Custom vs. Template - What kind of website is right for you?

I've dealt with a lot of different types of business and people, and there seems to be one consistent problem when trying to decide what type of website is best for any particular individual:  Do I want a custom website or a template website?  I must say, there are pros and cons to both types of websites.

Custom Website Designs:
Pros -

1. Totally built to your specifications.
2. Design will completely integrate your branding and services.
3. Tend to be much more friendly for search engine optimization.
4. NO ONE else should have the same design - you are set apart from the rest!

Cons -

1. Can be costly to have built.
2. Usually take 6-8 weeks miniumum to complete.
3. Most times, you'll depend on your web designer to make the changes for you, unless they create it in such a way that you can update yourself.  But even then, you'll need to have the time and no how to update frequently.

Template Websites:
Pros -

1. Can usually be up and online in 2-3 weeks.
2. Don't cost as much as custom website designs.
3. Many template website companies have a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) control panel that allows for easy editing of text and pictures to the website.

Cons -

1. Often have limited design options.
2. There's a good chance that another company out there has the same design.

The choice is yours - but I will say that in my experience, most who start out with a template website, end up with a custom website design due to the search engine optimization capabilites that custom sites have. 

It's scary to put a lot of time, money and trust into a web designer that you may not know. But, stay tuned for my next article on the "Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Prospective Web Designer" and hopefully it will help you choose the right one!