Question

Topic: Other

Website - Template Or Custom Design?

Posted by Anonymous on 10/20/2006 at 9:26 AM ET 45 Points
Hi all,

Would like to seek your opinions on whether to buy a template and hire a qualified website designer to customize a website or to dish out several thousand dollars to hire a website design company to do all the work.

I've seen many nice templates that are suitable for my business but I'm worried that there might be a lot of junk codes which makes the site loads slowly. Is it easy for a hired designer to customize a site? Would s/he have the expertise to make it a fast loading site?

As for the second opiton, the most apparent concern is the cost involved...and there's no guarantee that the site would turn out looking great.

With such cost involved, I tend to assume that the coding would be cleaner if done by professional website company. Is this correct?

I'm so stressed out! I need a robust, professional looking and fast loading website for my company. I'd like to build a community either at the same time as the development of the new site or later on when the site is already in place. What are your opinions?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 10/20/2006 at 11:54 AM Member
    Hi,

    Email me at [email address deleted by staff] and let me know what day and time is good for you, and I will set up a teleconference between you, me and my web developer and we can discuss your options.

    To Your Website Success,
    Eric Gruber



  • Posted by jpoyer on 10/20/2006 at 3:15 PM Accepted
    Gosh Meg, I don't think it would cost you several thousand dollars to get a design versus a template. Please feel free to click on my profile and check out my company's prices.

    Also there is a place I've seen where you can get a really decent design for $199 (Although they are my competition, their portfolio is quite good, and seem very reasonable https://www.heritagewebdesign.com).

    The thing that costs $$ is the dynamic interactive stuff, which you wouldn't get from a template anyway! We're not really supposed to put our sales pitches in our forum answers here, so if you are looking, you might consider posting a project for forum members to properly assess your project(s) (Under the Hire an Expert category on the right sidebar here).

    In my opinion, custom design would be your best choice if it is an option, because you can match it to all your printed materials, and you will definitely have a better opportunity to strengthen your brand, a smart business move.

    Also, a professional web designer understands how to create your pages to be search engine friendly and will also keep your code cleaner. Anything made just for you will fit your needs better than any "one-size-fits-all" (because in the end, it really doesn't fit the way you want).

    One last recommendation: do it now (not after you get something up), so you can have the site you need from the start that will match the feel of your logo, your printed materials and any advertising you are doing. A good designer will be able to look at all your stuff and make your website another piece of that puzzle.

    Best Regards,

    Jennifer
    XPRT Creative
  • Posted by darcy.moen on 10/20/2006 at 5:59 PM Accepted
    Here is a thought.....

    why not hire a specialist who could work with you to convert a template to work with a Content Management System like Mambo or Joomla?

    You get the look of professional development, with all the power, ease, and flexibility of an open source content management system.

    I'd like to put you in touch with Kelly of www.fatpipemedia.com He could help you out with either a custom design template for a CMS, or work with you to convert a template for you.

    My two cents:

    Darcy Moen
    Customer Loyalty Network
  • Posted on 10/21/2006 at 6:49 AM Author
    Thanks for everyone's input!

    Jen, I totally agree with you on getting things done early.

    Currently, we're having a hard time coming up with the copies because we don't have anything to look at. Can a firm design a site to the client's satisfaction without the copies? Can the client add the copies and modify the site structure later on when things are ready?...maybe with a Joomla CMS in place as mentioned by Darcy?

    We feel that having an almost done website will motivate us when things get tough (we're still in the planning process but the company's almost ready to launch) because we can look at it and tell ourself that we DID get something done for the venture!

    Maybe we'll post a project later on. =)
  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 10/23/2006 at 8:20 AM Accepted
    Try www.templatemonster.com. I have used these for clients who are on a low budget and they worked with no problem. Most are created by pros in the field so don't worry about "clean code".
  • Posted on 10/23/2006 at 3:06 PM Accepted
    I’d advise you to go custom. It’s naturally more expensive, but there’s value in custom design vs. looks-like-everyone-else’s-site design. Your emphasis on fast loading implies to me that a web standards solution is appropriate, finding a standards-friendly contractor can be difficult though as many “designers” use html editors which generate code no better than a cookie-cutter template would have. I’d recommend that you put out a call to freelance designers/developers in your area that adhere to web standards in their design, then ask for live portfolio examples and run the examples through a validator (https://validator.w3.org/ is the official W3C one) – if it’s valid XHTML Strict or XHTML Traditional then they’re legit. After that, make sure to let the designer know that bandwidth optimization is important (as should be search optimization).

    I could recommend a contractor if you are interested.



  • Posted on 10/24/2006 at 6:54 AM Author
    Thanks both!

    We did an online search marathon over the weekend to check out hundreds of web design and development firms. We'll most likely pick the company that has marketing experience, offers usability testing, SEO, CMS and copywriting services to custom design a website for our company. We'd rather make a bigger investment than to regret later and waste money on redesigning the cheapie website.

    elizabethr, the validator will be useful in helping us select the company. Thanks again!

  • Posted on 10/26/2006 at 9:53 AM Member
    Since you are considering custom design, would you be interested in learning more about my company HMH? We are a full service agency with a well-established interactive group https://www.thinkhmh.com . And we can do all the things you are looking for. If you are interested, please contact Steve Gelhar, Director of Interactive 503-973-9252. Let him know I sent you. Good luck!
  • Posted on 11/6/2006 at 9:15 PM Member
    Here's the bottom line. If you're looking to brand and build a strong name, then hire someone for a custom design. If you want to focus on SEO or other turnkey methods, then use the template.
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