They can also tell when they are not. We aren’t saying that templates cannot make for quality websites, but you need to know exactly what you are doing when you use a template. For a busy business person, using a template is just not practical if you want a quality website for your customers and prospects to browse.
4. Slow & Easily Hackable
Besides design, there are also tech concerns you need to think about. Wordpress sites made with templates are some of the most often hacked websites there are. This is like having many holes in your chainmail armor. You don’t want to be that guy.
5. No Tech Support & Security Update Problems
Again, if you are a busy professional with limited coding and web experience, you are going to experience problems with any website you are in charge of. However, when you use a template, you guarantee that the original creator of the code is not going to provide support when you need it. In contrast, paying the extra for a custom built website goes a long way—when you experience any hiccups, give your developer a call and he can help you do exactly what you need your website to do.
It’s not always a bad idea to purchase a template-if you’re a small start-up strapped for cash, templates are a good temporary website solution. However, a custom-built website will always trump a pre-built template.
If you truly care about improving your brand’s image and strength in battle and have the funds to make that happen, you will find that a custom-built website is a true investment.
Don’t go into the battle for your customers with a chink in your armor. Let ImageWorks Creative build you a well-built, professional website from scratch, so you can prove a worthy competitor in the battle for the customer.
To learn more about our custom website design services, click here. To learn how we can help you with your project, fill out our quick contact form or call 703 782-8934
