You see them everywhere. Website templates. They promise speed. They promise low cost. Click a few buttons, change some text, and boom—you have a website. It seems like the obvious choice, especially if you need something online yesterday.
I get the appeal. I really do. When I started out, templates felt like the smart shortcut. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already designed a perfectly good-looking one?
But then you try to actually use the wheel.
The Off-the-Rack Problem
A template is like an off-the-rack suit. It might look okay on the mannequin, maybe even fine when you first try it on. But it wasn’t made for you.
You start using it. You need a button over here, not there. You want this section to pull data from somewhere specific. You need a feature the template designer never imagined.
Suddenly, you’re not just using the template; you’re fighting it. You’re trying to tailor a suit that wasn't meant for your shoulders. You spend hours wrestling with CSS overrides, installing five extra plugins to do one simple thing, or hacking away at code you don’t fully understand (and probably shouldn’t touch).
This isn't building. It's duct-taping.
What Lurks Beneath the Surface
The real trouble often isn't visible at first. To appeal to everyone, templates often come packed with features. Options for every conceivable layout, integrations for dozens of services, multiple slider styles, parallax effects you didn't ask for.
All that code sits there. Even the parts you don't use. It loads in the background. It slows things down. Your website feels sluggish, not because your content is heavy, but because it’s carrying the weight of everyone else’s potential needs. It's like hauling a giant backpack full of tools you'll never use just to carry a hammer.
Then comes update time. The template developer releases a new version. Or WordPress updates. Or a crucial plugin changes. Will your customizations break? Often, yes. Because you built on top of a structure you didn't control, one that wasn’t designed with your specific changes in mind. Debugging becomes a nightmare of untangling someone else's logic mixed with your own fixes.
And your site ends up looking... familiar. Because hundreds, maybe thousands, of other sites started from the same place. It works, maybe. But it doesn't really stand out. It doesn't feel like your business.
Building the Right Tool for the Job
So, I decided to mostly stop using templates for client work. Instead, I build custom.
This doesn't mean starting from absolute zero every time. I use solid foundations like WordPress (often with a clean builder like Bricks) or the Laravel framework (often with the TALL stack). These are well-understood, maintainable platforms, stacks and frameworks.
But the key difference is the approach. We start with your goals, your content, and your specific needs. Not with a pre-designed box we have to squeeze you into.
Need a specific layout? We build that layout. Not one that almost works.
Need a particular feature? We write the code for that feature. Cleanly. Intentionally.
Worried about speed? We only load what's necessary. Performance isn't an afterthought; it's built-in.
Thinking about the future? The code is organized and follows standards. Adding things later or handing it off to someone else doesn't require a forensic investigation.
It’s like getting a tailored suit instead of one off the rack. It fits properly because it was made for you.
Why This Matters (To Me, and Probably to You)
Could I churn out websites faster using templates? Probably. Could I offer lower starting prices? Maybe.
But it wouldn't feel right. It feels like selling someone a tool that's almost right, knowing they'll likely struggle with it later. It leads to those frustrating maintenance cycles where you spend more time fighting the foundation than building on it.
Building custom allows me to deliver something I'm actually proud of – a website that’s fast, reliable, easy for the client to manage, and uniquely theirs. It solves their actual problems instead of creating new ones down the line.
It takes more thought upfront. It sometimes costs more initially. But my observation is that it leads to a better result and, often, a lower total cost of ownership when you factor in the reduced time spent fighting the technology or rebuilding sooner than planned.
Templates look easy. And sometimes, for a very simple, temporary need, maybe they are. But for a business that relies on its website to perform, to convert, to represent its brand accurately – building the right thing from the start seems like the only sensible path. It’s the path I chose for Stratos Digital.
Need a website built the right way, tailored to your goals? Let's talk.