Templates vs Hand-Coded Websites
Two websites can look similar in a screenshot and work completely differently underneath. Here's what that means for a Whitsundays business.
The short answerA template is a design made for anyone, which you fill with your details. A hand-coded site is written for your business from the start. Templates are quicker and cheaper. Hand-coded sites are usually leaner, faster and easier for Google to understand.
I get asked this a lot, usually by someone comparing my quote to a much cheaper one. So here's the honest version.
What A Template Is
A template is a ready-made design. Someone built it to suit thousands of businesses, and you swap in your logo, photos and words. Most cheap websites and most website packages from big directory companies work this way.
There's nothing wrong with that on its own. The trouble is what comes with it.
The Problems With Templates
- Extra code you don't need. A template has to do everything for everyone, so it loads code for sliders, layouts and features you'll never use. That slows your site down.
- Speed matters to Google. Google measures how fast and steady your page loads on a phone. Slow sites lose out, and so do the customers waiting for them.
- You look like everyone else. Popular templates get used over and over. Your site can end up looking like a hundred others.
- It's built around the template, not your business. Your content gets squeezed into someone else's layout, instead of the layout being built around what your customers need to know.
What Hand-Coded Means
When I build a site as a website designer in Airlie Beach, I write the code for each page myself, in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, on WordPress. Every section is there because your business needs it.
- Lean: only the code the page actually uses.
- Fast: less to load, especially on phones.
- Clear: built around your services and your towns, so Google understands what you do and where.
- Yours: it doesn't look like anyone else's.
When A Template Is Fine
If you just need something online fast, on a tight budget, and you're not relying on Google for work, a template can be enough. I'd rather tell you that than sell you something you don't need.
But if you want customers to find you on Google in Airlie Beach, Cannonvale or Proserpine, the site underneath matters as much as how it looks.
What It Costs
A hand-coded site takes longer to build, so it usually costs more than a basic template. Mine start at $999 for up to 3 pages. See how much a website costs in the Whitsundays for the full picture, or the pricing page for what's included.
Nath J is the website designer and SEO specialist behind Ripple Effect Online, in Airlie Beach since 2001. More about me.
Want One Built For You?
Tell me about your business and I'll tell you what kind of site makes sense, even if the answer is the cheaper one.
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