It’s no secret to clients and colleagues alike…I’m a massive fan of WordPress for a diffusion of motives (ease of use, extensibility, the frequency of protection updates, and so on.). One of its massive strengths is the supply of a wide variety of subject matters. Yet, I frequently get asked the query, “Why shouldn’t I purchase a custom WordPress subject matter?” That’s an incredible question, and I have a very sturdy opinion about it. Bottom line: it’s neither the most green nor the most fee-powerful answer for most websites. Why? This will define six big reasons to pause before hiring a clothier or developer to construct your fancy, one-of-a-type WordPress theme on your internet site.
Top Reasons NOT To Use a Custom WordPress Theme
I want to share one caveat first – no longer all websites are created similarly. If you’re in a few top-notch specialized niches wherein only a custom website can do what you want, you must have it constructed through all approaches. That stated, for ninety-five % of use instances, custom makes no sense. Here are six massive reasons to rethink a custom WordPress subject, and I’ll close with a higher answer on the way to consider.
1. Too Expensive
When did you observe the way hard and steeply-priced it’ll be to create your new website? What comes to mind? Maybe more than one thousand greenbacks? A month or? If you decide to go together with a custom solution, overlook both of these notions. Let’s begin with value – if you are constructing a WordPress topic from the floor up, you’ll be paying a five-determine amount in USD. I’ve visible custom websites variety from $10K upward. You see, a WordPress topic consists of plenty greater than shades and fonts. Those are dealt with within the CSS itself.
When you dig deeper, a subject matter needs to include various other gadgets. For instance, the real templates in which you’ll place content material want to be individually mapped out, after which build in PHP then uploaded to the WordPress install. Most non-custom issues have these already built coming in. However, a totally custom subject matter will require them all to be created. Also, you’ll be procuring development time to weave in all of the topic options your preference. Your options are to pay up for those to be constructed or make tradeoffs in capability. You get the photo. If you want a fully custom WordPress subject matter with all the key capabilities of a decent subject, anticipate paying an extra $20K in the general public of situations.
2. Takes a Long Time to Build
As but some other region where custom WordPress topic buildout will hit you, you may expect a protracted wait for your layout accomplice to code and install all of these templates and features. Oh, and I haven’t even noted the layout parts themselves. The typical process entails a sequence of steps earlier than coding even starts offevolved. These extra steps can take days, weeks, or months, depending on how clean you’re on precisely what you anticipate ultimately.
If you have got an immaculate concept of all of the details you’ll need to spell out (very rare, in fact), possibly the initial scoping of the challenge and mockups will take multiple weeks. If no longer, you’re looking at three-eight weeks in most instances to get the initial pieces in place. I’ve visible custom WordPress deployments last from months to over a year! How long are you inclined to watch for the couple of special capabilities and layouts you truely can’t stay without? Is it really worth the wait? That choice is, of a path, completely up to you. I like to complete massive initiatives in as little time as viable as do maximum busy marketers and enterprise proprietors.
3. Requires Ongoing Support to Manage
Of direction, there’s one HUGE “gotchya” while you purchase a custom WordPress subject – you want someone to guide it. Perhaps you could lease a PHP-savvy developer to hold on to personnel or the settlement, but you’ll want a person. I’ve discovered that the organizations imparting the issues regularly additionally pitch ongoing support for new custom medications that may be wished over time. They also may additionally quote you on website hosting, support, and several different services. So the ongoing guide is awesome but guesses what…they’ll fee you. So not most effective are you signing up for lots of dollars in advance price, but you also are accepting ongoing charges to assist keep the darn component walking. How a whole lot did you need to spend on the website again?
4. No Ongoing Updates
This is a huge one and the most often unnoticed trouble with custom WordPress subject matters – Updates are not available as a part of your preliminary buy or license.
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What does this suggest? One of two things. Either 1) you’ll pay each the continuing support plan in addition to incremental hours to update the topic when issues get up, or 2) you’ll be on your own while the developer both can’t or won’t sign up to do updates.
Here’s one which I’ve visible too oftentimes – enterprise buys a custom subject matter that they love. The developer hangs around on a month-to-month for maybe six months or 12 months. The agency receives uninterested in paying ongoing support and fires the developer (or the developer fades away while the settlement ends).
Then the topic is sitting there, anticipating something to happen. When it does, the developer is nowhere to be found. I’m now not making this state of affairs up. It does occur, and I’ve witnessed the terrible effects firsthand with clients. What do you do while you locate yourself here?
Typically, we suggest shifting to a brand new subject vs. Getting to the bottom of what the developer did within the code. It’s quicker and simpler in many instances to scrap it and stroll away. Say goodbye to each penny you ever spent at the theme at that point…it’s completely long gone.
5. Conflicts With Plugins
This is one of the most crucial motives to vet out your ability as subject builders stringently. A custom WordPress subject can also or may not be well matched with main plugins.
