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When building a WordPress website, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is what kind of theme to use. With WordPress, there is a wide variety of options available that offer varying benefits based on your budget and your website needs. In this post, we’ll explain the differences between pre-made themes, visual builders, and custom WordPress themes, so that you can better choose the best solution for your business. Let’s get started!
Pre-made WordPress themes
A pre-made WordPress theme is one that you can buy “off the shelf” and install to get your website up and running quickly. It’s an entry-level option that can be a good choice for new businesses with smaller budgets. Off-the-shelf themes have limited modification choices and might not be an ideal solution for companies with particular design needs. Additionally, pre-made themes run the gamut in terms of quality, so you should take care to choose a reputable theme provider, to avoid subjecting your site visitors to errors or security flaws.
Pros of pre-made WordPress themes
- Cost-effective: If you want to build a website without spending money on a bespoke theme, off-the-shelf WordPress themes can be an affordable choice.
- Available designs: Pre-made WordPress themes are available in many different designs, colors, and styles, so while they may not have all the customization options you need, you’re likely to find a look and feel that’s “close enough” for your current needs.
- User-friendly: Many off-the-shelf themes are designed with beginners in mind; although it will take some level of technical ability to integrate with third-party plugins and ensure proper optimization.
Cons of pre-made WordPress themes
- Lack of originality: If you use a WordPress theme that is available off the shelf, you risk launching a website that is identical to others in your sector and finding it difficult to stand out. A popular WordPress theme may already be used by hundreds or thousands of other businesses.
- Limited customizability: Off-the-shelf WordPress themes do provide some customization options, but they’re limited and it will take some work to make them fit your brand. This can make it particularly challenging if you have specific design or integration needs like showcasing products, customizing forms, creating gated content, etc.
- Performance restrictions: The user experience on your website may suffer with a pre-made WordPress theme since they are not always well-optimized for performance and speed.
- Technical issues: Off-the-shelf WordPress themes might not receive regular updates and maintenance, and smaller providers sometimes go out of business or stop supporting certain themes, which leaves you stuck with a site that’s vulnerable to technical problems and security risks.
Visual Builders
Visual builders like Divi, Elementor, and WPBakery provide a drag-and-drop interface for website design. They provide great flexibility and control – but they also come with a steep learning curve. You won’t need to learn web development to use one, but you will certainly have to learn the ins and outs of web building with your particular visual builder, as they’re all a little different. If you don’t have the time to learn the details, they can be frustrating.
As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. The “freedom” a visual builder provides means that every content contributor may add their content in a slightly different way. If you don’t monitor all page edits very carefully, your site may become a hodgepodge of inconsistent layouts & styles.
Visual builders can also come with a lot of code bloat. They need to support a wide range of features for all kinds of users – and much of that code gets loaded whether you’re using those features on your site or not. That leads to slower performance for your users on the front end – and all that drag-and-drop functionality slows down the back-end administration, too.
Last but not least, visual builders co-mingle your page content with the layout code, this makes them harder for search engines to index, and also means that you can’t cleanly export your content or re-use it in a different theme. Once you’ve committed your content to one visual builder, changing themes will require you to use the same builder – or to completely re-build your pages.
Pros of Visual Builder Themes in Website Design:
- Freedom & flexibility: Visual builders provide a drag-and-drop interface and lots of options for styling your pages without having to learn code. (There is still quite a hefty learning curve involved, however!)
- Affordable: Using a visual builder is a DIY solution that eliminates the need to hire a developer. For a startup entrepreneur with no budget and nothing but time on their hands, this is a way to get your business online.
Cons of Visual Builder Themes in Website Design:
- Learning curve: You’ll have to learn all the ins and outs of building and styling your pages with the tools your theme provides. The time commitment can be unexpected and frustrating.
- Inconsistencies: Unless you and all of your other content contributors are dedicated to following strict style guidelines, differences in colors, styles & spacing can add up to make your site look clumsy and disjointed over time.
- Code bloat: All of the code that makes visual builders robust also tends to make them slower than a custom theme would be.
- Lack of portability: Using a visual builder means your content is “held hostage” in that type of builder and can’t be moved to another type of theme or another visual builder without re-entering all of your content.
Custom WordPress Themes
A custom WordPress theme, designed and built just for your business, gives visitors and customers an experience that is consistent with the quality of your brand. Layout, color scheme, fonts, and other design aspects can be completely unique to your site and represent your brand consistently with your other marketing efforts. Custom themes are a wonderful option for companies with strong brand standards who want to provide compelling front-end features, consistency across all your pages, and fast performance. A bespoke theme can help your business stand out in a crowded online marketplace and can be more easily and seamlessly integrated with third-party plugins and off-site platforms.
Pros of Custom WordPress themes:
- Complete control over appearance and functionality: Using a custom WordPress theme gives you total command over the appearance and functionality of your website, enabling you to build a site that precisely suits your functional needs and your brand image.
- Easier to manage: Editing your content in a custom theme is as simple as copying & pasting your text, selecting images, and choosing from a few simple options. All the styling happens automatically on the front end, ensuring fewer mistakes and consistency of your page layouts across the entire site.
- Easier to integrate: Custom code means you have complete control over your pages, features, and integrations with 3rd-party plugins and platforms. You can even build your own features and plugins to enhance the site – the sky’s the limit.
- Performance-oriented: Custom WordPress themes are built to include only the features you need, and nothing more, resulting in fast-loading pages and higher user engagement.
Cons of Custom WordPress Themes
- Cost: True custom themes require hours of expert content design, graphic design, and programming. It’s an investment that some businesses may not be ready for until they’re bigger.
- Add-ons require development expertise: Custom themes won’t provide complete creative control of your page layouts – and that’s on purpose. So if you want to add a completely new page or section layout, it will require a few hours of additional design & development time.
The table below shows the competitive edge a custom theme has over the other options:
| Feature | Pre-Made Theme | Visual Builder | Custom Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customization | Limited | Moderate | High |
| Performance | Moderate | Moderate | High |
| User Experience | Moderate | High | High |
| Design Flexibility | Limited | High | High |
| Learning Curve | Moderate | High | Low |
| Cost | Low | Moderate | High |
The opportunity to completely customize your website to match your exact design and functional needs is one of the biggest advantages of using a custom WordPress theme. It allows you to build a “home” online that matches your company’s brand and gives your website a distinctive appearance and feel.
Custom themes are also built with performance and speed in mind, giving your visitors an optimal browsing experience. This is key because a recent report from Baynard and eMarketer found that 88% of online users wouldn’t return to a website after having a bad website experience. In addition, that same report found that 35% of sales are actually left on the table due to poor website design – a huge missed opportunity!
At PixelPeople, we’re committed to creating customizing solutions tailored to your business needs. We know you care about your user experience and we care about you. Our solutions are scalable and you have a team of professionals readily available to deal with any technical challenges and support your business growth in the nearest future.
Reach out to us today to see how we can help bring your vision to life.
