Stuck between choosing a website template or hiring a designer for a custom website?

So, you need a stand-out website for your business to shine in an increasingly saturated digital landscape. But should you opt for a modern, stylish template or a traditional professional custom design?

I can absolutely relate to the immense pressure of creating the right impact with a dazzling digital presence. Ensuring the wow factor and inspiring conversions is what it’s all about, right? 

A Practical Comparison for an Informed Decision

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of templates, especially our own incredibly stylish Showit website templates. But as an essential tool to turn your creative vision into a striking digital, money-making reality, let’s look at what both options offer. 

Once I’ve sprinkled a little digital design clarity for you, don’t miss a bonus third option at the end!

First up…

Why Should I Choose a Customisable Website Template?

Pros

• Visually Stunning ‘ready to go’ Designs.  

Clunky, bland template designs are a thing of the past, thank goodness! 

Professional designers, passionate about their craft (hello!), nowadays create sophisticated layouts with modern elements infusing much more powerful visual appeal. 

• Easily Customisable and User Friendly

Website template customisation and user-friendly interfaces allow you to easily reflect your brand’s personality. Changing fonts, colours, images, etc., is crucial for maintaining brand consistency and adding your unique touch.

Showit’s drag-and-drop functionality, in particular, stands out in making this a breeze. 

• Affordable Option

Templates are undeniably a much cheaper option than starting from scratch (which incidentally is, on average, 8-10 times more expensive than using a template). Ideal for smaller budgets or those looking to spread their budget across other areas of their business simultaneously, such as into marketing costs.  

• Faster Timescale

With most of the hard work already done, template-based websites can be up and running quickly. Perfect if you want to get your website launched and business thriving ASAP.

• Fully Optimised for both Mobile and Desktop

Let’s be honest: it’s a non-negotiable these days that your website looks (and functions) as perfect on a mobile device as a desktop. Website templates have that taken care of from the get-go.

Cons

• Additional Costs

You’ll incur extra costs if you want to add premium Plug-Ins to your site that offer more functionality than the (free) basic versions. 

• Potential Lack of Originality

If you don’t spend time customising website templates, your site will get lost in an online sea of ‘sameness’. 

Ever turned up to a party in the same outfit as someone else? You get the gist.

• Time Consuming Tasks

Customising and tweaking a template to perfectly reflect your unique brand will take extra time. FACT.

And while you’ll have a beautifully stylish template, the customisation is non-negotiable. 

Best Suited To: Busy entrepreneurs, small business owners and creatives.

Website templates are about ease without compromising style or substance—an excellent starting point for establishing a dynamic, high-converting digital presence.

And with a user-friendly, customisable framework already in place, much of the hard work is already done. Saving precious time and money (what’s not to love about that!)

Is A Custom Design Website a Good Choice?

Pros

• 100% Unique

Starting from scratch means you can choose every single (even the teeny tiniest) detail for your website. It will be super specific to your brand and guaranteed to give a totally unique online presence.

• Fully Integrated

No need for adding Plug-Ins as all design features and complex functionalities are fully integrated into the design process. 

• Designed with Scalability in Mind

Custom-design websites work well for companies looking for fast growth on a large scale. 

With the right design, modifications can be made as business needs change, but this will need to be done by the designer. 

Note: Work with the best web designer you can, and make clear your growth plans so they can allow for this at the design stage as much as possible. Future unplanned changes will take time and (lots) more money.

• Complete Control

If you have an extremely particular vision, custom design will allow you to have as much input as you want/need/demand – delete as appropriate! 

While it will take longer, the result will be precise without compromise.

Cons

• High Cost

There’s no denying that custom-designed websites are expensive! 

They can take up a considerable chunk of your budget, which could be better spent on other aspects of growing your business. 

• Time Consuming

Starting with a completely blank slate is a lengthy, time-consuming process. 

Expect it to take anything from 4-8 weeks for the most basic site to several months for the more complex. 

It’s not ideal if you are keen to launch and attract new business quickly.

• Maintenance Issues and Costs

Inevitably, such a detailed-driven site will need maintenance from time to time. 

As well as additional costs, you’re at the mercy of a designer’s availability when dealing with any issues.

Best Suited To: Larger companies with big budgets, advanced requirements, and high user traffic. 

A custom website is undeniably the better option for businesses with complex functionality requirements or unique user experience needs. 

If time and money are no problem (lucky you!), designing a custom site 100% unique to your brand while perfectly aligning with your (future)  business needs is a worthy investment. 

Website Templates are an Excellent Starting Point

Templates are perfect for establishing a dynamic, high-converting digital presence. And a much more affordable alternative to a custom-designed website.  

Your business website needs a stunning, attention-grabbing aesthetic that sets the tone. And then wows with a seamless user experience, paving a smooth, logical path to the all-important conversion.

With a template, you get all this, AND you can do it yourself without any complicated coding knowledge. 

It’s as simple as:

• Choosing a template, 
• downloading, 
• and customising! 

Wondering how to choose a website template?

Most importantly, pick a template style that resonates with you and your brand essence. Then, it must have the tools and capability to customise to reflect your unique branding. 

Take your time and do the research.

Browse our online shop of stunning Showit website templates; all are easily customisable at the click of a button and guaranteed to elevate your brand and maximise its potential. 

And now, for an option that offers a great compromise – the professional touch of a custom-designed website and a template’s flexibility and seamless functionality.

Showit Custom Web Design

If you are gravitating towards a full custom web design because of the unique touch, but don’t have the budget (or need) for completely bespoke design, let me introduce you to our most popular service:

Showit Template Customisation (aka; Semi-Custom Web Design)

Or better known as… the best of both worlds.

If you love the idea of a premium website but have concerns (or no time!) for customising a template as effectively as you’d like…..I can make this A LOT easier for you. 

Our VIP week allows you to choose one of our upscale Showit website templates and have a professional website designer (that’s me!) do all the extra hard work for you. 

After taking the time to really understand your brand vision, I will then get down to expertly crafting a high-end, semi-custom digital work of art. A powerful marketing machine perfectly aligned to your requirements and ready to go in just a week. 

If you’re thinking, yes, please! That’s exactly what I need!  Take a look here to discover more about Studio Designs’ fast-track VIP experience.