As a website developer in Brisbane, our team here at GO Creative know just how important a custom-designed website is for businesses looking to grow.
Nowadays, there’s no shortage of cookie-cutter and generic templates for budding business owners to use when creating their websites. But in a digital age where every corporate empire to mum-and-pop corner store has an online presence, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out online.
Generic vs custom web design services
What do we mean when we talk about customised websites? When a web designer starts to put together a new site for a business, they take into account a whole range of different factors, including:
- The business’s unique goals
- The target market
- Ease of use for the business owners and staff
- The business’s needs and preferences
- The brand identity
- Best practice in online user experience and design
- The sales process or funnel (especially in e-commerce website design)
- How simple automation can improve efficiency for the business
These factors can inform and affect everything from the website’s aesthetic design to its layout and functionality. Custom web design companies who are worth their salt take into account a client’s unique and personalised needs.
Contrast this with a generic website template. As mentioned before, these are widely and often freely available. Quick, cheap and nasty, they don’t really fit any specific business, which makes them ideal for no one.
If you’re looking to optimise your website’s performance and appeal, a generic website design with limited flexibility may save you a buck today, but it will cost you in ‘Return on Investment’ down the line.
The advantages of a custom website
It’s no secret that hiring a web design company to create a customised and personalised website will take more time, effort, and (in the short term) money than using one of the generic, run-of-the-mill templates available.
So, why do it?
1. Unique branding
Where once a website may have been seen as merely an advertising platform or just an extension of a business, in the 21st Century it is an essential component of a company. In the same way as brick-and-mortar stores represent a brand, so do websites nowadays.
A custom-designed website provides a flexible canvas on which you–with the help of a professional web designer–can create something on-brand and unique. A custom website allows you to personalise and optimise everything from infusing the copywriting with personality to incorporating the preferences of your target audience into the design. From social media to your homepage, you want clear and engaging branding for your business.
Generic websites, on the other hand, might have limited colours, fonts or graphics, which can limit not just the visual appeal of your online presence and professional aesthetic, or contrast with your business’s branding, but fail to make you stand out from the crowd of an oversaturated online market.
2. Better user experience
User experience (or UX) is a critical component of a website’s design that takes into account–unsurprisingly considering the name–the experience of the website user. Even the most gorgeous-looking websites with bright colours and happy pictures can turn otherwise willing customers away if they cannot navigate through the options and easily proceed to checkout or find the information they need. Have you ever clicked out of a slow-loading website? In the increasingly fast-paced digital landscape a few seconds can make the difference between a few hundred dollars worth of sales.
Custom-designed websites are built from the ground up with not just your needs in mind but also the needs and preferences of your target market. Ensuring that the user experience is heightened and improved will help encourage higher conversion rates, greater website traffic satisfaction, and ultimately, more customers for you!
3. Search engine optimisation
Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the bread and butter of digital marketing. The better your website is optimised, the higher you’ll appear in organic search engine rankings on platforms like Google.
Web design companies keep in mind best SEO practices when building a custom website so that it is far easier and more effective to actually rank highly in any given search. Unlike generic websites, a custom-designed and built website has the foundational SEO necessities baked into it from the outset, so you’re best positioned to increase traffic to your web pages.
4. Scalability & flexibility
Businesses grow, change and evolve, and it’s essential that your website reciprocate in kind. Most generic websites simply lack the ability to scale and flexibility in design and function to allow for the growth and changes you need.
Whether you’re adding new features, updating the copy and content, or just expanding your website’s functionality, having a custom-designed website is critical for allowing it to complement your business’s upward trajectory.
5. Gain a competitive edge
We’ve alluded to and mentioned this advantage a few times now, but it bears cementing. In 2024, having a website is no longer an option: It’s a necessity.
But that means that your business is likely one of many vying for prime real estate online and one of many trying to attract new visitors and customers. Working with a website developer who can build a unique and professional website for your specific needs will provide you with a competitive edge that generic templates simply can’t match.
Work with the top website developer in Brisbane: GO Creative!
We understand the level of investment that goes into a custom website which is why our web developers here at GO spare no effort in ensuring the very best website, personalised for each customer that walks through our doors.
From personalised branding to customised functionality and ultimate flexibility to enhanced user experience, we’ll work with you to ensure that your new corporate website design complements your business goals and growth.
If you’d like to have a no-obligation and no-cost chat with one of our local Brisbane-based website developers, book a meeting with our team today.
