Everyone knows that a good website is essential to a successful business these days.
When you are developing a website, at some point you will probably be asking yourself: should we build this website from scratch, or use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress?
There are pros and cons to consider for each decision, so let’s look at some of the things you will need to consider.
Do you have a developer?
This is a pretty fundamental question as you decide how you want to build your website. Basically, if you are building a site from the ground up, you will need a developer to write and troubleshoot the code. If you are a web developer or have one on your team, this isn’t an issue for you, and you probably are already working on a custom website design.
However, if web developers aren’t already embedded in your business, you then need to decide: do we hire a developer, do we pay a contractor, or do we train a staff member in web development? This is a big deal, because websites aren’t static. They constantly need to be tweaked and upgraded, as technology and user preferences change. It also matters that your website looks good on a laptop, a tablet, or a phone. Your website needs to be dynamic, and it can get expensive to pay for a contractor to make these changes on the go.
With a content management system like WordPress, you don’t touch any code. Instead, you upload your content to a platform and the program publishes and manages it for you. Because the CMS company has its own developers, they are constantly monitoring, updating and repairing the code so you don’t need to worry about it. In a sense, you are sharing the cost of web development with thousands of other users.
How important is usability?
In a nutshell: if you use a WordPress web design, you can generally assume that any problems or issues are being sorted out without you having to worry. All you have to do is develop and upload your content, and tweak how it is displayed.
Since you aren’t dealing with the code, you can focus on content creation, and if you have problems you can reach out to customer service.
A custom website is going to be more prone to problems that you will be responsible for solving, such as broken code, frequent updates, and site crashes. This is important to budget for if you chose to develop a custom website.
How important is load time?
We know that webpage load time is incredibly important to users. Google even uses it to rank websites: faster load times mean higher rankings. One of the downsides of large CMS providers is that because the code underlying your website is hosted by a company with thousands of customers, your web pages may have slower load times. This is because your website needs to ask the main server for lots of information and wait for it to respond.
A stand-alone site, like one designed by a web developer, can have much faster load times since the web page isn’t having to wait for input from a system that is handling millions of other requests at the same time.
How important is uniqueness?
One of the traits of using a Content Management System (CMS) is that you are loading your content into one of their pre-existing formats. This will mean that, while you will have a lot of options, there will be limits to how you can present your content, what your website will look like, and what it will be able to do. If you aren’t bothered by having a website build on a formula, then a CMS may be a good choice for you. However, it is important to do research and make sure that the platform you choose can meet all of your needs. As a general rule, the easier the platform is to use, the fewer choices you will have in what you can do with your site.
The obvious advantage here of a custom coded website, is that you can make it look and function exactly how you want. You won’t be limited by the design priorities of a separate company. While there are a lot of challenges with unique web design, mostly in coding, repairing, and updating, many businesses want the freedom of setting their own priorities. It can also be a marker of quality, as it demonstrates that you have the skill or the budget for custom web development.
What is your budget?
Because a CMS lets you choose from pre-made themes and templates, you are effectively sharing the cost of web development with thousands of other users. In reality, you are a customer, paying for a product. While different themes may cost more or less money (some may be free in return for ad placement, others can cost hundreds of dollars), you still get to pay all the costs of website management, such as development and hosting, in one clear and predictable monthly or yearly fee.
WordPress sites and other CMS platforms tend to be cheaper to make, host, and maintain than custom websites, because you are sharing the costs with other businesses.
A custom web site can cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop. Paying someone to do all of your code, from scratch, takes time and expertise. It can take hundreds of hours to develop a quality custom website.If you do choose a custom site, get quotes and make sure you budget for yearly maintenance costs as well as emergency support.
There is no right or wrong answer to the question of, should you build a site from scratch or use a CMS like WordPress. However, you need to have a sense of what makes the best sense for your business, and budget for future costs and upkeep too.
