Traditional Web Development and Design is Dead
And with it are the days of paying thousands of dollars for a company website. The world of online commerce is quickly evolving, leaving overly complicated custom website designs in the dust. Now don’t get me wrong. There will always be a need for talented web developers. There are multi-national corporations out there that need sophisticated websites and data management systems to run smoothly. But your local flower shop doesn’t need the world’s most complex website to survive – they just need one that works.
Cut Ties With Traditional Website Design
If you’re like any of the small business owners that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to in Chatham-Kent, you know you need to be online. You get it – people rely on the Internet and their smart phones to tell them where to shop, what to buy, and why they want to buy it. Tapping into this network is vital if you want your small business to survive. But being online is costly, or so you think. If you were to go to a traditional website design company and ask them to build you a great looking site from scratch, you’re looking at a couple thousand dollars easy. Building a site from the ground up takes time and effort. What small businesses here in Chatham-Kent don’t understand is they don’t need a completely custom website. There are now dozens of other resources out there that can help you get online quickly and far more affordably.
CIK Offers an Affordable Alternative
I don’t custom code my website designs. This site and every other site that I’ve built for clients use weblog platforms. My clients know this, and they wouldn’t want their site built any other way. Why? Because a weblog platform allows me to offer my clients’ sites that are fully functional, contain a multitude of custom features, and are designed for proper search engine optimization practices. And let’s face it, I can offer these sites at a price that suits a small business budget. Heck, in most cases the platform itself is open source. My clients are paying me to turn a barebones blogging platform into a fully functional site, one that does exactly what a custom website design can do, but at a fraction of the price.
What you Need to Know Before Going Open Source
If you’re trying to figure out if a website design based on a blogging platform is right for you, make sure you consider the following two things:
1) To make the most of your website, you need to know how to code.
Even though I don’t custom code websites for clients, I still spend hours changing and tweaking CSS, PHP, and other forms of coding languages. If you’re trying to build a website based on a weblog platform, like WordPress, and you don’t have any experience in website design, you’re not going to be able to take advantage of the software’s many features. Simply purchasing a theme and slapping it on isn’t enough.
2) Open source software is constantly changing.
Open source software is constantly being updated and improved upon. New versions are always in the works, and changes are a regular occurrence. On one hand, this can be a great thing – two minds are better than one, after all. If 600 people are working to improve an open source software program, it will be improved and you, the end user, will benefit. Of course, the opposite can also happen. Updates aren’t scheduled when you opt to use open source software, so monitoring activity in the community is key. You don’t want to build your website on a platform that developers aren’t interested in improving.
Does your small business website run on a weblog platform, or did you opt for a more expensive, custom coded website? Share your experience and opinions below:
4 thoughts on “Traditional Web Development and Design is Dead”
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To an extent I agree. It’s becoming easier and easier to set up a website, but the one area I disagree on is with respect to design. Programming and Design shouldn’t be lumped together. Yes it’s easy to throw together a template-based, pre-built site but design is an important aspect that any business needs to consider and most have trouble seeing the value in it. A business that wants to differentiate themselves from the competition, no matter how big or small, should consider their public image. A custom design, not only for their website but all marketing material, is invaluable in achieving that. All marketing materials should share a common image and most pre-designed templates don’t accommodate that. This is where a custom design becomes necessary. Proper research and planning needs to go into building a professional and effective image. Corners can be cut on development, but when it comes to a company’s image you should never underestimate the value of a professional custom design.
“But your local flower shop doesn’t need the world’s most complex website to survive – they just need one that works”
I would even end this sentence at ‘they just need one.’
A one page site with their contact information, a few up to date photos and an email that they actually check AND answer sometimes can be enough.
Something is better than nothing.
I’m constantly amazed at how limited people want their business to be…
and now I’m off to look at your designs because I know my own site can be better.
Something is definitely better than nothing; but the beauty of weblog software is that you can do so much with so little now. You don’t have to settle for a one page website – you can have a fully functional site that can be found by search engines and works as an integral part of your marketing plan – not just as an extension of your business card.
Brandon,
Sorry, I missed responding to you. I 100% agree that design is important. Nothing will ever replace a custom design. If you have the means to get a custom, professional site done, it’s the best. I had a professional graphic designer do my logo for me and he helped a lot with making suggestions for the site. Blogging software will never be able to do what a professional can do, but in a pinch, I think it’s better than nothing.