Websites are different things to different people – I’m sure you’ll agree that a brochure website and an ecommerce website are very different beasts.
Spoiler alert: they have very different price tags.
So when we get asked how much a new website will cost, I often feel like replying, “How long is a piece of string?”
There are 644 million websites currently active in the world, and thanks to template website building tools they are becoming more and more alike in their design, structure and functionality.
If you’re relatively IT savvy, you’ve probably thought about using one of these to build your own website. With an ever-growing range of downloadable, editable website themes, it’s cheap and easy!
At Superdream, we have a team of (link: https://www.superdream.com/what-we-do text: exceptionally talented developers) who build the exact opposite: bespoke websites, completely unique to your business.
Sound expensive? Here’s six reasons why it’s worth every single penny.
** 1 – Bespoke is more than design, it’s functionality too**
A website is an investment in both time and money, whether you’re building it yourself or employing an agency. You should therefore be very clear on the business objectives. Should it generate phone calls, inform existing customers, inspire potential customers, or facilitate online bookings?
These all require their own functionality, from spectacular galleries to calendars to call tracking. Rather than the one-size fits all package that you often get from a DIY tool, bespoke solutions mean bespoke functionality and features.
True web developers are problem solvers. If you brief them on your business goals they will often surprise you with fabulous solutions specific to your needs. It’s best to think of them as product designers building and delivering a digital product.
**2 – True responsive code**
Template, low-code, or drag and drop builders often use emulated responsive code. These follow certain rules for dropping the size of your website down, such as increasing font size and down-sizing images, however they don’t consider the actual user experience of the website.
Certain types of drop down menus or interactive elements are an absolute nightmare on smaller phones, even when the website appears to have been scaled to your iPhone screen size.
Thinking about the specific functionality of the website in reference to a mobile device requires just that – thought. Human expertise should be applied to ensure your website delivers a seamless experience for every visitor across every device. Otherwise it’s not fit for purpose.
**3 – Futureproofed**
Website development work usually happens in fits and starts – a website will be left neglected for long periods of time, before being completely scrapped due to outdated design, functionality and performance.
Your website is your digital shop front, and a bespoke website is well worth the investment. Similar to the way that a good pair of shoes will walk more miles before needing re-heeling, a bespoke website built by professionals will stand the test of time.
This is because we, as professionals, are often ahead of the game, using the most advanced code and technology to build to the highest standards we can. It’s easier to maintain, easier to bolt extra functionality to, and will simply stay fresh longer.
However, we’re looking for a long-term relationship with you – growing and evolving the website gradually over time rather than starting from scratch every four years. With attention to content, design and performance, small incremental improvements can be made to ensure your website stays relevant.
**4 – Security**
The more common templated website tools are bound to have more commonly known faults, making it easier for malicious hackers to access your website. The hosting that comes with these solutions is often enticingly cheap too, but the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ applies.
The ideal situation is a server of your own, or with a group of sites that are equally secure and respectable, avoiding dodgy neighbours that could impact the performance or security of your website.
Superdream’s website clients get only the best – a dedicated server just for our clients, offering maximum performance and protection. Then we top it off with a firewall, traffic monitoring, daily backups and site clean-up. This means that your website is protected in the first place, and all your traffic is monitored for malicious behaviour. And if anything ever did go wrong, it’ll be cleaned up free of charge.
In these situations, having a person you know at the end of the phone is invaluable. We know how business-vital a website can be, so our developers are on call 365 days a year (yes, even Christmas) for the websites we host on our dedicated server. No call centres, no hold music.
**5 – SEO **
If you’re serious about getting noticed online then you need to be serious about how your website is built. It’s not just content and keywords that make for good SEO – the code itself makes a real difference.
It’s unfortunately a problem we come across all the time: a website built and launched without any attention given to how it may perform. We regularly see redirect issues, broken links, confusing URLs, slow load speeds, missing heading tags, and even missing or incorrect analytics code.
All of these fundamental errors can impact your potential SEO visibility. And they’re instantly fixed by simply collaborating with dedicated SEO specialists at the planning phase and at testing phase – something that we insist on as an integrated, full service agency.
Investing in a bespoke website may look expensive on paper but I guarantee that it will have a better ROI. No more clunky, messy, generic one-pagers – you too could enjoy a website that’s lean, mean and unique to you.
If you’ve got a website conundrum, we’ve got the dream team to solve it. (link: https://www.superdream.com/get-in-touch text: Get in touch here).