7 Benefits of Bespoke Websites Vs ‘Off-the-Shelf’ Solutions
An online presence is vital for most businesses and is one of the most important investments you can make. A study by BIA/Kelsey indicated that 97% of customers will go on the internet to search products and services locally. Whether you sell through your website or not, consumers expect to find you online.
Along with being present, your site needs to have easy navigation, a simple checkout process, be mobile-optimised and have a good user experience. No website or a poorly built site could mean you lose out on sales opportunities.
If you’re a business looking for a new or re-designed website with a CMS, you have two options – ‘off-the-shelf’ or bespoke web development.
Bespoke website development for Pyror Marking
WHAT IS AN ‘OFF-THE-SHELF’ SOLUTION?
‘Off-the-shelf’ (or ‘out-of-the-box’) software for building your website comes with pre-built integration and templates. It’s ready made and sold to a mass market – it is created to benefit as many users as possible.
WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are all examples of these.
WHAT IS A BESPOKE WEBSITE SOLUTION?
Bespoke sites are created entirely for the purpose of your specific business goals. The site can align with your processes and be personalised with everything from your designs to your e-commerce systems.
At Evoluted, we only offer bespoke web design and development rather than ‘out-of-the-box’ alternatives and here we look at why.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF BESPOKE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT?
1) READY-MADE FOR SEO AND SOCIAL
SEO and social media readiness can be built in right from the beginning of development with bespoke website development.
The site code can be designed to take into account factors that influence ranking. From page loading times and ease of navigation to mobile-optimisation.
2) TAILORED TO YOUR BUSINESS
Your website can be built to meet your unique, business requirements with a bespoke option.
You can choose to add features and systems that you require. It’s flexible - as your business changes and grows, your site can be adapted and can reflect this progression. For example, you could build an ordering system that is unique to you and provides all the information required for your specific production system.
‘Off-the-shelf’ solutions are for the mass market - as one of many customers, functions that you need, may not be available. The software options are vast but there may be operations you want now or in the future, that are just not possible. This means adapting your business to fit with your ‘out-of-the-box’ software, rather than developing a site to meet exactly your objectives.
3) COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Bespoke developments give you the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors and add value to your business. You can set yourself apart with unique, innovative, user experience improvements.
Bespoke website development for Twinwoods Adventure
If your competition can use the same system as you, it’s hard for you to gain an advantage above them. For example, with a tailored site you can develop a complex e-commerce system that ensures you are ideally positioned to sell your products, services, vouchers - helping you to be the best place for the customer to do so.
With ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions, advancements to get ahead are limited to your software.
4) CUSTOMER SERVICE
It’s essential to offer good customer service – if there any issues (reported by customers or you) that need resolving quickly, the developers of your bespoke website can fix these.
With an ‘’out-of-the-box’ solution, you may have to wait for an update to the CMS or plugin, in order to resolve problems.
5) COST-EFFICIENT
When you purchase a bespoke development, there is no waste on features that you won’t utilise for your business goals. All development costs ensure you’re getting tailored functions to fit your needs.
Bespoke website development for Galactic Fireworks
6) SECURITY
Bespoke websites are more secure than ‘off-the-shelf’ websites.
With a bespoke CMS, your agency developers write the code themselves so you have complete control over what is running on the website. There are no third-party plugins that might contain security vulnerabilities because they are no longer maintained.
7) IT’S YOURS
A bespoke website is your intellectual property. You own the solution and it is not reliant on third-party developers maintaining and updating plugins.
For example, with an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution, your site is likely to utilise a number of plugins that need to be continually developed to ensure you can apply updates. When plugins stop getting updated, you’ll either have to stop updating (which is a security risk) or remove/change the plugins you are using.
Evoluted delivers a bespoke solution for website development and design. We spend valuable time understanding your business to ensure we fulfil your goals.
Whether you’re looking for a new build, website re-skin or platform, we’ll offer a service that just can’t be replicated with an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution.
Want to learn more about web design best practice? Check out our free Ultimate Guide to Website UX, packed with tips on design processes, testing UX changes and improving website accessibility!
Jo arrived at Evoluted towards the end of 2017, bringing several years’ digital experience with her. She cites the continuous innovation of new tools and how they can be utilised for targeting as being a key inspiration behind her interest in the industry.
