Does My Website Need To Be Bespoke?

What is a bespoke website?

When a product is bespoke, it means that it has been made to order. A product made to order meets the individual requirements of the consumer.

Therefore, a bespoke website is one that is built with the client’s needs in mind at every stage. A bespoke website provides much more value than just having a unique look; it provides much better functionality than a templated website.

What is a website template?

A website template is a pre-designed website that anyone can use.

It is possible for you to create your own website with a template even with very little knowledge, however, many web developers also use website templates for clients and customise them. Buying a template website could cost you a lot less than buying a bespoke website built from scratch.

Bespoke websites vs website templates

Return on investment

The biggest consideration is the value you will get from each site. A template website will be cheaper to buy initially but is far less likely to generate as many sales or leads as a bespoke site would.

With a bespoke website, a good web designer will be able to tailor your customers’ experience perfectly to provide them with the information they need and drive more conversions. A one-size-fits-all just can’t be that effective for the simple reason that every business has different client demographics, different goals and a different personality.

But before you start to think we are slating all websites that use a template, we aren’t! In fact, if you need a website to promote your brand-new business and don’t have a huge budget, templates can be a good solution. There are various customisations you can make to a template to tailor it as best you can. Besides, you can get a bespoke website further down the line when you want to grow your business at a faster rate.

We found a good blog on how to choose a website template that gives you some points to consider.

Bespoke website example

Frogspark recently designed a website for well-known fitness blogger & YouTuber, Rob Lipsett. We placed a big focus on promoting Rob’s social media following by highlighting just how many followers his great content has got him (with 162,744 YouTube followers, he’s a pretty big deal). We did this because it gives his brand a lot of credibility making users more likely to convert into customers.

We also dedicated an entire page to Rob’s online presence which features his latest Instagram posts, YouTube videos and tweets.

Watch Rob Lipsett’s website being designed by web designer and Director of Frogspark, Rob Twells!

Visibility

Because templates often use “bad” code, it can have a negative impact on your site’s SEO which means you are likely to be a lot less visible in search engines. This is because search engine bots may find it harder to crawl and understand your site. And guess what, if the bots are having trouble then it probably means your users are too! Bad code can result in issues such as poor page loading time, broken links and more.

Maintenance

Your website will need to be maintained and sometimes problems will occur that you won’t be able to fix yourself – you might not know they’re even there! You will need someone who knows code to ensure your website stays functional.

This is another benefit of buying a bespoke website. You can have the developer that built your website, maintain your website. Because they wrote the code, they understand the code and will know how to fix it if problems do occur. They will probably charge you a maintenance fee but this is a small price to pay to ensure your website keeps providing value.

Conclusion

If you can afford to get a bespoke, go bespoke! If you choose a reputable web company to build your site, you will make your money back on the investment.

If you’re just starting out or just haven’t got the cash to spend at the moment, choose a template website that best fits your business brand and goals. You can purchase a template for next to nothing if you are going to customise it yourself. Alternatively, if you can spend a little more, research web developers that will customise a template for you – it’s still a cheaper alternative to going completely bespoke.

Ultimately, invest in the best website that you can afford but make sure you have a website!

Find out what Frogspark can do with your budget.