October 17, 2016
Have you been tasked with finding an agency to redo your company’s website? Alternatively, you might have been tasked to build a website on your own. For the latter, a WordPress Theme might be a better solution (assuming coding is not your forte). Most likely you will look up several digital agency on Google and decide on one that satisfies all of your criteria. In reality, you might not find that one but you might be able to come close to it but how?
Quick Guide to Themed WordPress vs Custom WordPress Websites
Don’t be Vanilla
We often get asked, “We want our site to look different than our competitor’s”. With a themed WordPress site, it becomes difficult. The most popular theme, Avada, has over 250,000 users and differentiating yourself might be difficult. This is one of thousands of themes out on the market and the chance of #twinning with your competitor is high. With a custom website, the agency can create a website that is 100% catered to you while meeting your business goals. Whether it’s to drive sales, increase product / service awareness or to generate leads, a custom WordPress site can be designed to achieve these goals.
Ever had a moment at work when you are frustrated with a software because it doesn’t have everything you want under one roof? With a themed WordPress site, it is similar to that. You want a features that are custom to your business but the best solutions are only workarounds. A custom WordPress site offers the solution because a team of designated developers are there to plan out the technicalities behind the feature and they can customize it for you.
Tailored suit? Yes, Please.
Can your site stand the test of time?
A standard website is usually updated every 2-3 years because the economy or business objectives has changed. A themed website is constrained and has less flexibility to adapt to those needs. A common issue with WordPress themes is incompatibility with plugins and WordPress released updates. With a themed site, you are dependent on the theme developer (third party) to update the theme for you and if that company decides to close down their theming business, then you are out of luck. A customized WordPress site was programmed to accept WordPress updates and you have a team of experts who are available to update your site as releases are rolled out. A custom WordPress site was tailored to you with only the essential codes to make your site load faster, and in turn increases visits.
The cost
A typical themed site when working with an agency starts at around $6000 and a custom site starts at $10000 (doubled, I know). Freelance developers have their own rates and it’s important to know what you are getting. A themed site starts at $19 USD and you are paying an agency upwards of $6000 to configure the site for you. (Props to theme developers! They are rockstars.) A customized sites provides you with dedicated web developers and designer who are building a website made just for your business.
Like a suit, do you want off the rack? Or do you want a tailored suit that fits?
