6 Reasons Why You Need A Custom Web Design
IF you are in the process of creating your first website, it can be highly tempting to go with the easy route, which is using a website builder, but that is a mistake that won’t be easy to fix. While it may seem like the ideal option, letting you add images, content, a business logo, and more, they are also limiting in a number of ways. Keep reading and find out if a website builder is really the way to go.
Website Builders Are Problematic To SEO
When using templates and website builders, your hands are tied when it comes to what happens beneath the surface. You may be able to add content and images to your site, but good luck adding schema, collecting data, or targeting the URLs. You have to stay within strict guidelines because the site is only meant to do a simple task; represent your business online. Some of the biggest issues between website builders and SEO are:
There Is No Way To Structure Data
Structured data is incredibly valuable for local SEO. This is almost impossible to add on with many web builders. Structured data is optimized pages by organizing your data into a format that’s very predictable and structured. By doing so, it makes it incredibly easy for search engines to find all of the information they need about your site and create useful titles and snippets for users.
Some Builders Are Not Responsive on Mobile Devices
Today, more than half of the people who use the internet do so from a smartphone, tablet, or similar device. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’ve just lost a very large portion of your audience. That’s why responsive website design has become vital for success. This type of design automatically adjusts your website structure and content to the device the user is viewing it on so that it’s easy to read.
Not all website builders don’t do this. Your website may simply not be useable on a smartphone. This is especially true when the builders make heavy use of Flash. This means not only are you losing out on a lot of views due to a lack of SEO, even those who do find your website might not be able to view it.
There’s Little if Any, Reporting
When you build your own website (either a WordPress template or a custom website), you can use analytics and collect reports that indicate your traffic volume and which keywords you rank for. With a website built using a builder, you may not have that option. Custom websites let you monitor the conversion rate, bounce rate, and any stat you could think of. The platforms used for custom web design let you install plugins for virtually any task, so you can see where your traffic is coming from, how long they stay, and how often viewers return.
Slow Site Speed
A slow-loading site will inevitably be penalized by Google and other search engines. The little time it takes to wait for a lagging page will cost you the same more often than you would think. Pages built with Squarespace and other website builders have hundreds of websites per server. This means when multiple users are trying to access many of these sites at once, they all load slowly. People are going to be abandoning your website left and right before they even see any of your content. That’s assuming search engines even rank it on the first page because of load times.
Templates & CMS Are Different
What if you decide you need to add new content that is outside of what the website template provides? A website builder doesn’t give you that option. A site built on a CMS platform such as WordPress gives you unlimited options for adding new content and arranging it in a way that users can easily navigate. You can add new pages or posts with a few clicks, edit content easily, and upload graphics and other media. You are not locked into a set number of content boxes, how big or small your logo can be, or the amount or size of your images.
Lacking Support Network
Hopefully you never encounter an issue with your website, because sit builders are notorious for leaving you stranded when an issue arises. They don’t offer a lot in the way of assistance, and even when they do, they’re often so overwhelmed with help tickets that they can’t get back to you for days, so you might as well hop on Youtube and find a solution. Custom website design packages give you individualized support from the same web designer that builds your site. When you find a good web designer, they will be fast, responsive, and attentive to any site issues.
What’s the Right Solution for Website Template?
As tempting as it can be to go ahead and start building your site using a template, basic website builders always fall behind custom designs. Custom web designs offer your business a truly unique site that be adjusted, improved, optimized, and tailored to fit any job needed. Unlimited add-ons and responsive service are icing on the cake.
