WordPress or a Custom Website? It's Like Choosing a Suit.

For many people, when shopping for a work shirt, slacks and shoes, any chain store will suffice. For others, the local chain store will not do – they require something of a little higher quality so they may hit up a nicer shop that offers some tailoring.

Then there are those for who a simple adjusted hem is nowhere near enough. They want every panel cut to flatter them perfectly. They’re the kind of people who know which button to leave open to show off the quality of stitching on the hole. At the level they play, they know those they interact with can spot a poorly fitted outfit. They know that cheaper fabrics can be easily recognized and damaging to their brand. They spend significantly more money, but they are confident that their investment presents them in a much better light.

And then there are the celebrities who know they’ll be called out by countless members of the press and fans alike if they wear the same outfit another celebrity has worn. For their world, only a completely customized design with every detail flawlessly executed will do - anything less is an embarrassment that affects their perceived brand value.

This analogy is similar to what you get with websites.

Just like the lower cost shirt, slacks and shoes you may find at the local chain store, for many people a $100 website or free site when you sign up for an e-commerce platform may make sense. It really depends on the needs of your business and the brand value you're trying to reflect.

For many more brands, they need a little more flexibility. They want the ability to add more features from a greater library of options. They also want something that’s flexible enough to have minor customizations made just for them - the equivalent of a pair of pants that can be hemmed, even if you’re ultimately choosing the fabric and style off a rack. That’s where WordPress comes in. For certain brands that we work with, we will build them a WordPress website, but always with a little more custom tailoring than the other guys may provide.

But, just as a very few people would go to a chain store to get the wardrobe required for a 7-figure salary job, few people will go to WordPress with some little tweaking for a business that generates hundreds of millions of dollars per year. WordPress is great at what it is, there'll always be far more sites built with it than are custom tailored to the client - but more successful sites will usually need something that speaks to the nuances of their specific brand. That’s where businesses need to sit down with strategists who dig into your real needs and not try to cram you into an off-the-rack suit that was designed for someone else. You need a team of UX designers to deeply think about your users’ specific needs, designers who nail your brand identity and web developers who understand and build truly flexible systems than can deliver all of the nuances needed to help you achieve your desired goals and deliver a smooth and memorable customer experience.

This is where Rhythm excels – delivering very personalized, tailored experiences for brands. So if you feel your brand is deserving of a little more custom tailoring, let Rhythm fit the suit to your needs.