Why Your Business Should Choose a Custom WordPress Theme: 7 Convincing Arguments
Some twenty years after its initial release, WordPress remains the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). As of now, WordPress version 6.3 has been downloaded over 53.5 million times and continues to grow in popularity.
WordPress is a versatile platform that caters to various types of websites, from personal blogs to online stores. Renowned companies like Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, and Bloomberg are among its many users.
The secret behind WordPress’s incredible popularity lies in its open-source nature, user-friendly setup and management, and extensive community support. Additionally, WordPress offers a vast selection of plugins and themes to meet the needs of businesses.
While the features of a WordPress website are undoubtedly important, the visual appeal and functionality of the theme can greatly impact the success of a business. In this post, we will explore why choosing a custom WordPress theme is preferable to using a premade free or paid one.
Different Types of Themes: Exploring the Concept and Variants
A WordPress theme consists of files that determine the appearance and layout of a website’s content. These files include CSS stylesheets, templates, images, JavaScript files, PHP files, and more.
There are three options for obtaining themes:
- Downloading a free WordPress theme from the official vendor’s website.
- Purchasing a premium theme from various sites.
- Hiring a professional designer and developer to create a custom theme tailored to your specifications.
While it is possible to customize a premade theme by tweaking its code, building a theme from scratch offers numerous benefits for your business. Let’s explore them.
The Main Benefits of Selecting a Custom WordPress Theme for Your Project
#1: A Custom WordPress Theme Aligns Perfectly with Your Company’s Goals, Vision, and Content
A custom WordPress theme is essential to aligning with your company’s goals, vision, and content. While there are many attractive themes available, modifying their appearance and layout may not accurately reflect your business objectives. This requires the expertise of professional WordPress developers who understand the intricacies involved.
Choosing the right colors and fonts is just the beginning. Before diving into HTML or PHP coding, you must answer several crucial questions:
- What are your website’s intended business goals? Is it for representation, lead generation, or sales?
- What content will be featured on your main page?
- Who is your target audience? What do you know about them, and why would they visit your site?
Only after conducting thorough research, analyzing your business data, and understanding your core needs will a custom WordPress theme developer start coding. Customizing a premade theme to the necessary extent can be time-consuming and may not guarantee the desired outcome.
#2: A Custom WordPress Theme Sets You Apart from Competitors
Even if you alter the colors and content, sticking to the same theme as others will make it difficult for potential customers to remember your website and increase the likelihood of them not returning.
While you may believe that purchasing a premium theme and customizing it to your preferences will differentiate you from other companies in your industry, the unfortunate reality is that five premium themes currently dominate around 25% of the market. As a result, even with significant changes to the purchased theme, its layout and features will resemble those used by many other players in the market.
On the other hand, opting for a custom WordPress theme or a custom WooCommerce theme (for online stores) will set you apart from your competitors. With its unique design that you have personally created, it will enhance brand recognition, customer engagement, and ultimately lead to better sales.
#3: A Custom WordPress Theme Enhances Security
Security is paramount for any business, especially in the face of cyber criminals who exploit website vulnerabilities. One drawback of WordPress’s popularity is that it becomes a prime target for hackers. Shocking statistics reveal that 90% of the sites targeted by hackers a few years ago were powered by WordPress.
So, how do these cybercriminals usually gain access to WordPress websites? They often download free themes or purchase premium ones, then dismantle the code to uncover weaknesses. Once they identify these vulnerabilities, they scour the internet for websites using the same theme and exploit the security holes.
By using a custom theme, you can ensure that hackers won’t be able to access your website’s code. While this doesn’t guarantee complete immunity from cyber attacks, it significantly enhances the security of your WordPress website compared to using free or premium themes.
#4: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Better Optimized for Search Engines
If you want your website to rank high on Google’s search results, having an SEO-friendly website is crucial. While many ready-made WordPress themes come with built-in SEO features, customizing them to meet your specific needs is essential for optimal search engine visibility.
In addition to using relevant keywords, the structure of your website plays a significant role in improving search engine rankings. By building a custom WordPress theme from scratch, you have the opportunity to design a structure that allows search engine crawlers to easily index your content.
#5: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Fast and Well-Performant
Many premium themes come bundled with unnecessary features that may not be relevant to your business. The inclusion of these features adds unnecessary weight to the code, resulting in longer loading times for your website.
For a business website, loading speed is a critical factor. If the loading time exceeds two seconds, visitors are likely to leave and find an alternative. This not only leads to reduced sales but also negatively impacts your SEO rankings as the bounce rate increases significantly.
On the other hand, a custom theme is tailored specifically to your business needs and does not include any extraneous features. This lightweight nature allows your custom WordPress website to run faster, providing a better user experience.
Furthermore, you can have peace of mind knowing that the code of your custom WordPress theme has undergone extensive testing to eliminate any bugs, especially when you outsource WordPress development. This level of assurance is not always guaranteed with premium or free themes.
#6: With a Custom WordPress Theme, You Get Direct and Instant Support From the Developer
Encountering problems with a premade theme, whether free or paid, can be quite bothersome. Incompatibility with plugins could render your website useless, requiring professional assistance.
The catch is, if thousands or even millions of websites are using the same theme, their owners may also face similar issues and need technical help. This means you might have to wait indefinitely for a resolution, a nightmare scenario for any business.
On the other hand, with a custom theme, you can rely on top-notch support that’s only a call away. Through white label WordPress development, the theme’s developer is always ready to address any concerns or fix bugs in your custom WordPress site promptly upon notification.
#7: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Easy to Update
Regular updates are essential for maintaining the functionality and security of your website. While premium theme providers may neglect updates over time, leaving your website vulnerable to cyber threats, a custom WordPress theme offers a different experience.
With a custom theme, updating is as simple as notifying the developer, ensuring that your website always has the latest features and security patches. This provides a stable and secure online presence for your business and an enhanced user experience for your customers.
Conclusion
Selecting a custom WordPress theme for your project is a strategic decision that offers substantial benefits. With a custom theme, you can ensure that your website accurately reflects your business’s unique goals and vision, distinguishing you from competitors.
Custom themes also significantly enhance your website’s security and are better optimized for search engines, making them an ideal choice for businesses aiming for a robust online presence. Furthermore, a custom theme is not only fast and performant but also offers the advantage of direct developer support and easy updates
All these factors combine to provide a seamless and enriching user experience for your customers, making the custom WordPress theme an investment worth considering for every ambitious business.