Platforms and website development

These days, there are a number of different ways to go about creating a new website. This includes engaging with a professional web developer, as well as do-it-yourself platforms. Each of these offers its own pros and cons, which are important to understand when determining which is the most suitable for your business.

The key considerations here include:

• Your budget,
• Your staff’s availability and expertise,
• Your level of confidence using website builder platforms,
• Your desired features and design,
• Support options,
• Ease of editing and managing the site through a content management system.

Website Builder Platforms

Modern website building platforms are designed to be used by just about anyone, regardless of their level of technical expertise. Most of these use what is known as a WYSIWYG interface, meaning what you see is what you get. Typically, this means that users simply drag and drop different pre-made elements onto their web pages, to achieve their desired design.

Beyond this, customisation is generally limited to adding your own images and content, as well as changing the colours and positioning of different elements.

This allows you to create an impressive and professional looking website with relatively little effort, cost or expertise.

Websites built through a WYSIWYG editor can also be limited in terms of the functions and features you can add, including:

• SEO tools,
• Email integrations,
• Social media integration,
• Booking platforms,
• Ecommerce portals,
• Audience tracking and analytics.

Often, you’ll be limited to using built in tools and features, or a relatively small number of third-party integrations. As such, when you’re choosing a website builder, it’s vital to ensure that you choose a platform that meets your needs, especially if you are already using any tools which you want to integrate with your site.

One of the major selling points of opting for a website builder is the cost.

These platforms allow you to eliminate the expense of engaging a professional web developer, by creating your site yourself. Your subscription to a website builder service will also include other costs, like buying a domain, hosting and even an email inbox. While email builders all offer support options, the extent of service you can expect will vary from provider to provider, so it’s important to research this.

Naturally, this is an attractive option for many small businesses. The key here is ensuring that you choose a website building platform which meets your specific needs and requirements.

Template Sites

Most websites on the internet are built using what are known as templates and themes. Essentially, these use existing designs and page layouts, rather than designing each site from scratch. With thousands of customisable templates available, this method can be used to create just about any format or layout you can imagine. Additionally, template sites can be built by either a professional web developer, or a non-specialist with some knowledge of HTML and CSS. More often though, businesses choose to have a professional build their template site.

This offers many of the benefits of working with expert web developers, without incurring the costs of a custom development. Most businesses within a given industry will have similar requirements. As such, a well-branded template site is often the best way to create an effective professional website.

As design elements are generated by the theme itself, content on template sites can be edited much more easily than with a website builder. The site owner can then edit the content using a built in text editor, which functions very similarly to Microsoft Word or other word processing software.

Additionally, sites built using templates generally offer more flexibility in terms of features and functions when compared to website builders. As most template site platforms offer a range of open source plug-ins to add functionality, there is very little limit to the extent of functionality which can be added, unless you require a custom web application, although many professional plug-ins will incur additional costs. This means that you are not tied in to specific providers of different website tools, as would be the case with a website builder.

One of the main selling points of template sites is their built in content management systems (CMS). A variety of different levels of access can be provided to different backend users. This means that you can have your site set so that you can only edit the exact elements that you need to, meaning that as a website owner you can edit your site in an easy and worry-free manner.

Unlike website builders, a template site also gives you more flexibility to shop around for different hosting options and domain name registration. Hosting is typically priced based on usage in terms of bandwidth and overall storage. Shopping around will allow you to choose the best deal for your specific needs.

Custom Development

Finally, in some cases a fully custom development might be the most appropriate option, especially if you have very specific design or functionality requirements which cannot be met by a template site. However, custom sites will require a great deal more labour from a web developer, and as such incur greater costs than template sites. This also means that they can take longer to develop and launch.

From a technical point of view, custom sites can offer several performance benefits over template sites. This is because the developer has a lot more control over how the site itself is built. The speed of a website is largely dependent on how much code is used in its back end. A skilled web developer can often achieve the same results using fewer lines of code than is possible with many template sites. Where this is the case, a custom site can be built to be faster, which aids search engine optimisation, user experience and conversion rate optimisation.

If your business requires advanced features which are not possible to create through existing tools, custom development may also be necessary. However, it is nonetheless worth enquiring with a web development company as to whether existing tools will be sufficient to achieve your desired effects, without the need for a custom build.

Custom builds also allow you to tailor other elements of your site to your exact needs, including:

• Hosting,
• Content management systems,
• Third party tools and integrations,
• Additional security features.

As such, while custom builds are the most costly option, they typically offer a number of competitive benefits in terms of your website’s profitability.