Website templates are websites that are already set up and designed. They can be downloaded for a small fee and tailored to your company. They may be sold over and over again to different companies and you will have no input on the design of the site. They are very practical for a small start up company that is not concerned with creating an image and has a very low budget.

What are Bespoke Designs?

If you use a bespoke design for your site then you will get something unique to you. It often involves the use of a graphic designer who will work on a brief you give them and produce more than one option for you which you can play around with and get perfect for your company. This type of design gives a large amount of flexibility and will allow you to create an identity that is unique to your company.

Comparison between Templates and Bespoke Designs

Advantages of Bespoke DesignsAdvantages of Templates

1.Unique to you

2.Can tailor to your needs

3.Can use any technologies

4.Can control navigation layout

5.Can create to be scalable

6.Control over general layout1.Very Cheap as sold to others

2.Quick to implement as ready made

3.Low design requirements needed

Disadvantages of Bespoke DesignsDisadvantages of Templates

1.More expensive

2.Takes longer to design and implement1.Not unique

2.Less flexibility

3.Can look less professional

4.No control over navigation

5.Code may not be search engine friendly

6.May not be cross browser compatible

Conclusion

We would recommend that if you are serious about your business you consider using bespoke designs to get your site just right. Think of your website as the shop window to your site, you would not scrimp on the way it looked if it meant no one would come through the door, the same idea should be applied to your website. One word of caution, when a website design firm says they are doing bespoke designs ask a few probing questions as some may actually be using templates that they buy online and just change slightly and are charging you 4 times as much as if you had bought the template yourself.