At the time of this writing, e-commerce sales accounted for more than 14 percent of total sales in the United States economy. That number has been on the rise since the turn of the millennium, and it’s only going to keep growing. That means that if you don’t want to miss out on that 14 percent of sales, you need to have a fantastic company website.
Drag-and-drop websites may seem like the most convenient way to get your company online, but they have a lot of pitfalls. Read on to discover the benefits of custom web design services and how they can help your business grow and thrive.
1. Personalized Branding
One of the biggest benefits of a custom web design is that you can get personalized branding for your site. Your branding is your company’s calling card, and you’ve worked hard to incorporate it through every aspect of your brick-and-mortar business. You’ll want to make sure your website reflects that same branding on every page.
If you use a pre-made site template, the most you’ll be able to do is incorporate your business colors and maybe a font or two. But when you work with a custom web design service, they can create an entire website that reflects your branding from the ground up. From the layout of the site to the picture display settings to the page transitions, your whole site will feel like your business made digital.
2. Optimized Customer Experience
Creating a stellar customer experience is a critical part of any successful business, and that commitment needs to continue online. Studies have shown that about 76 percent of customers visit a company’s website before ever going to visit the location in person. This means that your website, not your brick-and-mortar store, is your company’s first impression for customers.
You want to make sure your website offers the same excellent customer experience and dedication to quality service that you have throughout the rest of your business. A custom web design team can work with you to meet the needs of your particular customer base. They can also help you tweak any areas that may not be working 100 percent for you or your customers.
3. Improved SEO
As of this writing, there are almost 2 billion websites on the internet. To put that in perspective, if you visited one website every second, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, it would take you more than sixty-three years to visit them all. If you want to make your company site stand out in an ocean that massive, you’ll need some solid search engine optimization.
Cookie-cutter websites can do some to help improve your SEO, but their solutions tend to be pretty one-size-fits-all. A custom web design team will be up to date on all the latest SEO best practices and will be able to build them into the bones of your site. This kind of ground-up optimization can get you a little higher in the search rankings and may improve your site traffic.
4. Site Agility
One of the somewhat frustrating realities of web design is that the work never ends. The internet changes and grows at the speed of light, and your website needs to be able to keep up with the times. You can’t rely on an outdated template or try to pick a more up-to-date format every few months.
A custom site can help you improve your site agility and stay on top of updates as needed. Your web design team can change bits and pieces of the site, rather than starting from scratch when pieces of your design become obsolete. This can keep your site flexible and your business one step ahead of the competition.
5. More Hosting Control
Another downside of the drag-and-drop website model is that you have very little (if any) control over your site hosting. Site hosting refers to the server where your website “lives” and can include everything from data backup to security and more. Depending on the type of business you run, you may have some specific requirements for your hosting platform.
Unfortunately, pre-built sites may lock you in with hosting providers who don’t meet those needs. When you work with a custom design team, they can set up a hosting arrangement that works for your business. And if those needs change, they can help you shift to a new host, although that can be a complex process.
6. Foundation for Future Growth
Perhaps the worst thing about using a template website is that it can set a cap on your website’s growth potential. As your business grows, you may find that your site can’t keep up with the increased capacity or that it doesn’t include the features you need. Adding these features may not be a possibility, limiting the areas you can grow into.
A custom web design service can make sure your site can keep up no matter where your business takes you. Better still, because they’ve done all the work on your site from Day 1, they already know your business, your needs, and your preferences. You’ll have a strong foundation for site growth that can take you beyond your wildest entrepreneurial dreams.
Discover the Benefits of Custom Web Design Services
A good website is a critical part of running a successful business these days, but pre-fab template websites don’t always get the job done. Working with custom web design services can help you get a site that matches your branding and your dedication to a quality customer experience through and through. They can also help you to improve your SEO, keep your site agile, and build a strong foundation for future growth.
If you’d like to discover the benefits of custom web design services for yourself, check out the rest of our site at Key Element Media. We are a full-service agency providing quality digital marketing services for the last two decades. Learn more about us today and start achieving a web design that fits your needs and business.
