custom-web-design
Strategy

Custom Website Design Essential as Brands Work to Stand Out Online

Posted by Pixafy Team

Custom web design isn’t just for the big brands with the deep pockets or in-house development teams needed to create a unique site. Instead, modern web platforms, intuitive development interfaces and similar tools are making it easier to create custom sites in more cost-efficient ways. As such, brands have an opportunity to make their ecommerce sites unique, something that is extremely important when trying to stand out on the web.

Considering the importance of custom design

The internet is bursting with new ecommerce stores, with established brands expanding their reach and countless places to browse, research and shop sprouting up. After a while, websites can start to blend together in consumers’ eyes, limiting brand recognition. What’s more, a site that isn’t heavily branded and designed with the user experience in mind can lead to a negative customer response. Over the years, a variety of studies and stats have led to the establishment of conventional wisdom in the design space, and basic rules of thumb include:

  • Optimize your design based on your backend to keep load times down.
  • Create a cohesive customer journey as users move through your site.
  • Use responsive design to ensure your site performs well on mobile.
  • Avoid generic templates so your site stands out.
  • Align visual and navigation design for strong usability.
  • Ensure your site always makes a good impression.

These principles are potentially achievable with a template, but it is often best to customize design – even when working from a template as a starting point – so that your online identity will be unique. Standing out is incredibly important.

Take the story of Roar Ambition. The sports nutrition company sells exclusively through online channels. In that context, you’d think product design isn’t a big deal – it’s not like items need to stand out on store shelves. However, the company redesigned its products so they would look good on a website and communicate key brand attributes. Sales increased by 300 percent.

This is an example of how good design can make a product stand out, but changing packaging isn’t the only option. You can also customize your site layout to put your products in the best light, making them pop and clearly communicate your brand identity.

Making custom design work for you

Creating a custom site doesn’t always have to involve reinventing the wheel. For example, the Digital Marketing Institute reported that, among major design trends in 2018, organizations are looking to use irregular grid layouts. In essence, many CMSs and web platforms offer grid templates because they make for a smart, attractive way to organize a site. However, they also eventually look similar to one another and can feel cluttered. Customizing with irregular grids can overcome those limitations.

This is just one example of how a simple effort to customize can make a brand stand out. While allocating time and resources to design may not seem necessary when you can just fill in a pre-built setup, it can be instrumental in aligning your brand goals with the user experience. A design and development agency can also make the process easier. Pixafy offers end-to-end consulting and development services, including web design, to help brands stand out online. Contact us today to learn more.