Custom Web Design & What It Can Do For Your Business
Chris Mulvaney is the CEO of CMDS. I make things... I’m the creative entrepreneur with passion for (re)making brands and inventing solutions to problems no one knows exist.
So you are in need for new web design and you’ve heard about custom web design, but you’re not really sure what is the difference.
Imagine going to a tailor and ordering a suit. This is a suit you intend to wear everyday… so you have to look good in it.
The thing is, it looked great in the catalog and the price was just right, but when you brought it home, it just doesn’t fit right. The sleeves are too short, it’s too tight in the waist… it’s just not you.
When you look in the mirror, you realize… you just look average, but you were supposed to look awesome.
In fact, you are awesome! Your business is awesome! Your website should be awesome, too! Your custom web design should be like a well tailored suit. Your website needs to perfectly reflect the best features of your business.
The Transformation to Custom Web Design
Who wants to transform their website into a branding powerhouse? Who wants to get cutting-edge web design powered by results?
Okay, so at this point everyone should be raising their hands and saying, I do!
If you just said, I do, then you’re looking for custom web design.
Yes, custom web design for your business is the best way to go. It’s the only way to stand out, the only way to get the edge in a hyper-competitive world.
In short, it’s the only way to be awesome.
You want to awesome or not?
Yeah you do.
Now the only question remaining: You gonna choose custom design over a template for your website?
Hmmm. Let’s discuss.
What is Custom Web Design?
Every business wants to be unique, wants to stand out from the crowd. To stand out from the chorus line and hit the perfect G5 amid the cacophony of flats and sharps.
But is it really possible, anymore?
You say to yourself, Self? I am unique. Thus and therefore my website must also be unique. I need a company that offers custom web design.
But what does custom web design really mean?
The truth is, most companies, most people don’t really know. In fact, most custom websites from so-called reputable companies, wouldn’t make it through customs, or cut the mustard or (insert appropriate idiom here _________ .)
Most custom websites sold to companies are simple, template websites that have been sold to a company with a hiked-up price tag and spiffy gifs and images.
Let’s make no mistake– this is not custom design.
The purpose of this article is to help you choose the best custom web design for your business needs and to make the tenants of custom web design clear as crystal. That way, you can actually realize and achieve the uniqueness that is you.
Custom Web Design Vs Template Design
How to tell the difference between custom and template web design?
It’s actually not that hard.
Generally, a custom web design checks the same boxes over and over again.
- Completely original concept– CHECK
- Neither templates nor websites sampled– CHECK
- Your website is like no other– CHECK
Template web design also hits a series of check boxes.
- They all look the same– CHECK
- They all look the same– CHECK
- They all look the same– CHECK
If you’re not sure if your “custom” design is actually custom or not, it’s best to have it analyzed by a team of professionals.
A team like– oh, I don’t know… CMDS? You know, the rockstar web design firm out of New Jersey!
(He clears his throat. Eyes dart back and forth)
We’ll get back to that in a bit….
The truth is, you can go to the big template company and get your website design and for cheap… but there will be a cost. The cost will be you. It will be your inability to effectively communicate who you are as a business. It will be an obstacle in reaching your target audience.
And because templated web designs are essentially cookie cutter products, you’ll have no chance of standing out from the crowd.
Unless you’re writing a blog, template solutions like Wix or WordPress are suitable for only a limited number of clients and usually serve as a gateway toward bigger and more complex designs. Once those clients realize that they themselves are limited by the template, they will customize.
If you want to take full advantage of what the internet has to offer, custom web design is what you need.
Advantages of Custom Web Design
Okay, we get it. Web design is the creation of websites. It’s the webpage layout, content production, and graphic design. Technically it all falls under web design and development.
So what’s the custom part?
Basically, a custom web design incorporates the values, vision and mission of your company in a visually captivating statement that can be displayed throughout a variety of outlets and platforms.
Moreover, it includes the custom functionalities you need in the back end to have your business function smoothly: data collection, lead generation, CRM integration, shopping carts and downloadables, etc.
When this design is infused to your website… now we’re talking about individuality. Now you’ve got uniqueness. Now your business and attitude is being revealed at its core… but, you know, in a good way.
“Your business is unique. You may have competitors and imitators, but nobody does what you do quite the way you do it. That means your web presence should be unique, too. But you don’t need to have a Master’s degree in computer science to get the website you’ve always wanted. Instead, you can use a custom web design company.”
– Webdesignrankings
Professional web designs use art and science in sync. It isn’t something you can achieve by watching a couple DIY videos on Youtube or reading web design for dummies. There are subtleties, nuances… a certain je ne sais quoi that only a professional can offer and bring about a better user experience.
Some may think that the placement of buttons, icons and videos are random, but they most certainly are not. There is a psychology behind the technology.
A good web designer will meticulously analyze industry trends, target audiences, and let’s not forget the all important business needs and goals.
If you hire a web design firm for a custom design and they spit it back out at you with a turn around that’s less than 24 hours, you probably aren’t going to get the best return on your investment.
Standards for what is quality web design are always evolving. What may have been lights-out-awesome 20 years ago will look drab, outdated and obsolete today.
(wait, have websites been around 20 years already? OMG- I’m so old)
Speaking of old, remember Google’s old logo? They updated it in 2015 based on their observations of industry trends. Although the updated logo stayed true to their original design they adjusted it, using a minimalist approach and adding softer edges because that was the direction good design was headed at the time.
The one sin a business or a business’s website can’t commit is to look outdated. Good web design companies stay on the cutting edge of design. This is where they thrive.
Template websites cannot match the most important features of your business because they create restrictions based of their own templates.
For example. You’re a restaurant; a pizzeria, let’s say. You’ve got your menu online but you used a WordPress template that only allows you a certain number of items to display from your menu.
You offer a large, medium and small pie but you can’t put that on your website because the template doesn’t give you that option.
The result? You have to omit some of your options from the website. It’s a loss of choice for your online customers and a loss of potential revenue for you.
All because you didn’t customize your website to reflect… you.
Custom Web Design and Versatility
A versatile custom web design can adapt to the devices your target audience uses. This is called a Responsive Web Design.
“If your website uses an old, unresponsive design or outdated theme, it may not display properly on newer versions of web browsers or mobile devices… The last thing you want a potential customer to experience when they visit your website is a slow site that they have to pinch zoom to see on their mobile phone.”
– CMDS
A responsive design helps ease the tension of reaching multiple demographics with one site. Think about it, an older demographic spends more time on a desktop or a laptop. A younger demographic will access your site through a mobile device, be it a cell phone or tablet.
A Responsive Design looks great for both.
Professional Custom Web Design
Though it may seem tantalizing, especially when you’re trying to save money, I advise against going with a new or inexperienced company to take on your custom web design needs.
In other words, don’t hire your cousin, who decided to take a semester off of college to hook you up because cheap.
His concepts seem nice and his rates are great but mediocrity in means mediocrity out. You’ll end up with an average site with poor functionality. And forget about your timetable if you’re in a hurry. The wait-time will be drastically longer.
The best custom websites come from experienced developers.
Experienced developers can walk you through the process of your custom web design. From discovery meeting, strategy sessions, internal kick-off, and creative designs, to site map and information architecture, development phase, fine tuning and, finally, launch.
The nature of the development process requires a working relationship between the client and the developer. It is the web designer’s job to not only build the website of your dreams, but to guide you through each step.
It’s okay and even normal to be confused at different stages of the process, but if the web design firm cannot clarify things for you, well, that’s a an issue.
An experienced web development company, like CMDS, can take you through the process seamlessly and explain the tenants of a good website.
A company like CMDS will make sure your website is responsive so that it looks great on mobile devices, tablets and desktop versions. They will offer you different SEO strategies. They’ll implement conversion architecture that includes multiple calls to action on every page. They’ll make sure a user knows where they’re going within the website and push them to take the right steps, such as making purchases and joining email lists.
Conclusion
Remember the story we asked you to imagine? About the suit you picked off the catalog but when you brought it home and put it on, it didn’t fit right because it wasn’t tailored for you, but for the masses.
CMDS is the experienced tailor you need to craft your website and make sure it fits perfectly. Let the Colts Neck, NJ-based CMDS team put your web design into action and ensure that it looks and works awesome, because it needs to reflect you. Give us shout out at (732) 706-5555 to hear more about your custom web design needs.