I absolutely don’t believe in cookie cutter websites. It’s not that I don’t believe that they exist, but that they are not effective, and definitely not nearly as effective as one that is custom built. A cookie cutter website provides you with the bare minimum and it lacks many of the key elements that your brand needs to stand out online, attract, hold the attention of and convert your ideal audience.
If the term “cookie-cutter website” is new to you, you may be wondering, “What is a cookie cutter website?” A cookie cutter website is a generic website with a generic layout. It is normally template based and that template is available to every other business and organization in your industry to use. Just like with a cookie cutter, you get the exact same look, feel and style every time. It is basically like a copy and paste website, with minor adjustments that you add to make it fit your brand.
The reality is, the only thing that truly fits your brand with a cookie cutter website, is the logo, content and the colors that you add. There is no consideration of your specific target market’s user experience or the user journey; which should both be considered to make the best design decisions that will help you fulfill the purpose for your website. Strategy in the website design and development is what distinguishes a website that serves as a basic online brochure and one that serves as a digital business partner dedicated to your success.
If you can customize a cookie cutter website with your own content and brand elements, then it should work, right? You would think that this would be the case, but even with a few updates to the colors and content, a cookie cutter website is still lacking some of the key elements a website needs to be effective. Cookie cutter websites are not tailored to your strategy for conversion, growth, your business goals or user journey. They are built for general use and changing the colors and logo will not align the design with your mission and goals or the needs of your site visitors. Cookie cutter websites are built with generic templates that don’t prioritize the user experience of your specific target audience, so it is not optimized according to the behaviors of your target audience. If a website’s layout, the call-to-actions and navigation are not structured to cater to their needs or yours, you will not see the results you desire from your website.
Additionally, with a generic design, you miss the opportunity to distinguish your brand from all the others in your industry and the opportunity to create a memorable brand experience that builds recognition and trust. Also, flexibility and scalability are limited because templates have structure and feature limitations and restrictions. Due to these restrictions, you will most likely have to redesign and rebuild your website again from scratch as your business grows or makes changes. Your SEO rankings can also be negatively effected with a cookie-cutter website, as many times, templates aren’t built with the best SEO practices and are packed with unnecessary code that can slow down your site and harm your search engine visibility. Lastly, there are higher security risks with these type of websites because the templates are widely used and are frequent targets for hackers. Changes to the content and colors will not fix the underlying vulnerabilities that come with cookie-cutter websites.
If you want your website to serve as a digital business partner that helps you to convert, build awareness, stand out, meet your goals and provide a memorable experience for your target audience, a custom website is the key. A customized web solution will focus on both you and your target audience’s specific needs and will be tailored to ensure those needs are met. A cookie cutter website could never provide the strategic alignment you need for your website to be a success; which is why I don’t believe in cookie cutter websites. Don’t risk sending mixed messages and devaluing your brand with a generic or cheap looking cookie cutter website. Invest in the best your brand deserves!
Stephanie
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943-239-9480
stephanie@smaysdesigns.com
PO Box 1793 Conyers , GA 30012
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