Creating a Custom WordPress theme requires a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. However, for users with little or no knowledge of web design, themes like Divi and Astra are great options since they offer tons of customization and premade themes.
First of all, not all websites are created equal. It would be wise to build a custom site if you fall into a particular niche where only a custom site can meet your needs. However, customizing is optional for 95% of use cases. So I’ll close with a better answer for you to consider. Here are four big reasons to reconsider a custom WordPress theme.
Reasons Custom WordPress Theme is a Bad Idea.
1. Too Expensive
What comes to mind when you assume how difficult and expensive creating a new website will be? A few thousand dollars? What’s the timeframe? Forget both of those notions if you choose a custom solution. To build your own WordPress theme, you’ll need to shell out at least five figures in USD.
You get the picture. Custom WordPress themes cost more than prebuild themes if you want all the features a decent theme has
2. It Takes a Long Time to Build
The process of creating a custom WordPress theme is a bit longer as there are a lot of steps involved, like…
- Creating wireframes
- Planning out the website structure
- Start Designing
As a result, Custom WordPress themes require a strong understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In addition, it is often necessary to deal with bugs and coding headaches during development.
3. Requires Ongoing Support to Manage
As a result, your website visitors may be deceived. Additionally, when a theme, plugin, or WordPress is updated, it may malfunction occasionally. Due to this, it may conflict with your site theme, so ongoing support is required to maintain this smoothly.
4. Updates Can Break Them
It has several issues:
- There may be double navigation on the desktop.
- Issues with mobile responsiveness
- Pages had vanished
- Several images suddenly broke and would not load
- Internal links will start taking people to 404 pages when the destination pages still exist.
- Some page templates can stop loading the way they were built initially, and formatting was all over the place (fonts, colors, margins, etc.)
Pros & Cons of Custom WordPress Theme
Pros:-
- These custom designs are built with your website in mind, not the other way around.
- Assuming nobody copies your design, these customizations will be unique, helping brand your website.
- You’ll have access to more excellent support during the design and development process, and the website design will likely be implemented for you. That means you have less to do on your own.
Cons:-
- Hiring a web developer or designer can cost you several thousands of dollars. In addition, you might have to continue paying in the future for additional support rather than paying a single fee for a theme once.
- Custom designs take a much longer time to build. You can’t download them on demand, and you could expect to spend weeks or months waiting for a final design.
- You’ll need to pay extra for continued support. In addition, if you experience an issue down the line or need to grow, this will be an added expense.
Custom Theme Vs. Premade theme
Control
Premade Theme is like getting a ready-made house delivered to your new site by a building contractor. It will be easy for you to move in. In addition, plugins such as Elementor and Divi allow you to build a complete website without coding knowledge if you have selected a theme that supports them.
The Custom WordPress theme requires coding skills in PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In addition, it must be built from scratch.
Reliability & Adaptability
With premade themes, you can build reliable sites with lightweight code, resulting in faster server response times since no unnecessary code adds weight to the page. Your website won’t be slowed down by unnecessary code or plugins,
Additionally, custom WordPress theme development is a lightweight theme since it contains the codes required for the specific purpose of creating a website. You’ll need to contact the developer to make changes to the theme.
Budget-friendly
Premade themes are often chosen by people because of this reason. Theme licenses are among the most affordable components of building a website. In addition, installing and customizing the theme can save a lot of capital if you consider yourself reasonably tech-savvy.
Custom WordPress themes require more effort to build and need to be budget-friendly, which is why theme developers can drain your bank account.
Project timelines
Using premade themes saves a lot of time in developing your own theme. While it can take weeks or months to build a custom WordPress theme, depending on the project length.
12 Things to Consider When Selecting a Premade WordPress Theme
- Can the theme relate to my website content?
- Is it easy to customize to fit my brand?
- Will it be aesthetically pleasing to not only me but also my visitors?
- Is it SEO optimized?
- Is it mobile-responsive?
- Is it compatible with different browsers?
- Does it support popular plugins?
- Is it easy to set up?
- Is there a support option?
- Excellent user reviews and ratings?
- Is the WordPress theme further developed and updated?
- Is it Seo Optimized SEO?
5 Most Popular and Best Free WordPress Themes in 2023
The Astra theme offers a lightweight, SEO-friendly foundation that you can customize to create a design that’s uniquely your own. Coding is not required.
Key Features of Astra
- Responsive WordPress theme with numerous page layouts
- Can use it for any site, blogs included
- Lightweight, responsive designs for mobile devices
- Compatible with the Gutenberg block editor
- SEO optimized for search engines
- Translation ready
- WooCommerce support for business websites with e-commerce stores
You can import Neve with a few clicks if you want an out-the-box design for your WordPress site. Our theme has also grown to become our flagship despite being newer than some of our other creations. Its popularity exploded quickly on the themes scene, contributing to its popularity. As soon as it was released, it went to the popular tab at WordPress.org, where it remains.
Key Features of Neve
- Responsive theme design
- Built to work well with the new WordPress block editor
- One-page design
- Customization options in the real-time WordPress Customizer
- Mega menu support
- Importable demo sites
- WooCommerce is compatible with online shops
There is a space for a bold, full-width featured image in Writee, a clean theme option that focuses on your writing.
Key Features of Writee
- Responsive design with responsive themes
- Clean, minimal looks
- Bold featured images (that’s where the “striking visuals” come from)
- Multiple blog archive options – list or grid view
- Customization via the native WordPress Customizer
- Full-width or boxed slider
- WooCommerce integration compatibility for e-commerce stores
It is an adaptable, lightweight chameleon that you can use for various niches and needs. Performance tests typically place GeneratePress at the top of the pack, which is good if you want a fast-loading blog. Beyond that, it also comes with over-the-top good support.
Key Features of GeneratePress
- Super lightweight and performance optimized (under 30 kb)
- Tons of customization options in the native WordPress Customizer
- Compatible with the Gutenberg block editor
- One of the best free responsive WordPress website themes with a great mobile design
- Excellent code quality
- Integrates well with all major page builders, including Elementor and Beaver Builder
- WooCommerce plugin compatible with e-commerce stores
- 5-star rating on over 800 reviews at WordPress.org
WooCommerce’s official theme. Despite its essential features and customization options, it only offers a little more. Page builders work well with the design. Because this theme is an official WooCommerce theme, you can depend on it to work with the platform without any weird glitches. WooCommerce support is also available if you need it.
Key Features of Storefront
- Lightweight Theme
- Seamless Integration
- Responsive Design
- Clean and Simple Design
- Customization Options
Final Lines
It may be your dream to have a fancy custom website, but I strongly recommend avoiding a custom WordPress theme. Premade themes are more reliable, inexpensive, and easy to customize. Combining ongoing support and getting precisely what you want can save you time and money and avoid headaches.
Moreover, you can buy some non-custom themes for as little as $39 on ThemeForest, so compare your options before choosing one. A fully customized WordPress theme will cost you much more than a fully customized theme.
Creating a custom WordPress theme is more complicated, time-consuming, and expensive – but if you are still interested in building a custom WordPress theme, you need an expert’s assistance. And here at V2 Web Solutions, we provide custom WordPress theme development services.
