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Custom WordPress Theme Design vs. Theme Customization

Category : Web Design, Web Development

Many users do not understand the difference between the customization of an existing WordPress theme and the creation of a custom WordPress theme design, so here we are going to clarify things.

There is one key difference between the customization of an existing WordPress theme and the creation of a custom WordPress theme design – it is the graphic designer.

1 .A professional graphic designer knows colors and fonts are much more than pieces of theme code. A professional graphic designer will see color schemes and typography as part of a brand identity and much more then code within the WordPress theme.

2 .This process is what I refer to as a custom WordPress theme design because a professional graphic designer creates a WordPress theme that is unique to the company .

Ask Yourself a Few Questions

• Does your business need something unique?If the answer to that is yes, then you absolutely need a custom design. If you answered no, then an off-the-shelf theme might do.
• Does your business need to highlight call to actions and direct website visitors to take action?If the answer is yes, you should consider a custom theme design. The reason this is – you need professional help in designing a website that can guide visitors through the right flow and into the action you need them to take. This is a targeted design that is specific to your call to actions and this is very difficult with an off-the-shelf theme.
• Do you see any existing stock themes that fit your needs?
   If you have minimum requirements and really just need visitors to pick the phone up and call you, then the purchase a stock theme might work great. This is many times the case for a small restaurant, small medical offices, or tiny brick and motor stores.A Few Additional Points
• A custom theme design will take many weeks to design and code. If you decide you need a custom theme design created, make sure you allocate time for the process. It takes weeks, not days, to create a professional design and code this in WordPress.
• A reasonable budget for custom theme design will be thousands of dollars and not hundreds of dollars. This is because custom theme design requires a team of people. You have to have someone design the templates and then you need a developer to code the design into a WordPress theme or child theme. At creativeshell we also have a dedicated project manager who guides you through the entire process. Our team approach creates a great project, but it requires an adequate budget.
• Companies like 99Designs.com offer custom theme design packages that starts at only $599, but this is not the true cost. This package is for only one page and it doesn’t include the actual coding of the approved design. You really need four different templates for WordPress to work and you need to hire both the designer and developer to create and transfer your 99designs purchase into WordPress. This makes your  start cost with around $2,500

Tags custom theme design | wordpress customization