HAZEL DIGITAL MEDIA

Website Templates vs. Custom Designed Website

How much is your company worth to you? How much is a successful company's brand worth? These are two serious questions that should not be taken lightly. Over the past decade the face of technology and marketing has drastically changed. Ten years ago, home computing was just starting to become mainstream. Surfing the web took place on a low tide dial-up connection. Mobile phones were used to pretty much just make phone calls - and you could play Snake on the green back-lit screen. But today, all of this has changed. Computers are found in 80 percent of homes in the United States. Now outfitted with cable and fiber optic connections so we can now surf the web at faster speeds. The annoying dial-up sound we once heard is now history. Today we have mobile devices that offer way more than the simple ability to make calls. We can read the latest up-to-the-minute news headlines, track weather by radar, send and receive email, post to our Facebook page and heaps of other goodies, too many to mention in this blog post, but it all takes place on an amazing color screen - touch screen in most cases.

Let's get back to our original question about successful companies. How much is a successful company's online brand worth? A brand is a piece of your company that sets you apart from your competition. No matter what your competition may be, a smart brand is a key ingredient in a successful company.

Why would a company want to brand their online business with a generic template website?

Website Templates

A website does cost some money. One way to save money when creating a website is to use a pre-designed template. A template is a site that has already been built and is waiting for you to add your personalized content. Kind of like a new house that you have had no say in what it looks like from a design standpoint. You just add the furniture (your content) into the pre-built house (website template).

Pros: Its cheap.

Cons: You pay for what you get. No custom branding.

Custom Designed Website

A custom designed website, on the other hand, is the most effective way to make a website your own. There is a lot of skill and talent that goes into the creation and development of a good custom website. The first step is to work with a web design company that can learn about you, your company, your services, your products and your customer. Through this process a vision is formed, then shortly develops into your online presence. With a custom design, you have the opportunity to have a voice in the creation of your site. Don't like that color - let's change it to this. Can we center this rather than left justify. Can we increase the size of our logo here. You become a part of the creation process. This will allow for the personality of your business to shine through your website.

Pros: Every aspect of the website is crafted for your company.

The primary focus of Hazel Digital Media is to take your online business to the next level. We have no gimmicks. No slick sales tricks up our sleeves. We have a proven system to help you grow your business.