WordPress Templates vs. Bespoke Websites
In Sokvist we stopped relying on WordPress themes long ago, templates easy to customize and, apparently, very cheap. When a communication agency makes you an offer of “only” € 1,000 (or less!) for a website, it’s very likely they will be using a $ 50 WordPress theme. Unfortunately, it is also possible that they make a budget of € 2,000 or € 3,000 and it is also a customized template that is sold as a “bespoke website”. There is a big difference between them. I’ll explain it to you.
What they don’t tell you about the templates
They are apparently the great solution to your budget problems, but the templates are prefabricated packages that carry a whole series of built-in products, most of which you probably don’t need. It’s like when you buy a new cell phone and you see that it has a lot of apps that you have not requested, that you never use them and that, in addition, they use a lot of space. To make matters worse, many of these applications can’t be uninstalled.
Templates are supplied with plugins and functionalities that most companies don’t need; they overload the database and harm the SEO of the site. After customizing a template, if we want to pass all the Google SEO tests, an exhaustive “cleaning” of the code, the plugins and the database should be made.
On the other hand, a template is a prefabricated product that has to respond to very different business needs and the priority of the developer that has done it is that it is visually appealing for many companies to buy. And, at the same time, it is designed so that users without technical knowledge can make basic modifications of the functionality.
With this, what we have is a super complicated back end that means that if you ever want to make any adjust or modification that goes out of the standard, your developer has to charge a very expensive price for their work or, straightforward, the developer will say “this can’t be done”.
The money you save with a bespoke website
When we make a website completely tailor-made, we start from the idea that the designer/developer should take the trouble to know how your business works, to know who will take care of updating the content, what knowledge this person has, how often will be updating, and what will be the easiest and fastest way to do it. At least that’s the way we do it in Sokvist.
From here, we will create from scratch a custom design for you, taking into account what is important to you and reinforcing the strengths of your business. In addition, we will integrate a simple and clean content manager so you can use it with full autonomy and, most importantly, we will be using only the essential plugins and functionalities for your site, no more no less. This will help security and page speed, so the site will be well-suited to Google demands.
We will never tire of saying it: your site is just another communication tool in your business. You can have a website and never use it, or use it as an effective marketing tool. For example:
- Collecting data from your visitors to make a subsequent email marketing campaign.
- Be a center of interest and consultation to attract traffic with content that your visitors value.
- Let it be the matrix from which campaigns, events, news, offers, etc. are communicated.
- To serve as a database for training content, manuals, video tutorials, etc.
- To collect direct bookings, purchases, downloads or any action that you want your visitor to do.
By the time you decide that your website must perform specific marketing functions, it is when you realize that you need a website that is agile, lightweight, clean, and that gives you the maximum possible autonomy.
Do you need any more information? Do you want a second opinion without obligation? A budget? Contact us.