Custom WordPress Website Design: The Whole Shebang
But it’s not just the easy-to-use interface or the platform popularity that makes it one of the best — it’s the fact that you can create custom WordPress website designs in a cinch.
The fully customizable platform is second to none when it comes to creating a custom website from scratch. Although you might need to watch a few tutorials, all in all, anyone can create a custom WordPress website design.
On this page, we’ll talk about how you can make the most of your custom WordPress website design, how to find a WordPress web design company that fits your needs, and some best practices for your custom WordPress site.
If you’d rather speak with a specialist about a custom WordPress website design, feel free to contact us at 888-601-5359! Otherwise, keep reading!
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How does WordPress work?
Before we talk about custom WordPress website design, it’s important to touch on WordPress as a platform.
WordPress is a CMS
WordPress is a CMS or Content Management System. With a CMS, you’re able to make website changes without going into the backend of the site — making it an easy-to-use option for those who don’t have any coding experience but still want to create an amazing website.
WordPress is Open Source
WordPress is also known as “Open Source,” which means that developers work behind the scenes to provide you with design options baked right into the platform — free of charge.
WordPress is free…and paid
There are two different WordPress options. The Open Source version is wordpress.org, while the paid version, which also includes hosting, is wordpress.com.
If you already have a website, and you’re using WordPress for your blog, for example, opt for WordPress.org since you’ll be able to host it on your existing website. If you’re building a WordPress site from scratch, you’ll want to opt for WordPress.com so that you can host your website on their server.
Now that you know the basics of WordPress, let’s talk about custom WordPress website design.
Everything you need to know about custom WordPress website design
No matter what kind of business you have, it’s crucial to have an online presence. These days, if customers can’t find you online, they probably won’t find you.
That said, it’s equally as important to have a website that speaks to your brand, your style, and your offerings. Your site is most often the first impression potential customers will have of your business, and you have one shot to make a positive first impression stick.
With a custom WordPress site, you can wow your customers and show off your brand with unique modules, incredible functionality, custom color palettes, and more.
But what’s the difference between a custom web design and a custom WordPress web design?
Custom WordPress website design vs. custom HTML web design
Custom web design comes in all shapes and sizes. Let’s first differentiate custom WordPress sites from custom HTML site designs.
WordPress
When you opt for a custom WordPress website design, you’re opting for a much simpler way to customize your online brand presence.
Since WordPress is a CMS, you can easily make tweaks to your site on your own — even if you’ve never studied web development.
If you’re looking for extremely customized elements though, you might want to work with a developer. This reasoning comes from the idea that, for complete WordPress customization, you’ll likely have to tweak the back end of your WordPress site.
HTML
Most often when people talk about a custom website design, they’re probably referring to a website that’s custom-built from top to bottom using HTML code. Unless you’re a coding guru, it’s difficult for an average person to build a custom website.
You’ll likely have to work with a web design agency that is home to developers that know how to craft sites from the bottom, up.
When you opt for an HTML site, you don’t have many options when it comes to updating the site by yourself, on your own time since you’ll need to know how to code.
The difference?
When everything is said and done, the result of a custom HTML site and a custom WordPress site is the same. Both options allow you to create a custom website with custom elements — the only difference?
WordPress allows the user to have a more hands-on design approach while HTML sites require more back end coding.
WordPress custom templates vs. working with an agency
When it comes to customizing a website on WordPress, there are two main options available. You can choose to use pre-made WordPress design templates, or you could choose to work with an agency who can develop those templates even more.
When you work with an agency, they work directly in the WordPress interface. You’ll still be the owner of a WordPress site. The only difference between custom templates and working with an agency is the range of customization options.
When you opt to use pre-made WordPress templates, you still have a wide range of customization options. You’ll be able to customize things like:
- Color palettes
- Fonts
- Where different modules on your pages live
- Where call to action (CTA) buttons appear
- Content of drop-down menus
- Image gallery formats
- And so much more
When you work with an agency to further develop your custom WordPress website design templates, you’ll have access to even more customization options like:
- Specific funcitnoality
- Customized modules
- Extra functionality
Of course, there’s a right choice for everyone — not everyone will enjoy the pre-made templates that WordPress has to offer. On the other hand, some users will be enamored with all the design options that WordPress offers.
Read on to help you decide.
You should stick with pre-made WordPress design templates if:
- You’re not picky about your design
- You’re creating a website for the first time
- You’re satisfied with dragging and dropping pre-made site elements
- You’re keen on do everything on your own instead of hiring an agency
- You’re okay with your site having similar builds to other sites you’ve seen on the Internet
- You’re not looking to pay any more than necessary on a custom site design
You should work with an agency if:
- You want an ultra-specific design
- You don’t like any of the original pre-made templates
- You want custom elements added to a pre-made template
- You want your custom WordPress design to have specific functionality not offered in a template
- You don’t care so much about extreme customization, but you don’t have the time to create a WordPress site
Of course, there are specific benefits that come with each option, but the biggest one is cost. If you want to keep costs low for your first website, for example, you might stick with customizing your WordPress site on your own with the pre-made templates.
On the other hand, if you have marketing budget to spare and you want to pull out all the stops when it comes to your custom WordPress website design, opting for an agency that can help create your dream site is worth it.
There is one thing to remember though — whether you use pre-made templates or opt for extreme customization, your website will function the same. It all comes down to personal style and what you feel is necessary for your brand.
So, what can a custom WordPress website design company do for you?
Let’s get something straight, whether you decide to keep it simple with WordPress pre-made templates or you’re interested in something a little more complicated, a custom WordPress web design company can help you in either scenario.
Scenario 1: You just opened a flower shop in your town. You know that it’s crucial to create a website in order to increase brand awareness and help users find you online, and you’ve heard great things about WordPress from a fellow local business owner.
You want to have full control of your website, but you don’t have the time or energy to create your own WordPress website. You’re not very picky — the only thing you’re really interested in is incorporating your brand colors and making the site your own.
Outcome: Hiring a WordPress web design company is a great option! Here’s why:
- They can help you learn the ins and outs of the WordPress platform
- They can incorporate your brand colors, style, and specific fonts
- They can use pre-made WordPress templates, so it won’t cost as much
- They can train you enough that you feel comfortable using the site on your own after they’ve finished designing it
Scenario 2: You’ve owned a flower shop for years, and your current website isn’t up-to-date and doesn’t speak to your new, updated brand. You know it’s the perfect time for a website redesign!
You want to update your current site to a custom WordPress site so spectacular that site visitors’ jaws hit the floor when they see it. You want extreme functionality, JavaScript elements, special fonts not available on WordPress and bells and whistles that sell your flowers.
You’ve got extra money in your marketing budget because you’ve been saving for this redesign, and you want to do it right. Oh, and you still want to have control of your site after its redesign.
Outcome: Hiring a WordPress web design company is a great option! Here’s why:
- They can apply custom elements to pre-made modules offered on WordPress
- They can incorporate custom fonts
- They can use JavaScript to incorporate unique functionality
- They can work on the back end of your WordPress site to make the site your own
Regardless of whether you want a simple WordPress site designed with pre-made templates, or you want something spectacular, working with a WordPress web design agency can benefit you.
When you work with an agency, they’ll save you time and energy that’s better spent on your business, and they can give you pointers on how to manage upkeep your custom WordPress web design.
Not only that, but there are a few other major benefits you can reap if you work with a WordPress web design agency for your custom WordPress site.
4 benefits of partnering with an agency for your custom WordPress design
Not only can a WordPress web design agency help save you time as a business owner, but there are also some other huge perks that have to do with the overall success of your custom WordPress design.
**Keep in mind that in order to reap these benefits, your WordPress web design agency has to offer other marketing strategies like content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), local SEO, and more.
1. They’ll make sure your website has the right information
A beautiful website is nothing without amazing content to go with it. Your website is essentially your briefcase — a beautiful exterior for extremely important information about your business.
For users to get what they came for, you’ll have to create and integrate informative, beneficial content into your site.
When you work with an agency, they’ll perform keyword research to get an in-depth look at what it is that your customers want to read. These keywords will be the base for creating stellar content that keeps readers coming back to your site daily.
Not only will they perform keyword research, but they’ll help you write content around those keywords and post it to your custom WordPress site.
2. They’ll make sure your website looks great and performs in search
Aesthetics play a huge role in the success of your website, but something that’s even more important is the way that it performs in search results.
When you work with a WordPress web design company, they’ll offer you SEO services to help get your custom WordPress design on the map. Literally.
The content they help you create, and implement, will go a long way in helping you appear in Google search results, especially if your WordPress web design company correctly targets local keywords.
It’s Google’s goal to provide users with search results that best fit their query, and when you work with an agency that provides SEO, they can help you appeal to Google and rank highly in search.
Speaking of local, if you own a storefront in your local community, it’s crucial that your agency helps you implement local SEO. Like general SEO, local SEO helps you show up for searches that include location information like “French fries in Austin,” or “poke bowls in Harrisburg.”
With SEO, the sky is the limit for your custom WordPress site.
3. They’ll help increase traffic to your custom WordPress site
SEO plays a huge role in gaining website traffic to your custom WordPress site, but there are also other ways your agency can help you increase those numbers.
For example, they can create a social media campaign for your business that not only creates a brand presence on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but also increases website traffic by posting links to your site’s content.
4. They’ll help you sell more products
One of the biggest benefits of opting for a custom WordPress design is the fact that you can easily add third-party integrations like WooCommerce, if your goal is to sell products online.
Your WordPress website design company can help you implement an ecommerce store that enables you to sell more products than ever before.
Not only that, but they can help you set up PPC campaigns that allow you to get your products in front of the right audience in search engines.
Any way you slice it, your WordPress web design company can help turn your brand into a powerhouse.
Do you have more questions about custom WordPress web design?
Looking to find a website designer or learn more about custom WordPress web design? The specialists at WebFX would be happy to help.
Not only do we specialize in creating custom WordPress sites for our clients, but we also provide all the services we mentioned above. From SEO and PPC to content creation and social media marketing, we do it all.
We can help you design your dream custom WordPress site with any budget. We can work with existing pre-made templates or help you create something completely unique for your brand.
To learn more about the services we offer, or to learn more about custom WordPress web design, feel free to contact us online, or give us a call at 888-601-5359!