Pros and Cons of Custom and Template Websites

Custom Websites

Pros:

• Unique Design for your Business
• Personalized Images
• Unlimited Color Selection
• Unlimited Font Selection
• Unlimited Content (Text)
• Online Lead Generating
• Forms, Flash movement, database storage
• Custom Layout
• Full update support
• Search Engine ranking
• Maintenance of Website

Cons:

• Takes longer to design
• Costs are usually higher

Templated Websites

Pros:

• Quick to have designed
• Usually lower in costs.

Cons:

• Not unique to your business
• Limited on Images, color selection and fonts.
• Limited on how much content (text) can be used.
• Very limited on the use of flash movement and forms.
• Most changes have to be done by yourself.
• Usually no maintenance.

To have a website that will draw customers, produce leads and phone calls, a custom website is the only way to go. Layout of images, your phone number and contact form are extremely important to the success of your site. It plays a key role in whether or not your website visitor will contact you. Research has revealed the importance of placing images next to text you want your readers to see, the strategic placement of your phone number and the ease and simplicity of filling out a form with contact information. A custom website allows the freedom to do this. A template website does not. Your are restricted in where you can place these important marketing items.

The fact that the Internet has made shopping so much easier and faster than jumping in your car and going down to the Mall to shop for a product or service, it becomes even more important that you have a dynamic, professional-looking website, with the right marketing layout, because you'll only have one chance to hook your customer.

Most template websites are boxy-looking and plain, lacking the professional touch that sets your business apart from others, and are usually sold by website companies that are reselling for another company, so they typically do not offer ongoing support if a problem comes up.

A good exercise to help you with your website decision, is to do a Google search on your industry. Review all the website listings on the first page, both the sponsored listings and the natural listings. Look at how they are laid out. Do they make it easy for you to pick up the phone and call or to fill out a form with your contact information. Which websites grab your attention and which ones turn you off. This will give you a pretty good idea of how your customers will view your website. Most websites that are attention-grabbing are Custom-Designed sites that have carefully placed images and text to provide the optimum marketing for the business.

"You should give as much attention to the professional design, layout and dynamics of your website, as you do your business, for without a good website, you have no business!"

Brad Stone is CEO of Heritage Web Solutions, a USA Based Company, specializing in Designing and Hosting Affordable Websites for Small and Medium Size Businesses. With a staff of over 160 employees, Heritage Web Solutions has grown to a multi-million-dollar company in just 4 years, achieving a Top 1% National Ranking as reported by WebHosting.Info. For more information, call 866-754-1474, or visit http://www.heritagewebdesign.com