Recently, one of my clients asked me a question regarding a web design service company that was attempting to sell him a $90/month website package that allowed him to make unlimited changes to the website himself at “no additional” cost.

Considering the vast number of companies providing a wide range of web design products, it’s hard to truly compare apples to apples if you’re not sure where and what you should start comparing.

Based on that question, I’ve decided to write a brief series of articles to address the issue, clarify some confusion and provide web site shoppers a baseline to start with when considering what web design option best fits their needs.

First, it’s important to consider what type of website you’re looking for. Basically there are two options to choose from, custom web design or template layout.

A template website consists of a pre-developed page layouts that allow web designers to make new pages with a similar design and style by simply inputting a client’s specific information into the pre-designed layout. Functionally, there is nothing wrong with template websites, but some disadvantages do exist. One of the major disadvantages is that the template sites are not unique, and there is nothing preventing your competition from buying the exact same “template layout” and designing a website similar to yours. Also, these websites often consist of table-based layouts instead of CSS, which caries design limitations and can hurt SEO/lead generation efforts. Due to the un-unique nature of the product, template layouts are generally sold at lower cost.

Custom websites are designed based on the unique needs of each client and the actual layout, design and development of the site reflect the client’s preferences, coincide with existing marketing materials and the overall scope of their business. Custom websites are designed from the ground up and coded from scratch, using various programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript just to name a few. They frequently have server-side components that allow websites to run advanced functions such as calendars, blogs and other custom software. Properly done custom websites are not table-based and generally generate better SEO/lead generation results. Due to the custom nature of the product, these websites take longer to produce and generally cost more then template layouts.

In the long run, when compared to the polished look of the design and superior lead generation, custom sites actually generate a better return on investment. At Logic Media we specialize in custom website design and focus on providing our clients with superior design and lead generation solutions.