Clients very often do not know or do not understand when it is better to buy a template and when it is better to build a website from scratch, so I decided to describe the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.
Custom website design
Pros:
- It matches the company’s corporate identity;
- It brings the client’s ideas to life and is optimized for their business goals. This also applies to functionality, especially if you need non-standard solutions and extended capabilities;
- Usability designed around the specifics of the business helps improve conversion and better encourages visitors to take action;
- An online store template created to order will be your property, and no other website will be able to use it, which makes your store recognizable among others.
Cons:
- The solution costs significantly more than a template, since a team of specialists usually works on it;
- The work takes at least a month.
Template website design
Pros:
- A template costs several times less than developing a custom solution;
- A wide choice of distinctive solutions lets you compare them and pick the optimal one;
- A website can be launched in as little as a few days;
- The quality of a 1C-Bitrix template is often much higher than that of a solution built from scratch, since professional development teams work on templates.
Cons:
- No solution can be a 100% fit, so you may have to spend money adapting it to the specifics of your business;
- Mistakes are common: choosing a low-quality solution or one that cannot handle the business tasks at hand; this is usually due either to dishonest contractors or to a lack of expertise on the client’s side.
You can draw your own conclusions.