With WordPress one of the key questions you have to ask yourself is should I have a custom theme built for my website or should I use a premium theme that I can purchase?
My answer depends on a few things:
Depending on your answers, I can come up with an option for you.
Type of Business
I always think people in creative fields should lean towards more custom themes. For instance, I look at some website designer’s website and I see a purchased theme, to me that doesn’t seem quite right. I mean if your selling your creativity, you should at least show you are creative, right? However, for many professions, or small businesses, a premium theme is fine. There are thousands, and with some customizations, you can make it your own.
Time to Market
If you are in a rush to get a site done, then your answer is simple, go with a nice premium theme which will cut the time down by 60-70%. If you have months, then you can consider a custom design. As the design process takes a couple of weeks on average, and building a custom theme can add a few weeks, you can see where time to market is considerably longer.
Budget
If you have a small budget, then go with a premium theme. If you have $2000 and up you can consider the custom design route. The reason is that having designs created takes time and money. And coding a custom theme can take weeks, which is where the cost adds up.
So, I know you are going to ask, what do I prefer? Well, in a perfect world, a custom, unique theme is what I prefer. But in reality, the things we spoke about come into play. Budget and time to market are so important. Whichever way you go, you can have a great site. If you aren’t sure, then ask me. I am happy to help you decide.
The other day I was on a call with a potential client and he asked me how long I had been in the business. I told him I had built my first site in 1996, the early days of the internet. I got to thinking how time flies and how much things have change in such a short time.
For Instance:
Remember when you had to build sites to look good in 800 x 600 as that was the most popular resolution? Wow has that changed for the better.
Remember when all your clients wanted flash on their sites? Then along came the iPad and changed the world. Thank you Mr. Jobs.
Remember when your choices of fonts was limited to but a few choices?
Remember when AOL was on top of the world? Now a mere shadow of itself.
Remember when dial-up was your only choice? Now modem sounds are history.
Remember when you could only use very small images due to download times?
Remember when Yahoo was the search engine of choice? Now Google not only owns the search market, it has also become a verb.
Remember when you had to build a separate mobile site? Then along came responsive design.
Change is a constant, especially when dealing with technology. As Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
I couldn’t agree more, and can’t imagine what changes we will see in the next 17 years!
