Custom Web Design and Development

Ten years ago, it was taboo to utter the word “template” to a customer when discussing their new website. I avoided this word at all costs, and if I ever did say the word "template" I quickly followed it with an explanation of why the word “template” just left my mouth. After all, haven't we all heard a client say, "this design looks too much like a template" when rejecting one of our custom website designs. Because of this fear, I along with thousands of other web designers went through a huge identity crisis. We all thought that every website should be custom, because that's what we thought our customers wanted. Looking back years later, I've realized that nothing could be further from the truth. Custom web design is dying and here are 10 reasons why.

1. Design is Too Important

The word "custom" implies that the customer knows more than the web designer does. It also encourages clients to pretend they are web designers, and the design of a website is far too important to let a client mess it up. Clients are control freaks, and they think that having eyes and surfing the web qualifies them as web design experts. ? That happened so much at The Ocean Agency that we stopped linking to our client's websites on our portfolio. Now we just show screenshots to save us from the embarrassment of what some of our clients later did to their amazing custom websites.

Clients have no idea how many years of experience web design requires before you're any good. Nor do they understand how important professional and strategic web design is to the success of their digital marketing efforts. However, as web designers we must take full responsibility for this, and never blame our clients. Blaming the client only inhibits your ability to change and improve the situation. So instead of blaming our clients let's just take that word "custom" completely out of the equation.