Custom Versus Template Design Which Is Better

By Author: Mel Joelle
Total Articles: 4304
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That depends on your goal for your web project. We've never been big fans of using template designed by others since we make sure all my sites are built from the ground up to perform in the search engines.

Using custom design generates a truly unique website and also interfaces well with technologies that can give it a boost in the search engine rankings.

For a very low budget project where the client just wants something quick, painless, and needs a 24-hour turn around, we would go the template route. They are easy to setup, and for the budget, allows us to still be profitable. We rarely take these projects on though since we are mainly about internet marketing and not about quick cookie-cutter website brochures.
Custom Design controls the environment of web elements better including the layout, the coding, and everything in between. It's a lot more powerful but also a lot more responsibility. With a template it is built mostly just to look nice. Looking nice, especially with a template doesn't necessarily mean it will convert traffic into leads and/or sales for a particular industry.

Custom Design ...
... creates a unique user experience that is tailored towards the targeted audience's needs, and is built to convert traffic into leads. Custom Design opens up a treasure trove of opportunities and tools that are friendly to the search engines in a myriad of ways

For example, the faster search engine spiders can find your content, and the closer to the top of the source code it is, the easier it will get indexed. With custom design, we can load all Java scripts into external files, as well as custom CSS into external files, and use positioning tags to have content at the highest possible point in the source code, and still have a fast functioning site.

This is not to say this can't be done with pre-made templates. The problem is that each site is different and cannot possibly have the exact same needs as another.

If two sites in the same industry were evaluated and I find one is ranking in the top 10 search results for their targeted keyword, and the other is not showing up, depending on which one our client is, I would take two different scenarios.

For the first one, the one already ranking, I would make small more precise SEO calculations and compare the site with the competition to see what they need in order to be #1. The level that is needed of customization is going to be great since I am taking on 9 other specific sites.

For the second scenario, I have to start from complete scratch and create a site that is going to start ranking for long-tailed keywords easier and faster. Keeping the ultimate goal of gaining the coveted #1 position I would make sure it is able to compete with the top 10, but also able to surpass the sites that are all outranking it. At the low level, the competition is slimier but easier to defeat. At the higher level, the competition knows the field better, is better equipped, has age, and is more sophisticated. So the site has to evolve from one type of competition to another. Again, for a site to do this it can only be done with custom design that is built to expand.

The custom route is more hand crafted versus machine made. Like a custom car, they are built to outperform the average competition but with additional add-ons and features that give it the kick it needs for the specific type of industry involved.
Click here to read the rest of Template Design. If you enjoyed this article, you also might like our other stories about Search Engine Optimization.