WordPress, a template or a custom build: choosing without regretting it
The four real options for a company website, what each one ties you to and what it frees you from, and the questions to ask yourself before starting so you are not rebuilding in two years.
· Web design and e-commerce
Almost every small-business website ends up as one of four options. The decision is not a technical one: it is a decision about who will be able to touch your site in two years and what that will cost. Seen that way, the comparison gets a lot clearer.
The four options
1. All-in-one site builder
The platforms where you design by dragging blocks and the hosting comes with the subscription.
In favour: you are live over a weekend, there is nothing to maintain, and no security updates to worry about.
Against: you pay a subscription for as long as the site exists and you cannot take it with you. The day you want to move platform, it gets rebuilt from scratch. You are renting your presence.
Who for: a simple site, when the priority is having one now and the cost of rebuilding later is acceptable.
2. WordPress with a bought theme
The most widely used content management system, with an off-the-shelf theme.
In favour: the content is yours and exportable, the ecosystem is enormous, any professional can pick it up, and you do not depend on a single supplier.
Against, and it needs saying plainly: it demands maintenance. Updates to the core, the theme and every single plugin. An unattended install ends up compromised — that is not a remote possibility, it is what happens. And too many plugins make it slow.
Who for: most company sites and small shops, provided somebody handles the upkeep.
3. WordPress with a build of your own
The same CMS, with a theme made for you rather than bought.
In favour: it carries only what you need, it is fast, and the client can edit content without touching anything delicate.
Against: it costs more up front and the maintenance is still there.
Who for: when the site is a serious sales channel and appearance matters.
4. A custom build with no CMS
An application written from scratch.
In favour: full control, maximum performance, no inherited attack surface.
Against: it is the most expensive, and every text change goes through somebody technical unless an editing panel is built, which is more development.
Who for: when the site is a product rather than a brochure: registered users, processes of your own, or serious integrations.
The question that decides, and it is not the one you think
It is not «what does it cost?». It is: who is going to change a line of text six months from now?
- If the answer is «me, without calling anybody» → you need a CMS with a decent editor.
- If it is «we hardly ever change anything» → a custom build is viable.
- If it is «we call whoever built it» → be ready to pay per comma, and make sure that person is still around.
The second criterion matters just as much: who is going to maintain it? Any option with a CMS needs periodic updates. If nobody is going to do them, pick an option that does not need them or contract the maintenance from day one. A site left alone for two years ends up in one of two places: down, or serving somebody else's adverts.
What to put in writing, whatever you choose
- The domain in your name. No exceptions. It is the number one reason a company cannot change supplier.
- Full access: hosting, CMS, domain, repository if there is one. In your name, not merely «available on request».
- What the maintenance covers and with what response time.
- How you export everything the day you decide to leave.
- Theme and plugin licences in your company's name. Held by the supplier, they stop updating when the relationship ends — and that is a security problem, not a convenience one.
Two pieces of advice that save money
Do not oversize at the start. A simple site, published and alive, is worth more than the ambitious project that has spent eight months not shipping. Start with what answers your customers' questions and grow through content.
Beware of plugins. On a CMS install, every plugin is somebody else's code running on your site. Fewer plugins is faster and safer. The question to ask of each one: what real problem does it solve?
If this sounds like you
We choose on the basis just described — who edits and who maintains — rather than by tool preference, and everything is in your name from day one. That is web and online shop. The structure it should have is in what pages your site needs, and where to host it in where to host your website.
If what you have in mind is not a website but an application, the cost criteria are in what a custom application costs.
And the question almost nobody asks in time — who maintains it afterwards — is hired separately: it is your site kept up to date, every month.
We are Mindset & Code: automation, data and development for small businesses. You can see what we do and what it costs.
General guidance. Each platform's export and ownership terms are worth checking in its own conditions before signing up.