Pros and Cons of a Custom Website
- What is my budget?
- Who is going to do the work?
- What is my timeframe?
- How do I want to maintain that work that has been done?
These are not all the questions, but I think they are some of the most important. If you are doing the work yourself then you need a working knowledge of multiple languages to create and maintain a successful site. Some of the programming languages needed - HTML, CSS, Java Script, PHP maybe some flash.
It's difficult to create a "template" website that looks and has the functionality of a custom website. In some cases it really is impossible. A number of new online business owners look at the limitations of a website builder instead of looking at all the freedoms it creates.
If you have the budget you can hire a designer and you can hire a PHP designer who knows java script, CSS, and HTML. Unfortunately that guy does about 70-100K a year and he/she may or may not know something about SEO and how to create a search engine friendly website. Regardless if they do or do not have an SEO background the website should turn out really really nice.
A web builder creates the bulk of what a designer and programmer would create for you. You may have a few designer needs, but in the end you have a website that you can manipulate without a programming knowledge. A website template builder will create your pages, and your products with little to no information from you. While it may not have all the bells and whistles you may want, you may get everything you need for unders 1k instead of 10k custom.
So as I state earlier, it all depends on budget. If you have the budget, then hire out custom everything because in the end it is custom. However if you are on a tight budget then look into the world of website template builders. I suggest to clients, go with a web builder, till you have the budget to go custom and you probably should read a couple of programming books to just to help you carry the conversation with your designers.
Most Website Builders
- pretty budget friendly
- have really cool plugin options
- you can do it yourself
- you can maintain it yourself
- have good support information
- unfortunately it will look like everyone else's if you don't get creative
- you market will know if you are lazy with your design
- they may be some integration problems as more complex needs are there in the future.
Most Custom Website
- It will be whatever you want it to be
- it will really build your brand
- you will have more sleep over the next 6 months
- it can be really expensive
- changes can take a long time depending on your guy.
Just some things to think about. Either way good luck with your business.
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