For most popular CMS platforms, a wealth of fully-built premade themes are available, which offer an array of layouts, color schemes, and usability features. But before you go out and buy some off-the-shelf WordPress themes, it’s wise to consider all the options.
Now, before you write this off as shameless self-promotion, let's get a couple of facts out into the open: Yes, we’re in the web development business, and yes we build custom themes. However, it’s good to recognize that we do this for one simple reason: We want to provide our clients with the best possible product for their needs.
Let's examine a few of the deciding factors you need to consider when deciding whether you should build a custom cms theme you should, buy a premium WordPress theme, use a contributed Drupal theme, or employ any prefabricated theme for your CMS platform.
Features
Probably the first thing you're looking at when deciding if you should buy a WordPress theme is the features it provides. You vaguely know what you want the site to look like and what you want to be able to do with it. The theme marketplace offers features ranging from simple region definitions and limited customization options to full-blown page builders with built-in SEO. Making sure the theme does what you need it to is a major deciding factor.
What happens when you find a theme that has the features you want but you don’t like the layout options? Maybe you've found a theme you really like but has far more features than you would ever use. Finding a pre-built theme that exactly meets your criteria for your WordPress website can be a frustrating and time-consuming task.
By using a stock base theme (we like bootstrap) and building only the features you want with your design, your presentation will come out pixel-perfect on the first try! Plus, we ensure every theme is built from a solid mobile/responsive foundation to ensure it looks great on every device.
Consistency
Developers create themes, and developers have their preferences and levels of skill. This means that they create their code in a way that makes sense to them but may not make sense to anyone else. They may or may not follow the coding standards set down for the platform, naming conventions, or semantic markup standards that make the code easier to understand by developers and by search engines.
Incorrect markup can send misleading information to search engines, causing your site to lose essential search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. And when you have to pay to download the theme, you don’t get to find out until you’ve already spent the money!
By building our own themes from one standard (and well-supported) base theme, we don’t have to learn the idiosyncrasies of each theme developer’s style. We build all of our themes using semantic markup and build custom features using the conventions of the base theme. In this way, we can make modifications quickly and efficiently without having to dig through lots of arbitrarily created code.
Compatibility
The Open Source CMS ecosystem has a dizzying array of free and paid themes, modules, and plugins. The core platform for these systems is often updated with security patches, new features, and bug fixes. With so many moving parts, it’s important to ensure your theme is compatible with the module, plugin, and core updates that keep your site secure and functional.
Because we’ve standardized on a widely-used base theme and write our code very standardized way, we reduce the number of compatibility issues that arise. When issues do come up from new plugins or platform updates, having consistent code simplifies the process of running down the source of the issue and getting a fix in.
Performance
Performance may be the most overlooked of the deciding factors for purchasing a theme, but it has a big impact on how your site functions. Many themes (especially those with page builders or a large number of extended features) include complicated, bloated markup to support features you may not even be using. Extra HTML code, CSS markup, and JavaScript in the page mean slower download times for your users, and slower download times mean poor user experience.
More importantly, studies conclusively prove that page load speed can have a major effect on website conversions. Walmart reported that for every 1 second in page load time saved, conversions went up by 2%1. Similarly, search engines rank pages higher, which are served more quickly.
Our themes are built using only the markup and assets needed to make your website look great, maintain mobile responsiveness, and support your required features.
Support
Once your site is up and running, you're likely to need periodic updates to keep your theme current with the latest revision of your platform. You may have questions or want to request features from the theme developer. Theme developers may be small one-person organizations or large development agencies. Getting support from your theme provider comes with its own varied set of challenges.
We keep our themes updated with the latest security releases, and we don’t update themes with features and enhancements you don’t need. Because you have an established relationship with the developer, your requests will always be heard and acted upon promptly.
Quality
What all these variables add up to is one thing: Quality. A quality theme looks beautiful, has the functionality you need, performs well, and is maintainable into the future. The money you feel like you’re saving buying an off-the-shelf theme today can cost you search rankings, conversions, and long-term maintenance over the lifetime of your website.
The best way to ensure high quality for the lifetime of your website is to work with experienced web designers and theme developers whose standards are a cut above the rest. Every custom wordpress theme we build is created to the highest standards of consistency, compatibility, and performance with only the features you need. We’ll be there for you to support our work and help your site change with the changing needs of your business.
Before using any premade theme, weigh the pros and cons of your particular circumstance and make an informed decision.
Written By Andy Lasda
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Andy Lasda has been a leader in technology and web development in the Denver metro area for over 20 years. He has an uncanny ability to bridge the gap between technical and everyday language with clients.