Which is better in 2024?
WordPress or a Custom-Built Website?
Now that you have decided that it’s time to take your business to the next level by developing a new website design, what’s next? Creating a new website is something that requires some planning and decision-making. One of the major choices you will make is to determine whether you want to construct your business a custom web design or use a ready-built platform such as WordPress. A lot of companies try WordPress as it allows them to create a new website without contracting a professional website designing company or writing any code. But is this the best decision? Well, in this blog, we shall go through the advantages and disadvantages of building a custom website vs. WordPress.
Custom Web Design
Custom-built websites are mainly created when the owner of the site wants specific modifications that WordPress cannot deliver. Most times, custom-built websites are developed for vast complex sites with special functionalities. To create this type of website, you need to find a professional web designing company that excels in designing custom built websites. The website design company will use a programming language and framework to create the website, and some languages they may incorporate are PHP, ASP, Python, Laravel, JavaScript, and Ruby.
Advantages
By constructing a custom-made website, it will allow you to make it as unique as possible while assimilating some specific features that may not be achievable when you use WordPress.
- A custom-built website is better for search engine optimization than a WordPress website. This shows that it can be placed higher in search engines than the one designed with templates using a WordPress CMS. This is essential for any business that wants to gain leads and increase conversions on the internet.
- A custom-made website will integrate your company’s branding by use of design that is exclusive to your company. This makes your business stand above the competition.
- A custom-built site is able to expand with the business. This suggests that if you make any modifications to your business in the future, you can always reach out to the company that designed it for you to revamp the website.
- A custom-built website has more backing than a website built from ready-made templates. This is because it was created by a professional web designing company who is an expert in all types of websites, so if any bug or problem develops, it can always be resolved by the original development team.
Disadvantages
Websites built from scratch are costlier than those built from WordPress. This is because they are customised to your business needs and require professional proficiency. Developing a customized website demands a lot more time than designing it using WordPress.
WordPress
WordPress is a free website development tool which was originally intended to develop blogs. Over the time, the tool has transformed and become a more complicated platform for constructing websites. One of the main reasons why people select this platform to make their websites is that it requires only basic web understanding. You do not need to be an expert in coding and programming languages or contact a web design agency to make a website. In fact, close to 15% of all webpages today have been developed using WordPress, and the amount is growing. The following are some advantages and disadvantages of this tool to help you decide.
- Constructing a website with WordPress requires less time than developing it completely from the scratch. This is because the CMS is already formed and so you will have the time to concentrate on content and design.
- WordPress has a library of pre-made themes. Instead of striving to devise your own theme, you can just select one from the library and change your website’s appearance instantly.
- WordPress provides a secure platform to build your website. This is because it’s a large community of developers that operate together to recognize any security holes or errors in the system, then furnishes a security patch. WordPress frequently brings out enhancements which you can always download and install, making your website more secure.
- With WordPress, you can take care of search engine ranking with the many SEO plug-ins for WordPress. With these plug-ins, you can make some basic SEO enhancements to any webpage, such as Meta Description, H1 tags, and Meta Titles. Some WordPress plug-ins can tell you how your website is well optimized for Search Engine Optimization.
- WordPress has responsive themes that enable you to build your website effectively on mobile devices, tablets, and PCs. These themes allow the user to have a positive experience while browsing your site on any device.
- As we mentioned above, WordPress started as a blogging platform. This means that it still has a built-in blogging feature that allows setting up and maintaining a blog easily.
Disadvantages
- While it’s great to select any theme of your choice from the library, you may find it difficult to adjust the theme to your specifications. In this situation, you will need services of an experienced web designing company who knows the functionality of WordPress.
- While the platform releases frequent updates and security patches, it is yet vulnerable to hackers. These hackers take benefit from the time of constructing these patches to hack into your site and create mayhem on your website.
- WordPress demands regular maintenance. They continually release updates and patches each year to combat hackers and pirates, which may call for some expertise in installing them. If you cannot do it, bring in a professional web development company.
To sum up, both custom web design and WordPress have their own advantages and disadvantages. You should pick which method to use contingent on your budget and requirements.
