When it comes to website development, making the right choice for your business can sometimes seem overwhelming and confusing. Typically, your choices come down to custom site development or the use of a CMS solution such as Wordpress.
There are pros and cons to both solutions though the decision of which to utilize depends on a number of factors including budget, cost, speed of development, site maintenance, and site functionality. Once these items are determined, the best choice for your business can be made.

WORDPRESS

Wordpress is an open-source platform that allows for site creation using themes and templates. The Wordpress platform offers a number of plug-ins as well that can help with add-ons like e-commerce, blogs, and podcasts. As with any site-building tool, there are benefits and drawbacks depending on your business needs.

PROS

• Cost: Wordpress can be a cost-effective way to get your business online. Since it offers pre-built themes and page-templates which keeps the process simple for the do-it-yourselfer.
• Maintenance: Though there is a learning curve, many business owners prefer wordpress as a solution so they can maintain their site themselves after the initial build.
• Templates: Wordpress and independent developers have created an impressive library of pre-built themes and templates to assist in your site design.
• Plug-ins: Wordpress offers a number of pre-built plug-ins that can help with adding new features and functionality to your website.
• Future Development: Wordpress is always being updated and improved to keep up with technology and the most current web standards.

CONS

• Security: Wordpress has a number of security vulnerabilities.
• Design Limitations: Highly customized websites are a challenge in Wordpress due to the standards within the platform. To achieve custom looks outside development is generally necessary.
• Maintenance: Wordpress and its plug-ins must be regularly maintained. New versions of the platform need updates which sometime causes conflicts with plug-ins and could cause site-downtime.
• Site Speed: Wordpress sites can be slower than custom sites due to the amount of unnecessary code and file bloat.

CUSTOM WEBSITES

Custom websites may come at a higher cost then a do-it-yourself solution, but you also usually get what you pay for. A web presence that is professionally designed and curated for you may boost your business overall.

PROS

• Security: Custom websites may have better security since they are often self-contained and do not relay on an outside platform.
• Design: Custom websites can come with custom designs that fit your business’s specific needs.
• Site Speed: Custom sites can be faster than CMS based sites since they generally do not contain unnecessary code or files.

CONS

• Cost: Custom development can be more expensive than the templated development in a CMS solution since designs are usually tailored specifically for your brand.
• Time: Custom development is usually more time intensive than templated CMS development.
• Maintenance: Site updates and maintenance would likely need to be done externally by an experienced web developer and likely could not be accomplished by yourself.

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