Web design is one of the most important parts of every website (especially for visitors). In most cases, it determines the whole user experience and can even impact sales. When designing a website, you have two options: design your website from scratch or use a pre-made design. In this article, we are going to discuss the benefits of both, so you can choose more easily.

What is custom web design?

Custom web design is a unique web design made from scratch to meet specific needs. Usually, this process can be expensive, long, and involve hiring different specialists: web developers and designers. Nevertheless, having a custom web design can be a great option for well-known businesses because of these benefits:

• Uniqueness. With custom web design, you can get a one-of-a-kind website that can really stand out from competitors. Unique layouts, elements, and features may reflect the brand identity better and give a remarkable first impression;
• Can offer better user experience. These individual designs are built with having specific target audience and needs in mind, so they can offer more functionality and flexibility. Moreover, they can enhance user experience;
• Can be better SEO-optimized. Custom web design can be optimized more effectively for search engines. Developers have greater control over site structure, load speed, mobile responsiveness, and metadata – key factors that influence search rankings;
• Safety. Speaking about security, custom web design can integrate advanced security protocols. These protocols help to avoid some vulnerabilities associated with free and widely used pre-made items.

What is pre-made web design?

Pre-made web design is pre-designed themes, templates, and UI designs used to design a website. Usually, they are inexpensive, fast, and easy-to-use design solutions that fit perfectly for various businesses. Benefits of using pre-made web design are:

• Cost-effectiveness. Choosing pre-made themes, templates, and UI designs is much cheaper than building a custom design from scratch. This is especially a preferable feature for small businesses with a limited budget;
• Easy-to-use. Most of the pre-made items are user-friendly and easy to use. They do not require special skills and usually use a drag & drop structure. Moreover, it is easy to maintain a website made with pre-designed items;
• Fast development. There is no need to hire web developers and designers with pre-designed themes, templates, and UI designs;
• A wide variety to choose from. There are a lot of pre-designed items to choose from, both free and paid. You can easily find a theme or template that meets your needs and is visually appealing.

The biggest disadvantages of free pre-made online items are that they are quite standardized and used by a lot of websites. If you want to get some unique touch and functionality for your website, we highly recommend choosing pre-designed themes, templates, and UI design from online stores.

Paid pre-designed online items are a great option for those who want something in between custom web design and pre-made web design. They can offer some unique design patterns, more functions, better SEO optimization, and enhanced security compared to free online items.

Why e-commerce website theme is important?

A website theme for an e-commerce store is a crucial thing that needs to be taken with a lot of consideration. As a foundation of the whole website’s design, it affects the user experience. User experience is the ultimate point that encourages people to buy goods from you. A good theme can positively affect the user experience which will lead to sales.

In fact, a lot of e-commerce websites can fail because they do not have the right theme. And we are talking not only about aesthetics and easy usage – the right theme can help to avoid poor loading time, and duplicate content, minimize bounce rates, and increase conversation rates. These are technical aspects that also affect user experience and SEO.

It is important to mention that all these things are interconnected. Professional themes can offer some technical features that also contribute to sales. For example, if the loading speed is slow, the customer will likely leave your website.

Tips on choosing an e-commerce theme

There is no doubt that a good e-commerce theme offers a lot of benefits. However, choosing the right one can be challenging as the theme has to be both aesthetical and smoothly integrate all the online shopping features. Here are some tips on choosing e-commerce themes:

• Choose a theme that fits your business and stands out. E-commerce websites can vary. This means that one theme can fit for women’s clothes stores, while another – for interior design and furniture shops. So, you have to do some research on what themes your competitors are using. This helps you to decide on a suitable and original theme;
• Be aware of technical aspects. Mobile-responsive design, fast loading speed, SEO-friendly design, easy navigation, and check out – these are details that greatly affect user experience. Most people are shopping using phones nowadays;
• Check how products and other elements look on the website. Different themes might have different templates (a single-page layout). You should check how content (products, logos, colors, buttons) looks on each template since there can be errors;
• Choose a theme with customer support. Free themes may seem like a good option, but they also do not have customer support. Customer support helps to ensure that everything goes well.

Pre-design themes and templates from Adveits

Choosing a pre-designed theme and template may be an affordable option since developing it costs a lot of money and time. If you are looking for an e-commerce theme or template for your website, Adverts can offer some good options specifically for e-commerce.

Web design is not an easy job, so you should do some evaluation of your characteristics if you want to become a web designer. If you are a creative and ambitious person with a passion for technology, then this may be a good choice for you – the demand for web designers is expected to grow.

Benefits of being a web designer

There are a lot of benefits of being a web designer, so these are some of them:

• Web design is an interesting and prospective job. You will have the ability to express your creativity, improve your skills, and grow in your career. Web design is related to graphic design, front-end development, web development, and UI/UX design, therefore, you can always expand your specialization;
• Web design jobs have a high level of satisfaction. Web designers are generally happy with their jobs. The salaries in web design are quite high, and the work and life balance is great since most of them work remotely;
• Web design does not require formal education. There is a lot of web design training, and it is a perfect choice for someone who wants to change their career. Although formal education can help, most enterprises do not require it.

What skills do a web designer need?

A web designer has a lot of responsibilities, from designing the website and creating visual elements with programs to organizing files and communicating with other specialists. A web designer must have these skills:

• Communication and collaboration. A web designer should have the ability to present their ideas as well as communicate with other specialists. Also, communication is a collaboration as he or she needs to listen and understand the people who are working on the project;
• Time management. Most web designers are freelancers and have multiple projects at the same time. So, you have to be responsible and have good time management;
• Technical skills. A web designer has to know how to use design programs and UI/UX design. Knowledge of program languages is desirable, although web designers do not write codes.

Making a decision

Now, that you know what is a web designer, you can make a decision more easily. You may also want to consider these questions: do you like technology? Are you a creative person, who loves design? Can you work with others? do you like solving problems? These are characteristics of a good web designer.

If you want to develop a website and you do not have a web designer, you can purchase pre-made themes, templates, and UI design.

Is it worth purchasing themes and templates?

We have already discussed themes and templates in other blog articles. Shortly, a web theme is a set of templates, that determines a website’s appearance. A web template is a pre-made layout where you arrange content. As we said, you can buy these website items, the benefits are the following:

• They save time. Building a website from scratch is not only quite difficult but also time-consuming. If you want to do it fast, these web items are a perfect solution. Generally, installing a theme is more difficult than installing a template, but you can find a specialist for help;
• They save money. Themes and templates are definitely cheaper than hiring a UI/UX designer and can save you a lot of money. They are budget-friendly solutions for all businesses, especially small ones. The truth is, you can even find free themes and templates, but they lack uniqueness and have a lot of other cons;
• There are multiple choices. If you worry about the options, we can assure you that you can find the right ones for your business. It is even possible to get a theme or a template that is specifically made for a certain business, for example, a shop, hotel, etc. The variety can be limited if you opt for free themes and templates, however;
• They are customizable. Do you want to make your website more unique? That is possible because you can easily customize your theme or template – change fonts, colors, images, update content, and more;
• They are supported. One more problem with free web items is that you probably will not get any help. But if you purchase them, you can expect new updates and customer support from the providers;
• They are SEO-friendly. SEO is highly important nowadays. Both paid themes and templates have built-in SEO. This makes them an even better option for non-tech people;
• They are mobile-friendly. Speaking about SEO, non-responsive designs can negatively affect it. Needless to say, it also affects users’ experience – if a website does not adjust to mobile phones automatically, it is considered a disadvantage.

It is possible to build a website without pre-made themes and templates. However, it takes time and money. Purchasing pre-designed themes and templates can bring a lot of benefits.

What is web design?

First, let’s define web design. Web design, as the name suggests, is designing your website the way users would like it. It involves everything visual, from planning the structure to implementing the plan. The main purpose of web design is to create a visually appealing website that gives good user experience. This process is not only technical but also intuitive and creative. It should be mentioned that web design is also responsible for the usability of the website.

The person who designs your website is a web designer, in particular – a UI/UX designer. This person is responsible for everything visual and functional, and he uses a lot of web designing tools, such as Adobe, CorelDraw, Inkscape, and others. the main elements of web design can be categorized into two groups:

• Visual elements, such as fonts, shapes, layouts, colors, images, videos, logos, icons, and similar;
• Functional, such as navigation, user interaction, responsiveness, speed, and site structure.

Benefits of web design

Web design can not be underestimated, because it has numerous benefits, such as:

• Good first impression. You have only one opportunity to make a good first impression. A website that is well-structured and attractive will represent your brand;
• Better ranking. Have you ever wondered why one website is high on organic search, and another – not? This is not only because of SEO but also web design. A good web design includes important elements, such as good speed, navigation, mobile-friendly environment, URL, and other, that makes your website more visible on a search engine;
• Good for the brand. It is always a good idea to keep consistency and uniqueness when we are talking about the brand. With the help of web design, your website can reflect your brand style and make it memorable;
• Engaging environment. Needless to say, a well-designed website has customers’ trust and loyalty. They can engage more and see the website as trustworthy.

Can you build a website without a web designer? The answer may surprise – yes. But it will be hard and time-consuming, because, if you want custom design, you have to know how to code. The other, easier way is to use pre-designed web design themes, templates, and UI design. Before purchasing it, make sure they are compatible and have all the benefits and functions.

Purchasing themes, templates, and UI design does not mean your website will be boring. Usually, you can customize them according to your needs.

Websites that satisfy users’ needs can be considered successful websites. For example, if you have an e-commerce website, your goal should be to create a platform where purchasing is smooth. In this case, the clients will likely come back again.

Although different websites could have different goals, the key elements of a successful website are basically the same. It means that all the websites should share the same core characteristics. Let’s look at them:

• Visually appealing website design. The first thing people notice is how a website looks. They get the first impression from visual design. So, take care of all the visual elements, from matching colors to fonts. Do not overuse visual elements – they can distract. If you need a visually appealing website design, our store offers easy-to-use, responsive, and SEO-optimized themes, templates, UI design and landing pages;
• Usability. Usability refers to how easy is to use websites. A good website should have proper navigation and structure, where a user can easily find all the pages and access the menu. Since a lot of people use their smartphones, a website should be mobile-friendly (mobile responsive). Mobile responsiveness means that a website adjusts to different screens;
• Informative and engaging content. What is a website without content? It is the second element users notice when visiting your website. The copies on the web pages should engage users, and be clear and easy to read. Keep them short and go straight to the point;
• Smooth operation. Every website should operate properly without errors and bugs. This part is non-visible to a user – it is the responsibility of developers. Make sure your website is properly programmed;
• Customers support. A good website should always be accessible to users if they need help. This could happen via chat box, request forms, or email. Also, you need to provide your contact information;
• SEO-friendly. SEO refers to search engine optimization, the process that makes your website visible in organic Google search. And what is the point of a website if it is not visible to users? Usually, it is done by creating content with specific keywords but SEO also involves meta descriptions and etc. 

A good website could provide some additional information, which benefits users and contributes to visibility and trustworthiness. This information is blog articles or customer reviews.

Even the appearance of a website is not the only factor that determines user experience, often users judge a website based on its looks. So, it is very important to take care of a visual part of a webpage. Here are some tips on how to create the aesthetics of a website:

• Use photos that are good in quality. Firstly, if you want to develop a visually appealing website, you need to use high-quality photos. This includes photos of your product taken by professional photographers and adding some high-quality images to content from photo stock pages;
• Use matching colors. Using colors that match together is a must for a visually appealing website. With the help of colors, you can make your website look playful, luxurious, nature-friendly, and so on. Color selection and matching is called a color scheme. The color scheme is often associated with the website itself, so choose colors carefully. You should not choose too many colors;
• Pay attention to typography. Typography is also a factor to consider, just like color scheme. It is an arrangement of letters, text, and words, which could have different forms. Typography can add something unique and different that captures the user’s attention. When choosing fonts and typography, make sure it is easy to read them;
• Add whitespace. You can consider adding whitespaces, also known as empty spaces, to your text. They can be a great solution if you want to draw users’ attention to a specific text. However, using whitespaces can be a little bit risky as too many of them can create chaos and the impression of an unorganized webpage;
• Organize your content well. If you want your content to look organized, use grids and layouts. Grids and layouts are the perfect way to create the order of content. They make the website engaging and user-friendly;
• Consider purchasing themes, templates, and UI designs. If you do not have the time or financial resources to invest in web design, you can always purchase themes, templates, and UI designs that are developed by professionals. By using pre-design elements, you can be sure that your website has all the elements of a visually appealing website. Also, they are functional, easy to navigate, and mobile responsive – this is crucial in developing a website as well.