Personalizing a Semi-Custom Website Design versus a Custom Design

Today, the center of every company’s marketing focus is its website. It’s where your brand is most likely to be encountered first, given that almost all shopping and product research starts online. Your website needs to embody your brand’s personality and express your brand promise and positioning with clarity. If the website is the centerpiece of your marketing, the first question you have to ask yourself is – do I build a Custom Website, or personalize a Semi-Custom Website design.

Custom websites start with a clean sheet of paper, and are designed by a graphic designer to your personal preferences. This approach is considerably more expensive than the personalized pre-built website option.

What are semi-custom themes? A theme is a group of pre-built website pages which have been designed to embody a common design look across all of the pages.  A semi-custom website starts from a pre-built design often referred to as a Theme.  This approach is more economical than a custom design.  Utilizing a a pre-built Theme does not mean you have to sacrifice personalization to your own design preferences, it just means we are starting from a basic design you already like before we start to personalize it.

Each theme will be personalized into a unique designs:

• Header background color, main navigation approach, and position of the logo.
• Main page color, font, and page layouts for photo, copy, and call-to-action or Read More boxes.
• Footer layout (1, 2 3 or 4 columns) and background color.

Themes can be generic, meaning not industry specific or were built with a specific industry or business type in mind. That’s why personalizing a pre-built theme has a cost advantage. Semi-custom websites start the design from a pre-built, pre-loaded website that embodies a unique design look and features. This saves time and cost because much of the creative design work and a significant portion of the programming is started.

Here are examples of how a theme or Semi-Custom website can be personalized (edited, reconfigured, and as needed re-programmed) to meet personal preferences for:

• Font style
• Color scheme
• Photo usage
• Call-to-Action styles
• Add your copy to the pages
• Edit the initial navigation buttons to meet your needs
• Modify the size of the main picture at the top of the page: full-screen, or make it smaller to show some of the copy before scrolling
• And if desired, modify the graphic design features to meet your personal preferences, much the way you do with a custom design.

The Marketing Department, Malvern, PA, offers a family of more than 400 pre-built website themes to choose from, any one of which can be modified to meet your personal taste and sense of design style.

Not sure if a Semi-Custom Website is right for you? Check out our Custom Website options or give us a call at (484) 318-8160 and we will guide you through the decision process.