What’s Best For Your Business?
Custom Web Design Vs. Website Templates
No matter the industry, market, or niche, we all have that special something that distinguishes us from our competitors.
The challenge we all have is to present our unique selling points online.
Perhaps it’s just the brand recognition and awareness that you need, which can be achieved with a simple WordPress website.
On the other hand, an omni-channel solution like Magento 2 can provide even the most complex custom features to support your sales and communication funnels.
Here are a few things to take in consideration when deciding if a custom website design or template the best fit for your business.
Every business has its own unique needs.
No matter the industry, market, or niche, we all have that special something that distinguishes us from our competitors.
The challenge we all have is to present our unique selling points online.
Is a template enough to boost awareness for your brand or do you need a custom website design to drive brand recognition and conversions?
We discuss the important factors to consider when making your decision, showcasing why a custom website design created by professionals can deliver superior online growth for your brand.
What Are The Benefits Of A Custom Website Design?
While theme and page templates are often a quicker and cheaper option, there are numerous benefits to choosing a custom website design:
1. Supported Brand Identity
With only 50 milliseconds to make a strong first impression, your website is against the clock to portray your brand identity from the moment it loads.
While adaptable website templates go some way to providing a bespoke user interface, only completely custom web designs can highlight your unique brand values, messaging and style upon entry and throughout the user journey.
2. Visitors Can Explore More Easily
Getting a custom website design means you have full control over the entire experience. You get to choose what to add, where to add it and how things are connected to each other.
But, of course, a professional agency can help you take it in the right direction. This way, you avoid the risk of creating a messy website or chaotic navigation that your visitors would struggle to understand.
When the experts handle your custom website design, it can be easier for your clients to use your site. They can also add appealing images, create interesting content and rework the layout so everything is easy to read.
3. You Get Unique Features
Going for one of the 30,000 templates on Themeforest may seem like a no-brainer. But there’s a catch. They all look pretty much the same and have pretty much the same features.
Do you really want to have a website that looks like everyone else’s?
If you run a large business with lots of products or services, this may be an even bigger issue for you. Using a template will probably not do your business any favors, since you won’t be able to customize it as much. But a custom website design can show off your unique value and market offer.
4. Doesn’t Mess With Your Existing Systems
You likely have some software or tools you use every day. It would be easier for you if you could add those tools to your new custom website design so you can have a centralized view.
Hiring professionals means you can handle this process more smoothly. You get all your necessary plugins and add-ons like CRM or WooCommerce, without any downtime or delays.
5. You Can Save More Over Time
No one’s under the illusion that a custom website design doesn’t cost more than a template upfront. But if you look past that initial cost, you’ll notice that it can save you a lot of headaches down the line.
For starters, did you know that templates come with lots of pre-made code? The more code your site has, the longer it would take for it to load for visitors. That’s not a good look for your business, considering that 53% of users would leave a page if it takes more than three seconds to load.
In contrast, a custom website design only contains elements that are important for your business. No unnecessary code, no additional bloat, no extra features. It loads faster and it’s up to par with your expectations.
Not to mention how much easier it would be to update or rework some parts of it because you know exactly where to look. This makes it easier to find and fix any problems that may come up.
What To Consider When Choosing The Best Custom Website Design Company?
Choosing the right agency to deliver your custom web design is an individual process, but there are several factors to keep in consideration:
1. Experience & Expertise
Whether a comprehensive website design or a simple site refresh, choosing to work with a highly experienced, professional website design agency on your custom website design project can make sure you receive a high-quality result.
Go to the portfolio section for every custom website design agency. You can learn more about their standards and the businesses they work with by looking at their previous designs.
2. Reviews From Past Clients
Let’s be real, you only want the best for your business. Would you work with a company whose clients aren’t satisfied with their results? We think the answer is clear as day.
Obviously, you can’t compare all the agencies’ services this way, but you can definitely see which ones have the edge.
Look for specific details when assessing custom website design companies. How have the previous clients communicated with them? What were their challenges and what results did they get? Are they happy with their current progress?
3. Knowing That It Works For Your Business
You’ve surely set some goals for your custom website design by now. Maybe you want to add a filter feature or you need that specific layout you’ve always had your eye on. This should make it easier for you, since you need to look for companies that can pull that off for you.
You can find out more about their capabilities if you ask very detailed questions. See how they plan every custom website design project and if this works for your business plan.
For example, our experts have a close look at your industry, market trends and company. Only then do we create a custom website design that truly feels right for you.
4. Management Skills And Prompt Responses
Every company comes to a stage when there are issues. It’s just inevitable and a part of the business process.
So when this happens, will the custom website design company help you deal with those problems? Can they provide useful features or adjust their strategies?
Be honest about the common challenges you have and ask them how they can use the custom website design to respond to those.
Digital Silk’s award-winning designers know how to get things done. We can adapt our strategies when circumstances change quickly. We pay attention to what you need, when you need it.
For instance, we recently updated the Buddha Brands website using their new guidelines.
5. Services For All Areas
Custom website design services that take care of everything from beginning to end can help you improve your position in the market. But adding a full set of digital tools can really take things to the next level.
Check out the header or footer menus on the agency’s website. See if you can find these services:
- Designing and setting up websites
- Marketing and branding services
- Online shopping tools
- Making software and apps
- Offering help and advice from experts
6. Due Dates And Channels For Communication
How do you want to talk to the custom website design company every day? Would you rather have calls or stick to emails? How often do you want this to happen? Make sure both sides are on the same page for this one.
Once you’ve figured that out, consider when you want your custom website design to be finished. It might take months to complete, or even longer if you’re after something more complex, but the agency you choose should be able to explain everything in detail.
7. Website Support And Updates
You should always think about the future. You require regular support if your custom website design includes a lot of complicated features and plugins. But you’ll see fewer issues and less downtime if you have everything taken care of by custom website design professionals.
Ask each agency about the specific services and support packages they offer so you can see what fits you best.
At Digital Silk, we provide monthly retainers to not only give around the clock support to our clients, but also boost their performance through areas like SEO and lead generation.
5 Signs That You Should Invest In Custom Web Design
Not sure whether to go for a custom website design or to purchase a theme?
Here are five telltale signs to look out for:
1. Your Page Speed Is Lagging
As mentioned, a Google study found that 53% of mobile users will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. In fact, the probability of a bounce increases 32% as page load speeds rise from one to three seconds.
Lagging load time is a sign of poor site optimization — something professional web developers can remedy for a fast and functional site ecosystem with custom website services.
2. You Don’t Get The Customers You Want
Getting leads that never turn into actual customers can be frustrating. You get that email requesting a quote or a demo, only for it to turn up a dead end. Not because you’re not good enough, but because you’re not actually coming up in search for the people you want to get to.
This cycle is further exacerbated if fewer people start visiting your website, or you’re coming up for the wrong keywords and it’s all just becoming a mess.
If this is the case for you, your SEO and digital strategy need a second look. A full-service custom website design agency should help you fix all of those issues.
Our experts at Digital Silk know exactly how people search online and what keywords you should target. We can use these insights in your custom website design to get you back up to where you belong.
3. You’re Not Seeing Enough Sales
Your website is your main point of sale. If the numbers are looking rough, chances are your overall design and strategy are likely to blame.
When you have a custom website design, you can better direct users to the steps you want them to take.
Let’s say you have a hotel website. Your visitors would likely benefit from a booking form at the top so they don’t need to scroll all the way to the bottom.
The same goes for a manufacturing site. Adding something like a product catalog or spec sheet can help visitors make the right decision.
4. The Design Looks Like All The Others
If you’re using a template, you’re not exactly a unicorn. Even if you add your own brand colors, images or messaging, the core layout would still be the same one other businesses with that template have.
A custom website design, on the other hand, is made only for your business. It meets your goals, presents your brand and satisfies the demands of people you want to target.
This way, you can give your customers something that your competitors can’t.
5. You Ignore Mobile Performance
Users browsing on mobile aren’t less valuable than those coming from desktop.
Now imagine those users opening your site just to see huge chunks of text or weird buttons they can’t even tap without messing up everything on the site. Horrible, right?
If your site doesn’t load properly on mobile, a staggering 88% of users will leave it.
There are more than 5.11 billion people who use smartphones as of 2026. That's almost twice as many as in 2020 and the number keeps going up.
We recommend thoroughly testing your website during creation to make sure it looks good on all platforms, whether you pick the classic desktop-first strategy or the newer mobile-first approach.
Best Practices For Custom Website Design
Regardless of your industry, you need to follow guidelines for custom website design. Our team uses the latest insights to make sure our projects perform at their best.
Our competent website developers know a lot about different design styles and technology, so we can make personalized solutions that fit each client's needs.
We also give each project a dedicated, senior-level digital strategist, so we have clear communication at all times. It also helps us meet the deadlines and budget.
This lets us give each client our full attention and finish projects that go above and beyond what they expect.
Here are some of the best things we do that make custom website design deliver the intended results:
1. Planning Ahead
We start every custom website design project by doing a lot of research on your industry, target audience, competitors and goals.
We then use the information we acquire to build a customized digital strategy for your business, complete with a clear plan of action to help you reach your online growth goals.
2. Making Sure It Works On Any Device
More than half of the people around the globe go online on their phones. Gone are the days when desktop was the most common way they could look at your website.
Naturally, desktop and mobile browsing is completely different from one another. The latter needs tap-friendly buttons, hamburger menus and simplified text to fit on smaller screens.
We make sure that everyone has a good experience with your custom website design, no matter the device they’re using.
3. Getting Your Custom Website Design To Appear Higher On Google
Going higher on search results pages means more people will likely click on your custom website design. Most people don’t look too far down before opening something anyway.
Since 53.3% of website visitors come from those results pages, you need to think about what your position is.
SEO can help you get more visitors, reach more people and increase your visibility.
Our SEO professionals do a lot of keyword research and then use those keywords in your headers, title tags, meta descriptions and image tags, among other places, to improve your web pages so that they show up on search engine results pages.
What To Do Once You Hire A Custom Website Design Company?
While your selected agency should take full ownership of your custom web design, your contributions as a business owner are still important.
Here are several steps that are universal to everyone:
1. Set Up Communication Channels
You need to let the professionals know what you expect and they should keep you in the loop at each stage.
You can do this by creating and maintaining clear lines of communication from the beginning to the end.
We use a lot of different ways to talk to each other at Digital Silk, such as email, project management tools and video calls.
Telling the agency about your goals and vision can help them make a custom website design that fits your brand.
The best way to share these is through a custom brand book design. Designers will use these rules to make a user interface and experience that is on-brand and gets results.
2. Share Your Brand Vision & Goals
You should openly share what you expect from the project, if you want the custom website design to get good results.
The best way to do this is through a brand book design. This document contains guidelines like brand colors, fonts and other visual elements that designers can use.
3. Give Them Images Or Visuals That You Have
Unless you’re a brand new company, you’ll surely have existing visual assets that you can share with your custom website design company. This way, the experts can use them wherever possible and help you maintain that familiarity you already have with your customers.
For instance, Digital Silk created a custom website design for Dunnion Law. Our team used photos of their lawyers so clients could immediately recognize them and build that emotional connection.
4. Work Together On Your Ideas
You probably already have some idea of how you want your custom website design to look. Feel free to share it with the experts so they can figure out a way to make it work.
For instance, if you tell us which elements are most important to your business, our team can make a wireframe layout that focuses on those areas.
5. Review And Share Your Thoughts
Before the launch, our design team will show you mock-ups what your custom web design could look like.
The wireframe is usually the first, stripped-back version you get. Then we add the colors, animations and images.
As the customer, your feedback ensures that the custom website design properly fits what the users want and need, while also promoting values of your organization.
Digital Silk's Custom Web Design Examples
From seamless navigation to engaging effects and animations, our award-winning designers deliver winning custom websites. See a selection of our best work.
1. J&H Tackle
The client: J&H Tackle is a family-run business that sells name-brand fishing equipment at low prices.
The design: The design includes an enhanced visual hierarchy, simplified navigation and a customer-centric approach, ensuring an intuitive shopping experience where finding and purchasing fishing gear is easy.
Dynamic content and video marketing showcase the brand’s expertise and affordability while promoting deeper engagement with customers.
[Source: J&H Tackle]
2. Sandler
Sandler is a company that offers corporate sales and business development training.
We created a custom website design that would include the brand’s colors and present its professionalism.
Digital Silk included smooth animations, readable fonts and modern elements to support this.
3. G Pen
Our client, G Pen is a cannabis vaporizer engineering firm that develops products that are easy to use and carry.
Our custom website design experts reworked the entire Shopify store. We included handy features and made sure the site’s SEO was up to the latest standards.
4. The American University In Bulgaria (AUBG)
AUBG is a private university with interesting higher education programs and extracurricular activities.
Digital Silk came up with a custom website design that helped students apply more easily. We added simple menus and buttons to get more applications for the university.
5. Buddha Brands
Finally, Buddha Brands is a Digital Silk client that sells healthy snacks and drinks.
We gave them a custom website design with a vivid, colorful and interesting interface that’s just as lively as the brand’s identity.
Our team used cool animations, on-hover features and stunning colors to achieve this.
Create Your Custom Website Design With Digital Silk
At Digital Silk, we provide bespoke services based on consumer, industry and competitive research.
This way, we make goal-oriented decisions and a custom web design that drives conversions for your brand.
As a full-service professional web design company, our key services span:
- Custom website design and development
- Local web design and development in New York, Miami, California and more
- eCommerce development and design for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and more
- Digital branding
- Digital marketing and consulting
For every project, we deliver:
- Project ownership
- Transparency
- Measurable results
Our design team offers free consultation & custom proposals for custom website design projects. This gives both us and our clients the opportunity to explain our processes, understand your website requirements and further discuss the project at hand.
Simply fill out the Request a Quote form, tell us about your goals and our experts will provide you with actionable insights and cost estimates.
Or, call us at (800) 206-9413 to start the conversation.
