Pros & Cons of Custom Web Development vs WordPress

Whether you're a startup launching a new venture or an established business looking to revamp your online identity, your website serves as a central hub that communicates your brand's value and offerings to potential customers. With more people looking for brands online and more businesses competing online than ever before, it's vital that you take the opportunity to launch a powerful website that stands out from the competition in terms of performance and aesthetics. A well-designed website not only elevates your credibility but also engages your audience, driving conversions and strengthening customer loyalty.

By working with an experienced website development company and digital marketing agency, you can create a strong foundation for your business online with custom designs that allow you to attract business online, scale your operations, and increase your return on investment. 

Why Your Website Design and Platform Matters

A well-constructed website isn't just about aesthetics; it's about functionality, user experience, and the ability to adapt to the ever-changing demands of your audience. A robust website allows you to adapt to the ever-changing demands of your audience while also playing a key role in your digital marketing strategy, serving as a vital platform for lead generation. 

One of the most popular content management systems for websites is WordPress. While over 40% of online websites are WordPress, custom web design proves to have many benefits that better serve long-term business objectives. 

If you're launching a brand new site, here are some insights into a WordPress template website as compared to a custom website that can help you make the best decision for your business. 

First, Consider Your Business Needs

As you start the process of launching your new website, before deciding between a custom-designed website from Xi Digital or WordPress templated website, you must first identify the purpose of the website. 

• Establish an online presence: To increase visibility and credibility in the digital marketplace.
• Generate leads and sales: To attract potential customers and convert them into clients through targeted digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, and PPC marketing.
• Sell products online (eCommerce): To offer a digital storefront where customers can browse, purchase, and pay for products or services directly with e-commerce website design and development.
• Showcase products or services: To provide detailed information and highlight offerings for customers to explore.
• Build Trust: To highlight customer testimonials and reviews that help new visitors and potential customers feel more confident in your offerings.
• Enhance customer engagement: To offer interactive features like blogs, forums, social media direction or customer service portals.
• Strengthen branding: To create a consistent and professional image that reflects the brand’s values and message.

It’s important that whichever option you choose, can effectively deliver on your short term website goals and long-term business goals. 

Pros of Custom Web Design from Xi Digital

When you opt for a custom web design from Xi Digital, we ensure that you get true value for your money, one that will provide a positive ROI.

1. Your design will be unique. Have you seen several websites with nearly identical designs and layouts? Chances are they've been created using a standard WordPress template. With custom web development from Xi Digital, we design your website from scratch and tailor it to match all your needs and desires. With custom web development vs WordPress, the website will be absolutely unique to you.
   Our custom web design team can help you create a completely new design concept that stands out while still incorporating best practices to maximize lead generation or online sales.
2. The website will be adaptable to your needs. When we create a custom website for you, we design it to the specific needs of your business and ensure it matches your vision. Custom websites are more flexible as compared to WordPress templates. Our ability to seamlessly introduce more complex functionality allows more room for creative freedom and scalability as your business grows and changes. 
3. A custom-built website from Xi Digital is great for digital marketing. As a digital marketing agency as well as website development company, Xi Digital will help you ensure that your design is better equipped for online marketing and search engine optimization. 
4. With custom web development comes professional technical assistance. Creating and managing a website could be quite challenging and confusing for an average person. The good news is that at Xi Digital, we offer our own custom website management system -  JuiceBox. This advanced yet easy-to-use content management systems will give you complete control over the website content. If you still encounter any challenges, have questions, or need guidance, the Xi Digital Team is always there for you!

Drawbacks of a WordPress Template

When you're thinking about custom web development vs WordPress, the simplicity and affordability of WordPress may seem attractive. However, WordPress templates may create a number of issues.

1. WordPress websites are not as flexible. A template is a template. While using a WordPress pre-coded theme saves you from HTML and CSS headaches, it also takes away flexibility or complex functionality. To incorporate new functionality into a WordPress website, third-party plugins are required which can affect site speed, user experience, security, ease-of-use, and scalability.
2. The same WordPress templates are used by multiple businesses. WordPress themes and templates are available to anyone on the web. This means that your competitor could have their website looking exactly the same as yours. With branding and custom web design services from Xi Digital, you can rest assured that your presence on the web is absolutely unique.
3. WordPress sites are vulnerable to hackers. The most significant disadvantage of WordPress is its lack of security that leaves websites vulnerable to hackers and security breaches. WordPress uses an open source code,that is heavily dependent on premade themes and third-party plugins, which can create malicious code lines, making them more vulnerable. In fact, WordPress is considered to be the most hacked content management system platform in the world.
4. WordPress websites require frequent updates. Using a WordPress template requires you to use a theme and at least several plugins. WordPress websites are challenging to maintain, and you will have to make frequent changes to your theme and plugins in order for them to function correctly together. One update to one of the plugins or to the core WordPress version could crash your website, Website crashes and updates can make it more challenging for you to update your website content, while also impeding access to your business for those searching for you online and affecting your organic rankings negatively.
5. WordPress sites take a long time to load. Each WordPress plugin adds "weight" to the site, making it slower to run and increasing the time it takes to load. One of the most important factors for search engine optimization is site speed or website load time. When your website relies on a large amount of code, as the result of third-party plugins or perhaps just a slow theme, it can reduce page load times reducing your ability to rank. Slow websites do not rank as well as light and fast ones.

Create Your Unique Website with Custom Web Design and Xi Digital

At Xi Digital, we're strong proponents of innovation, customization, value, and ROI. Our custom website design and development team will ensure that  the website we create matches your creative vision and meets all your business needs. Among other advantages of custom web development vs WordPress, we offer a lifetime warranty on all of our sites and the JuiceBox content management system.

For more information, give us a call at 416-628-5410 or fill out our short business assessment and get one step closer to attracting more business and the right kind of business with your website.