When it comes to making a website, design is key. Although it’s true that features and content play a major part in the user experience, users have come to expect appealing interfaces when they’re on the internet.
What is the significance of design? Why should you care about the design when Google has already shown that they value user experience, site speed, and other factors? The design will always be essential. In reality, 38% of users would avoid engaging with a website if it is unappealing. If you want people to connect with your content and become clients, you can’t afford that.
According to a recent Adobe survey, given 15 minutes, 59 percent of people would rather read or search for something beautifully built than something bland and dull. This can seem superficial, but it makes sense. A good website is actually more dependable and pleasurable. It demonstrates that the company is committed and professional about its work.
You will make your website stand out, connect with the right audience, and engage users by investing in design. Branding features are used in the right website design, making it more memorable. The two are not mutually exclusive; they are two sides of the same coin. You have two primary choices for designing your website with WordPress: using a theme or developing a custom WordPress. Let’s take a look at the inconsistencies between these two choices once and for all.
A WordPress theme is a ready-to-use design developed exclusively for the WordPress platform. Themes are available in both paid and free versions, with prices to fit every budget.
A custom WordPress design is when you develop a WordPress website from scratch. This is usually when you employ a professional web designer or developer to create your website from the ground up. This generally requires a detailed understanding of both front-end and back-end development.
You can purchase a pre-built WordPress theme from a marketplace. These themes are designed to be resold several times to meet the basic business needs of all websites.
Custom WordPress development on the other hand is the time-consuming process of wireframing, designing, and creating a website that is tailored to specific business needs.
Generally, buying a premade WordPress theme is a more budget-friendly and efficient option out of the two but to make an informed decision between them, you’ll need to have all of the facts and understand all of the benefits of choosing a WordPress theme versus choosing a custom WordPress development. So let us take a look at the pros and cons of both to determine what is more up your alley.
- You Will Be Saving Money
This could be a perfect choice for a small business looking to get a basic website up and running. You can purchase pre-built themes for WordPress and it will be cheaper than getting it customized and developed. Keep in mind that each of these themes is unique, with its own set of caveats and learning curves. Once you’ve purchased the theme, you’ll want to modify some of the elements and customize it to suit your needs, you can do that easily as you will have lots of options available.
- You Will Be Saving a Lot of Time
This might be a good choice for you if your aim is to get something up quickly and you’re cool with throwing something together on the fly. Since you’re using pre-built pages and components, the amount of preparation that goes into a theme is significantly reduced. In around 2-3 weeks, you should have a quick and attractive theme up and running.
- You Will Have a Lot of Options to Choose From
You can find numerous themes for sale and at affordable prices, including themes for almost every industry. This provides you with a great starting point for your company and may even inspire you!
- Customizable
Despite the fact that these are supposed to be one-size-fits-all solutions, they’re remarkably adaptable. To brand your website to your needs, you’ll have the freedom to adjust items like font, text size, theme, colors, and more.
- Security
Buying a premade WordPress theme rather than a free WordPress theme is likely to be more stable. This is because premade theme developers can only create themes that are compliant with the most current version of WordPress. They will also devote time to updating existing themes in order to make them as stable as possible.
Although some free themes do receive updates on a regular basis, you never know when or whether the developer would do so. With a free theme, there is no guarantee that your website will be protected from hackers. On the other hand, you can be assured that there is no risk of that happening with buying a premade WordPress theme.
- Setup is easy
Another significant advantage of buying a pre-made WordPress theme is that it can be very simple to install.
Since the concept is designed and ready to use, you won’t have to communicate with a developer as much. The best pre-made WordPress theme developers can provide you with clear instructions on how to install your theme.
If you need to be up and running fast, you can get your new theme up and running in just one day.
- It is Very Time Consuming
When you’re starting from scratch, it will take a lot longer time to prepare, design, create and launch your website. The discovery process is critical to your company, as is planning how to set out all of the elements in a way that your audience can understand. A custom website usually takes about 2-3 months to complete.
- Very Expensive
As you would imagine, custom designs are not inexpensive. The cost of hiring a web developer or designer can run into a cost, more than most afford. Rather than paying a single fee for a theme, you will have to continue paying for additional help in the future.
- Limited Support
Although you’ll have more resources while building your website, you’ll almost certainly have to pay extra for continuous support. This would be an extra cost if you have a problem or need to expand in the future.
- Bugs and Routine Maintenance
The final disadvantage of a custom theme is that it is difficult to keep up with new WordPress features. Developers who work on premium templates are more likely to release bug or security updates on a regular basis. You’ll need to keep working with your developer or find someone else to patch any bugs.
Now that you have all the necessary information, which option is right for your website? Like most things, there are a number of factors to take into consideration such as your current budget, time constraints, and the individual needs of your website.
Ultimately, the best-fit option for most WordPress websites is to choose a pre-made theme that you can customize to your liking instead of wasting time and money to get a customized WordPress theme developed. This option is affordable, fast, and accessible.