If the decision to use WordPress as the platform for your new business website is easy, figuring out how to build the WordPress pages you want might not be. That’s because business owners and marketers are immediately hit with a sometimes confusing question: do you need a custom WordPress theme, or can you build from an existing template?
The advantages of using a template are clear – they cost less and don’t take much time to implement. So, if you’re in a hurry, or on a budget, having your website built from a template can seem like a natural choice.
Before you make that decision in a hurry, though, remember there are some powerful benefits to having a custom WordPress theme designed for your website. It’s the online equivalent of having a suit that’s tailored just for you, instead of buying “off the rack.” That brings some visual advantages, of course, but also a few added bits of functionality and security.
Here are a few advantages of custom WordPress themes to keep in mind…
A Custom WordPress Theme Can Be Tailored to Your Business
Your business website should look like it was built specifically for your company. That’s difficult to achieve with a template, since they are designed to be somewhat generic and applicable to lots of different businesses. If you want something that is completely branded to your own style, starting from scratch could be your best option.
A Custom WordPress Theme Won’t Have Any Unnecessary Code
A lot of templates come with code and plug-ins already installed. That can be convenient, but it also adds lots of unnecessary moving parts to your website. These extra bits of coding could slow your pages down, require more updates, cause problems or conflicts with other plug-ins, and in some cases even lead to security issues.
Your Custom WordPress Theme Will Be Scaleable and Expandable
While this is essentially true of all WordPress sites, starting from scratch means you can direct the growth of your web presence in any way you would like. As your company expands and changes focus, so can your website. That means fewer major changes in redesigns in the future, and lower costs for updates and improvements.
A Custom WordPress Theme is Unique
With a WordPress template, any other business can duplicate your website in the blink of an eye. That’s not true with a custom design. Perhaps the biggest benefit to having your own theme is that none of your competitors can duplicate the look and feel of your pages without making a huge and obvious effort.
It’s easy to make the decision to go with a template WordPress website when you’re trying to get online as quickly as possible, and for the least amount of money. Don’t overlook the advantages of having a custom theme built for your company, though. It might take a bit more from your schedule and budget in the short term, but having the right look and functionality for your web presence could pay off in a big way over the months and years to come.