Bespoke Web Design

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Small businesses often ask for bespoke web design. Some know exactly why they need it, but others aren’t quite so sure. Still others see it as a waste of money. So does bespoke web design really help? Is it really essential?

Well, yes — and sometimes. First, though…

What Is Bespoke Web Design?

Bespoke web design means websites that have been designed from the ground up to help a specific audience achieve specific goals.

That takes a lot more work than customising a pre-designed template. So it’s a safe bet that anyone offering “bespoke website design” for less than four-figure sums is either customising templates and exaggerating, or unlikely to stay in business.

To be fair, customising templates can create distinctive (if not entirely unique) looks. For many small businesses, that’s “bespoke” enough. Still, that’s not the only way that truly bespoke website design creates value.

How Bespoke Web Design Boosts Business

So what can bespoke web design do for you? Why buy a bespoke website? Well, as any web designer will tell you, first impressions matter. Visitors assess your website almost instantly, and visual design contributes a lot to that.

Still, there’s far more to it than pretty pictures. There’s a stronger business point to be made. Whilst graphic designers often focus entirely on visuals, the real value of bespoke web design lies in Conversion Rate Optimisation.

What is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)?

Conversion Rate Optimisation means boosting the percentage of website visitors who “convert”, i.e. perform a desired action such as buying a product or signing up for a newsletter.

Selling online ultimately depends on two things — traffic (i.e. site visitors), and conversion rates. Traffic can either be bought (e.g. paid ads), or earned (e.g. search engines). Conversion rates are the percentages of visits that lead to purchases or whatever other actions you’re trying to promote. Basically:

Sales = Traffic x Conversion Rate

So, just as search engine optimisation (SEO) boosts low-cost, earned traffic, conversion rate optimisation (CRO) boosts conversion rates. Trust and audience targeting are critical to CRO, and good design helps with both of those. That, in turn, can make any investments into getting traffic that much more cost-effective.

For instance, paid ads can easily cost around £1 per visitor. Often, less than 3% of those are ready to buy, and less than 1% actually will. So with that conversion rate of 1%, each sale could cost you £100 in paid ads. Just doubling that conversion rate through CRO-focused bespoke web design could halve that cost per sale.

The more precisely your site design matches your target market, the better your conversion rates will tend to be. There’s a limit to how effectively templates can do that. In a highly competitive world, that difference can be business-critical.

So firms like Apple don’t spend huge sums on bespoke website design because they have money to waste. They do so because it makes them more money. They know bespoke web design is a sound investment.

Professional Website Redesign

CRO can be an excellent reason to get your site redesigned. So can SEO – if your existing site is built on average or DIY hosting, both of which can limit your site’s performance in ways that aren’t easily fixed.

Otherwise, be wary of simply chasing graphic design trends. Unless you’re in a very fashion-conscious market, redesigning for fads like using the latest Pantone Colour of the Year won’t pay off. That said, if your site looks dated to non-designers, or is somehow weak enough to undermine your sales team’s confidence, then a professional website redesign can be very helpful.

Still, it isn’t just a case of building a new site and cramming your old content into it — as inexperienced designers often do. That can cripple your search rankings for months even if the site looks better. Content and link audits are vital, yet are often skipped by designers who care more about visuals than performance. Such reviews may also reveal underperforming or outdated content that may need to be rewritten, restructured or removed.

Common Misconceptions About Bespoke Web Design

Still, many people think web design is something that it isn’t. So before we go any further, let’s clear up a few common misconceptions.

• Cheap “bespoke” web design isn’t fully bespoke. Discussing every detail of a website is time-consuming. So those who offer cheap “bespoke” work are either just customising templates or making unsustainable losses.
• Design isn’t just about making things pretty and freedom of expression. That’s art. Design identifies constraints and makes things work within them. So it’s also about making sure your site layout and structure are user-friendly. Design is not “drag’n’drop” or AI pretty-making — that’s barely even art.
• Web design isn’t just about building websites. That’s like assuming a bricklayer is an architect. Both are valuable skills, but they aren’t the same. Similarly, customising pre-built site templates isn’t bespoke web design, despite what some website builders claim.
• Websites aren’t printed pages. They are sets of interactive content that adapt to the devices visitors use to view them. So good web design is responsive web design, changing to fit various sizes and orientations of smartphone, tablet or desktop screens. So professional bespoke web design really delivers several layouts, not just one. Sadly, even now, some designers (mostly those with print backgrounds) still overlook this.
• Effective bespoke web design focuses on serving the end user, not just the website owner. As a site owner, achieving your goals depends on helping visitors achieve theirs. Forgetting that and focusing on personal preferences is often how DIY designs fail. Web designers see lots of data on how website visitors really behave, and it’s often unexpected. So part of our job is to act as user advocates.

…and the big one:

• Bespoke web design isn’t “expensive” — done well, it boosts ROI. Any investment with a positive ROI pays for itself and more. So it’s highly cost-effective — just not cheap. That’s because there’s a lot of high-value, highly-skilled work involved, often requiring a team of specialists and several decision-makers on the client’s side. So agencies often charge £5,000 plus even for fairly basic projects. That’s still fair for the work involved in sites that can turn over £50k+ per year.

Still, I’ve been building sites and coding for over 30 years and specialising in helping small firms for over 20. So I offer a free initial consultation and cost-effective bespoke web design starting from just £3,600.

So with all that said, how does the bespoke web design process work?

The Bespoke Web Design Process

Bespoke web design processes can vary a bit depending on the size and nature of projects, especially for web applications that require bespoke programming (as opposed to just layout coding). Generally though, here’s how I approach bespoke web design projects:

Conclusion

Whilst templated designs can be passable if your finances are stretched, bespoke web design can increase sales and reduce marketing costs. It doesn’t really do that just by looking pretty, but by appealing more precisely to your target audience.

Does that sound like what you’re looking for? If so, let’s get started:

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