Have you ever thought about a custom website design or theme for your blog? Are you afraid that it will cost too much to even consider? I am currently going through the process for one of my sites and I thought I would share some tips and points with you for you to keep in mind if you choose to take your site to the next level.
Personal brand: One of the most common reasons for people to create a custom web design is to establish their personal brand. For example, without ever seeing the title for the website, you will recognize a Facebook page automatically. The appearance of the site is an extension of your personal or business brand. You stand out from the crowd of millions of other websites (many of which use similar free templates).
Search engine friendly: What you might not know is that a custom website, if done properly, will make your website “search engine friendly”. With the meta data and coding working behind the scenes, search engines will already know what to expect from your site without having to scan your articles. This can lead to improved page ranking with sites such as Google and place you ahead of your competition. Most free templates lack this capability (since they are designed for generic use).
Meets your needs: The most important reason for having a custom site is so it will meet your specific needs. Are you running a photo blog? Do you need Twitter incorporated in the design? How about integrated flash elements to increase the interactivity of your content? It is difficult to find the right free template to meet your needs, and if you do get lucky, you can’t customize the template enough to achieve your desired looks and function.
Cost: The obvious drawback to a custom website design is the cost. A custom site can range anywhere from $50 to $500 (or more), depending on what level of form and function you need. If you are cash-strapped, free templates are always a great way to get your site started. If you want to separate yourself from the crowd, you can always pay a few dollars for a “premium” theme, but there are many people who are already using those templates as well.
(Update) As rightly noted by Joseph below, the range given above is low compared to the costs of many site designs. The range above is geared more towards blog theme customization. As with many things in life, you get what you pay for. A bottom-end custom theme will be framed around an existing template with changes made to meet the users desire. The more items you add, or the deeper level of customization involved, the higher the cost for the redesign. Larger professional sites can easily cost thousands of dollars depending on the level of customization and tools/resources involved. (Thanks again to Joseph for pointing out the lack of clarification.)
What do you need to do:
Plan ahead on what you need: Remember when your teachers use to tell you to do your homework? The same is true when it comes to a custom web design. Only you know how you want your site to look and how you expect the visitors to use it. Spend the time in advance to work out what you need your site to do before approaching the designer. He or she can provide you with advice and options, but they are working around what your stated goals.
Form over function?: A designer can throw a lot of options in front of you that you can incorporate into your redesign. Some of these functions are truly unique and can add some true flair to your site. However, sometimes more is not better. For example, do you truly need the video overlay of an actor welcoming your visitors to your site? While impressive, it can distract the visitor from the purpose of your site and, depending on their internet connection, can cause problems with the load time. Make sure you balance the form with the function, and streamline your design where possible.
Search for an established designer: It is imperative that you find a developer that has some sort of history before you agree to do business with them. You want to see examples of websites they have developed in the past, and (if possible) talk to their past clients to see if the developer met their needs. This isn’t saying that your nephew or a person right out of college cannot produce a wonderful site for you, but this is your business – your personal brand – that we are talking about, and you want to make sure that your reputation improves following the redesign.
Long-term support: A real professional designer will offer long-term site support for their creation. This might simply be repairing hidden coding problems or restore your theme if your site crashes. If you are fortunate, they will even help with updating the template to meet your growing needs with minimal costs (since all the hard work was already performed).
This should give you a good start on your way if you choose to customize your website. Don’t be afraid of the initial investment costs for a custom site, especially if it will lead to increased revenue down the road. If you have read some of my past articles about putting your website to work for you, the costs associated with a custom site can be recouped by the revenue generated from your site easily enough. After all, your blog/site is a business, even if you are only doing it as a hobby.