You will hear two phrases when you shop for a website: “template” and “custom”. They sound like industry jargon, but the difference shows up on your phone in front of customers.
What a template site is
A template is a ready-made design. Someone has built a layout, and you drop your logo, colours and text into it. It is quick and cheap, and it can look perfectly decent.
The catch is that thousands of other businesses are using the same layout. Customers browsing several tradespeople can see the same design again and again, and nothing sets you apart.
What custom design means
Custom design means a site built around your business: your trade, your area, your services and your brand. The structure, the wording and the layout are chosen to suit how your customers search and decide.
For trades, that usually means:
- A first screen built around ringing you or asking for a quote
- A page for each service you want work from
- Pages for the areas you cover
- A place for your photos, reviews and credentials that fits what you actually have
Where templates tend to fall down
- Stuffed with features you do not need, which slow the site down
- Generic wording that does not say what you do or where
- Hard to bend when you want something specific for your trade
- Looks like everyone else, which is a problem when customers compare
Where custom design earns its keep
- It says something specific about you
- It is built for speed and for phones
- It puts your strongest proof at the top
- It can grow as your business does
Does custom have to be expensive?
It used to. A custom design for a small trade business could run to thousands, which put it out of reach. That is why so many tradespeople ended up with templates.
Our approach is to build every site on a proven structure designed for trades, then shape the design, wording and pages around your business. That is how we can offer a custom-designed site for £250 plus £49.95 a month.
A template makes you look like everyone else. A custom site makes you look like the business you actually are.
See how it works
Look at how the structure differs between trades on our pages for roofers, plumbers and builders, or talk to us.