[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":735},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-why-your-website-is-slow":3,"blog-related-why-your-website-is-slow":301},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"description":275,"extension":276,"faqs":277,"heroImage":290,"heroImageDescription":290,"meta":291,"navigation":292,"path":293,"pillar":294,"publishedAt":295,"readMinutes":296,"seo":297,"slug":298,"stem":299,"__hash__":300},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-your-website-is-slow.md","Why Your Website Is Slow (and What to Do About It)","Ben Wallace",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":262},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,26,29,85,88,92,95,98,122,126,129,131,149,153,156,159,176,178,193,202,206,209,211,225,229,236,249,253,256],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Most small business websites are slow for one of four reasons: oversized images, poorly loaded web fonts, too much JavaScript (usually from themes, plugins, and third-party widgets), or cheap, overloaded hosting. You can find out which one is hurting you in a few minutes with a free tool, and most fixes don't require a new website.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"why-website-speed-matters-for-a-small-business","Why website speed matters for a small business",[11,20,21],{},"Speed affects both whether visitors stay and how Google evaluates your pages. Google's Core Web Vitals are part of its page experience signals, so a slow site can work against you when your pages are otherwise similar to a competitor's. Slow sites also lose people before anything appears, especially on phones. You don't need a study to see it: load your own site on cellular data and notice how long you'd be willing to wait.",[15,23,25],{"id":24},"how-to-tell-if-your-website-is-slow","How to tell if your website is slow",[11,27,28],{},"Start with Google PageSpeed Insights, which is free and measures your page against Google's Core Web Vitals. These are the three numbers Google uses to judge real-world page experience:",[30,31,32,48],"table",{},[33,34,35],"thead",{},[36,37,38,42,45],"tr",{},[39,40,41],"th",{},"Metric",[39,43,44],{},"What it measures",[39,46,47],{},"\"Good\" threshold",[49,50,51,63,74],"tbody",{},[36,52,53,57,60],{},[54,55,56],"td",{},"Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)",[54,58,59],{},"How long until the main content appears",[54,61,62],{},"2.5 seconds or less",[36,64,65,68,71],{},[54,66,67],{},"Interaction to Next Paint (INP)",[54,69,70],{},"How quickly the page responds to taps and clicks",[54,72,73],{},"200 milliseconds or less",[36,75,76,79,82],{},[54,77,78],{},"Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)",[54,80,81],{},"How much the layout jumps while loading",[54,83,84],{},"0.1 or less",[11,86,87],{},"Test your homepage and your most important service page, and read the mobile results first; Google primarily evaluates the mobile version of your site. The diagnostics further down the report usually point straight at one of the four causes below.",[15,89,91],{"id":90},"_1-images-that-are-too-large","1. Images that are too large",[11,93,94],{},"Oversized images are the first thing to check, because they're easy to get wrong and easy to fix. A photo straight off a phone or camera can be several megabytes and thousands of pixels wide. If it's displayed in a space a few hundred pixels wide, the browser still downloads the whole thing.",[11,96,97],{},"How to fix it:",[99,100,101,105,108,116,119],"ul",{},[102,103,104],"li",{},"Resize each image to the largest size it will actually be displayed at.",[102,106,107],{},"Use modern formats. WebP and AVIF are typically much smaller than JPEG or PNG at similar quality.",[102,109,110,111,115],{},"Serve smaller versions to smaller screens with responsive images (",[112,113,114],"code",{},"srcset",").",[102,117,118],{},"Lazy-load images further down the page, but not the main image at the top. That image is often your LCP element, and delaying it makes the score worse.",[102,120,121],{},"Set a width and height on images so the layout doesn't jump as they load, which helps CLS.",[15,123,125],{"id":124},"_2-web-fonts-loaded-the-slow-way","2. Web fonts loaded the slow way",[11,127,128],{},"Custom fonts make a site look distinctive, but each font file is another download, and browsers often hold back text until the font arrives. The problem compounds when a site loads several font families, each in several weights, from a third-party server.",[11,130,97],{},[99,132,133,136,139,146],{},[102,134,135],{},"Limit yourself to two font families and only the weights you use.",[102,137,138],{},"Self-host the font files where you can, so the browser doesn't open a connection to another server.",[102,140,141,142,145],{},"Set ",[112,143,144],{},"font-display: swap"," so text appears immediately in a fallback font.",[102,147,148],{},"Preload the one or two font files used at the top of the page.",[15,150,152],{"id":151},"_3-too-much-javascript","3. Too much JavaScript",[11,154,155],{},"JavaScript is usually the hardest speed problem to fix, because it accumulates quietly. Every slider, popup, chat widget, analytics tag, tracking pixel, and page-builder feature adds script the browser has to download, parse, and run. Heavy JavaScript is the main reason a page can look loaded but not respond to taps, which is exactly what INP measures.",[11,157,158],{},"Common sources on small business sites:",[99,160,161,164,167,170,173],{},[102,162,163],{},"Multipurpose themes that ship code for features you never use",[102,165,166],{},"WordPress plugins, many of which add scripts and styles to every page",[102,168,169],{},"Page builders",[102,171,172],{},"Third-party embeds: chat, review widgets, booking tools, social feeds",[102,174,175],{},"Several analytics and ad tags, sometimes installed twice",[11,177,97],{},[99,179,180,183,190],{},[102,181,182],{},"Audit what's actually loading. PageSpeed's \"Reduce unused JavaScript\" list is a good start. Remove what you don't use.",[102,184,185,186,189],{},"Load non-essential scripts after the page renders (",[112,187,188],{},"defer","), or only on the pages that need them.",[102,191,192],{},"Replace heavy embeds with a simple link or a click-to-load placeholder.",[11,194,195,196,201],{},"This is also the honest answer to \"Is WordPress slow?\" WordPress itself can be fast. Slow WordPress sites usually have a heavy theme, a long plugin list, and a page builder layered on top. Templates in general tend to carry this kind of extra weight, which we cover in ",[197,198,200],"a",{"href":199},"\u002Fblog\u002Ftemplate-vs-custom-website","template vs custom websites",".",[15,203,205],{"id":204},"_4-hosting-that-cant-keep-up","4. Hosting that can't keep up",[11,207,208],{},"Cheap shared hosting puts your site on a server with many other sites, and when they're busy, yours slows down. The symptom is a long pause before anything starts loading, which PageSpeed reports as slow server response time, or Time to First Byte (TTFB).",[11,210,97],{},[99,212,213,216,219,222],{},[102,214,215],{},"Turn on caching, so pages are served pre-built instead of generated on every visit.",[102,217,218],{},"Put a CDN in front of the site so files are served from a location near each visitor.",[102,220,221],{},"Match the hosting to the platform. Pre-rendered sites, which frameworks like Nuxt and Next.js can produce, are very fast to serve from a CDN.",[102,223,224],{},"Budget realistically. Hosting for a professionally built small-business site typically runs $20–$50 a month; going much cheaper often means a crowded server.",[15,226,228],{"id":227},"fix-your-current-site-or-rebuild-it","Fix your current site or rebuild it?",[11,230,231,232,201],{},"Most speed problems can be fixed without starting over. Images and fonts are usually quick wins. JavaScript and hosting take more work, but they're fixable on most sites, and keeping things fast afterward is part of ongoing ",[197,233,235],{"href":234},"\u002Fservices\u002Fwebsite-maintenance","website maintenance",[11,237,238,239,243,244,248],{},"A rebuild makes sense when the slowness is structural: a theme or page builder that loads heavy code on every page no matter what, or a platform that won't let you control what loads. If you're removing plugins one by one and fighting the theme for every small gain, your time may be better spent on a clean build. Every site in our ",[197,240,242],{"href":241},"\u002Fservices","web design services"," is built on Nuxt, Next.js, or optimized WordPress and designed to load in under 2 seconds, and our ",[197,245,247],{"href":246},"\u002Fservices\u002Fwebsite-redesign","website redesign"," option starts at $2,000 if your content is worth keeping.",[15,250,252],{"id":251},"the-short-version","The short version",[11,254,255],{},"Slow small business websites usually come down to four things: images, fonts, JavaScript, and hosting. Test with PageSpeed Insights, aim for an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less, an INP of 200 milliseconds or less, and a CLS of 0.1 or less, then fix the biggest problem first. Most sites can be repaired; rebuild only when the theme or platform is the bottleneck.",[11,257,258,201],{},[197,259,261],{"href":260},"\u002Fget-started","Get a quote for a faster website",{"title":263,"searchDepth":264,"depth":264,"links":265},"",3,[266,268,269,270,271,272,273,274],{"id":17,"depth":267,"text":18},2,{"id":24,"depth":267,"text":25},{"id":90,"depth":267,"text":91},{"id":124,"depth":267,"text":125},{"id":151,"depth":267,"text":152},{"id":204,"depth":267,"text":205},{"id":227,"depth":267,"text":228},{"id":251,"depth":267,"text":252},"The four usual reasons small-business websites load slowly (images, fonts, JavaScript, hosting) and how to find which one is hurting yours.","md",[278,281,284,287],{"q":279,"a":280},"How fast should my website be?","Your main content should appear within 2.5 seconds on mobile, which is Google's \"good\" threshold for Largest Contentful Paint. We build every site to load in under 2 seconds.",{"q":282,"a":283},"Is WordPress always slow?","No, but it often is. WordPress slowness usually comes from heavy themes, too many plugins, page builders, or underpowered hosting, not WordPress itself.",{"q":285,"a":286},"How do I test my website's speed?","Run your homepage and a key service page through Google PageSpeed Insights and check the mobile results first. Its diagnostics point to which problem is slowing you down.",{"q":288,"a":289},"Do I need a new website to fix a slow one?","Usually not. Images, fonts, and many script problems can be fixed in place. A rebuild makes sense when the theme or platform itself is the bottleneck.",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-your-website-is-slow","fundamentals","2026-10-19",5,{"title":5,"description":275},"why-your-website-is-slow","blog\u002Fwhy-your-website-is-slow","OET_lcOAp0dxLv4wIu22eGb0S6WULAefbIctBI7QMfM",[302,491],{"id":303,"title":304,"author":6,"body":305,"description":470,"extension":276,"faqs":471,"heroImage":290,"heroImageDescription":290,"meta":484,"navigation":292,"path":485,"pillar":294,"publishedAt":295,"readMinutes":486,"seo":487,"slug":488,"stem":489,"__hash__":490},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdoes-my-business-need-a-website-2026.md","Does My Business Really Need a Website in 2026?",{"type":8,"value":306,"toc":459},[307,310,314,317,320,324,327,330,334,337,344,348,356,360,363,380,383,387,390,393,397,400,434,437,441,449,451,454],[11,308,309],{},"Yes. Almost every small business needs a website in 2026, even if most customers come from referrals or social media. A website is the one place online you fully control, it's what Google and AI assistants rely on to understand your business, and it's where people go to check you're legitimate before they call. The exceptions are narrow, and a basic site costs less than many owners assume.",[15,311,313],{"id":312},"why-social-media-isnt-a-substitute-for-a-website","Why social media isn't a substitute for a website",[11,315,316],{},"Social media is a good place to be found and a poor place to be based. Platforms decide who sees your posts, change their rules and reach whenever they like, and can suspend accounts with little recourse. Your followers live on someone else's property.",[11,318,319],{},"A website is the one piece of your online presence you own outright. You decide what it says and how it's organized, and it stays put no matter what a platform does next. Use social media to reach people; use your website as the place you send them.",[15,321,323],{"id":322},"customers-check-your-website-before-they-call","Customers check your website before they call",[11,325,326],{},"Most customers look you up before they contact you, even when a friend referred them. They want to confirm you're real, you're still operating, you serve their area, and you do the specific thing they need. A missing or outdated website leaves those questions unanswered, and the easiest next step for them is to try someone else.",[11,328,329],{},"Referrals don't skip this step; they start it. \"My neighbor used them\" gets someone to search your name. What they find decides whether they call.",[15,331,333],{"id":332},"google-and-ai-assistants-need-something-to-read","Google and AI assistants need something to read",[11,335,336],{},"Search engines and AI assistants can only recommend what they can understand. When someone asks Google, ChatGPT, or another assistant for \"a plumber near me who installs tankless water heaters,\" the answer is assembled from sources that clearly describe businesses: websites, Google Business Profiles, directories, and reviews.",[11,338,339,340,201],{},"A social media page gives them little to work with. A website with clear service pages, your location, and structured data tells them exactly what you do and where you do it, in a form they can quote. We explain how that works in ",[197,341,343],{"href":342},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-geo-ai-search-small-business","what GEO means for small businesses",[15,345,347],{"id":346},"your-google-business-profile-works-better-with-a-website","Your Google Business Profile works better with a website",[11,349,350,351,355],{},"A Google Business Profile is one of the most useful free tools a local business has, and it works best paired with a website. The profile gets you onto the map; the website gives people somewhere to go for details and gives Google more to connect to your profile. Our ",[197,352,354],{"href":353},"\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-business-profile-guide","Google Business Profile guide"," walks through setting one up properly.",[15,357,359],{"id":358},"what-happens-if-you-dont-have-a-website","What happens if you don't have a website",[11,361,362],{},"Without a website, you're relying on other platforms to represent you, and they won't do it the way you would. In practice that tends to mean:",[99,364,365,368,371,374,377],{},[102,366,367],{},"Directory listings with outdated hours or phone numbers you can't easily fix",[102,369,370],{},"Competitors with websites showing up for searches about your services",[102,372,373],{},"Customers who can't find your prices, service area, or what makes you different, so they pick someone who explains it",[102,375,376],{},"AI assistants with little or nothing to say about you",[102,378,379],{},"No way to collect an inquiry at 10 p.m. beyond a message someone may never send",[11,381,382],{},"None of this shows up as a dramatic loss. It shows up as calls that never happen.",[15,384,386],{"id":385},"when-you-might-not-need-a-website-yet","When you might not need a website yet",[11,388,389],{},"A few businesses can reasonably wait. If you're fully booked by repeat clients for the foreseeable future, you don't need more leads. If you're testing an idea that may not be a business in six months, a Google Business Profile and a social page can carry you for a while. And if you sell entirely through a marketplace that handles discovery, your storefront there may be enough for now.",[11,391,392],{},"Even then, register your domain name. It's cheap insurance, and it keeps someone else from taking it.",[15,394,396],{"id":395},"what-a-small-business-website-actually-needs","What a small business website actually needs",[11,398,399],{},"A useful small business website doesn't need to be big. For most businesses, five pages cover it:",[401,402,403,410,416,422,428],"ol",{},[102,404,405,409],{},[406,407,408],"strong",{},"Home:"," what you do, who you serve, and how to reach you, all visible without scrolling.",[102,411,412,415],{},[406,413,414],{},"Services:"," a section or page for each main service, described the way customers describe it.",[102,417,418,421],{},[406,419,420],{},"About:"," who's behind the business and why someone should trust you.",[102,423,424,427],{},[406,425,426],{},"Reviews or work examples:"," proof that you do what you say.",[102,429,430,433],{},[406,431,432],{},"Contact:"," phone, form, hours, and your address or service area.",[11,435,436],{},"Beyond the pages, three things matter: it loads fast on a phone, it shows up in Google, and it makes contacting you easy.",[15,438,440],{"id":439},"what-a-small-business-website-costs","What a small business website costs",[11,442,443,444,448],{},"A basic small business website costs less than many owners expect. A DIY builder usually runs $15–$40 a month if you have the time to build it yourself. A custom site from Made by Velocity starts at $3,000, one time, for up to five pages in about ten business days, with hosting typically $20–$50 a month on top. Our ",[197,445,447],{"href":446},"\u002Fpricing","pricing page"," shows what each package includes.",[15,450,252],{"id":251},[11,452,453],{},"Yes, your business needs a website in 2026. Social media is useful but rented; a website is owned. It's where customers verify you before calling, and it's what Google and AI assistants use to understand and recommend you. A fast, clear five-page site covers most small businesses.",[11,455,456,201],{},[197,457,458],{"href":260},"Start your website with Made by Velocity",{"title":263,"searchDepth":264,"depth":264,"links":460},[461,462,463,464,465,466,467,468,469],{"id":312,"depth":267,"text":313},{"id":322,"depth":267,"text":323},{"id":332,"depth":267,"text":333},{"id":346,"depth":267,"text":347},{"id":358,"depth":267,"text":359},{"id":385,"depth":267,"text":386},{"id":395,"depth":267,"text":396},{"id":439,"depth":267,"text":440},{"id":251,"depth":267,"text":252},"Yes. Social media isn't enough. Why small businesses still need a website in 2026, the few exceptions, and what a basic site needs.",[472,475,478,481],{"q":473,"a":474},"Can I just use Facebook or Instagram instead?","Use them, but not instead. Social media is rented land; a website is the only home page you own, and it's what Google and AI assistants can most clearly read when someone searches for you.",{"q":476,"a":477},"What if I only get customers through referrals?","Referred customers usually look you up before calling. A simple, credible website closes the gap between \"my friend mentioned you\" and \"I'm ready to book.\"",{"q":479,"a":480},"How many pages does a small business website need?","For most small businesses, about five: home, services, about, reviews or work examples, and contact. It matters more that it's fast and clear than that it's big.",{"q":482,"a":483},"How much does a basic small business website cost?","A DIY builder usually runs $15–$40 a month plus your time. A custom site from Made by Velocity starts at $3,000, one time, with hosting typically $20–$50 a month.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdoes-my-business-need-a-website-2026",4,{"title":304,"description":470},"does-my-business-need-a-website-2026","blog\u002Fdoes-my-business-need-a-website-2026","-WxfSlunfUbv8D4XFV6CXAkEF1eHR2-gLh4N4Em1p4k",{"id":492,"title":493,"author":6,"body":494,"description":716,"extension":276,"faqs":717,"heroImage":290,"heroImageDescription":290,"meta":730,"navigation":292,"path":199,"pillar":294,"publishedAt":295,"readMinutes":486,"seo":731,"slug":732,"stem":733,"__hash__":734},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Ftemplate-vs-custom-website.md","Template vs Custom Website: Which Is Right for You?",{"type":8,"value":495,"toc":705},[496,499,503,506,509,513,595,599,602,605,609,615,618,622,625,633,637,640,643,647,650,664,667,671,674,688,695,697,700],[11,497,498],{},"A template is the right choice when you need a site live fast on a small budget and your business doesn't depend on standing out online. A custom website is worth the cost when your site is a main source of new customers, when you need to look different from competitors, or when speed and search visibility matter. The real tradeoff isn't \"good versus bad\"; it's distinctiveness, performance, SEO control, and flexibility versus cost and time.",[15,500,502],{"id":501},"whats-the-difference-between-a-template-and-a-custom-website","What's the difference between a template and a custom website?",[11,504,505],{},"A template website starts from a pre-built layout that many other sites also use; you swap in your logo, colors, text, and photos. A custom website is designed for your business first, then built to that design. Both can be done well or badly. Custom doesn't automatically mean good, and template doesn't automatically mean bad.",[11,507,508],{},"One clarification helps: the platform isn't the template. A site can run on WordPress and still be custom-designed, and a site on a custom framework can still be a lightly edited template. What matters is whether the layout and structure were made for you.",[15,510,512],{"id":511},"template-vs-custom-at-a-glance","Template vs custom at a glance",[30,514,515,527],{},[33,516,517],{},[36,518,519,521,524],{},[39,520],{},[39,522,523],{},"Template",[39,525,526],{},"Custom",[49,528,529,540,551,562,573,584],{},[36,530,531,534,537],{},[54,532,533],{},"Up-front cost",[54,535,536],{},"Low; often a builder subscription or a small theme fee",[54,538,539],{},"Higher; typically thousands of dollars",[36,541,542,545,548],{},[54,543,544],{},"Time to launch",[54,546,547],{},"Days",[54,549,550],{},"Weeks (10–15 business days for our builds)",[36,552,553,556,559],{},[54,554,555],{},"Distinctiveness",[54,557,558],{},"Shares a layout with other sites",[54,560,561],{},"Designed around your business",[36,563,564,567,570],{},[54,565,566],{},"Performance",[54,568,569],{},"Depends on the template; many carry unused code",[54,571,572],{},"Can include only what you need",[36,574,575,578,581],{},[54,576,577],{},"SEO control",[54,579,580],{},"Limited to what the template exposes",[54,582,583],{},"Full control over structure and markup",[36,585,586,589,592],{},[54,587,588],{},"Changing it later",[54,590,591],{},"Constrained by the template's structure",[54,593,594],{},"Built around your content",[15,596,598],{"id":597},"distinctiveness-does-your-site-need-to-look-different","Distinctiveness: does your site need to look different?",[11,600,601],{},"Distinctiveness matters most when customers compare you side by side with competitors. If someone is choosing between three landscapers or three accountants and two of the sites share a layout, neither stands out. Changing colors and fonts helps less than people expect, because layout and structure are what make a site feel familiar.",[11,603,604],{},"Distinctiveness matters less when most of your work comes by referral, you have little direct local competition, or the site mainly confirms your hours and phone number. In those cases a clean, simple template is fine.",[15,606,608],{"id":607},"performance-templates-often-carry-weight-you-dont-use","Performance: templates often carry weight you don't use",[11,610,611,612,201],{},"Templates are built to serve thousands of different businesses, so they usually include code for features most sites never switch on: sliders, animation libraries, page builders, icon sets. That code still loads on every page, and it's one of the usual suspects when a site is slow. We go through the causes in ",[197,613,614],{"href":293},"why your website is slow",[11,616,617],{},"To be fair, a lightweight template can be fast, and a carelessly built custom site can be slow. The advantage of a custom build is that it starts from nothing and adds only what's needed. Every site we build is designed to load in under 2 seconds.",[15,619,621],{"id":620},"seo-and-ai-search-control-over-structure-matters","SEO and AI search: control over structure matters",[11,623,624],{},"Search engines and AI assistants read the structure of a page, not just its words. That includes the heading hierarchy, page titles, meta descriptions, internal links, and structured data that tells Google what kind of business you are, where you operate, and what you offer.",[11,626,627,628,632],{},"Templates usually handle the basics. Where they fall short is control: you get the fields the template gives you, and structured data in particular is often missing or generic. A custom build lets you shape each page around the searches your customers actually make. Our post on ",[197,629,631],{"href":630},"\u002Fblog\u002Fseo-small-business-5-things-that-matter","the SEO that matters for small businesses"," covers what's worth the effort.",[15,634,636],{"id":635},"flexibility-what-happens-when-your-business-changes","Flexibility: what happens when your business changes",[11,638,639],{},"Templates are easy to start and harder to grow out of. Adding service-area pages, a booking flow, or a section the template wasn't designed for usually means fighting the layout or bolting on a plugin.",[11,641,642],{},"Custom sites are built around your content, so additions follow the same structure as everything else. The honest tradeoff: structural changes on a custom site usually need a developer or a support plan, while a template builder lets you drag and drop things yourself.",[15,644,646],{"id":645},"when-a-template-is-the-right-call","When a template is the right call",[11,648,649],{},"A template is a reasonable choice in plenty of real situations:",[99,651,652,655,658,661],{},[102,653,654],{},"You're a new business still working out your brand and offer.",[102,656,657],{},"Your budget is a few hundred dollars and that won't change soon.",[102,659,660],{},"You need something live this week.",[102,662,663],{},"Nearly all your customers come from referrals or repeat business, and the site mostly confirms you exist.",[11,665,666],{},"If that's you, pick a simple, fast template, keep the page count small, and plan to rebuild once you know what's working. That isn't a failure; it's sequencing.",[15,668,670],{"id":669},"when-a-custom-website-is-worth-it","When a custom website is worth it",[11,672,673],{},"A custom website earns its cost when the website itself is doing sales work. Signs you're there:",[99,675,676,679,682,685],{},[102,677,678],{},"New customers find you through Google or AI search, not just referrals.",[102,680,681],{},"You compete directly with businesses that look similar online.",[102,683,684],{},"Your current template site is slow, hard to update, or no longer fits what you sell.",[102,686,687],{},"You need specific features such as booking, service-area pages, or integrations.",[11,689,690,691,694],{},"That's the point our ",[197,692,693],{"href":241},"services"," are built for: custom design with no templates, fixed prices starting at $3,000, and full ownership of the code when it's done.",[15,696,252],{"id":251},[11,698,699],{},"Templates are cheaper and faster to launch. Custom sites are more distinctive, easier to make fast, and give you more control over SEO and future changes. Use a template when you're early, budget-constrained, or referral-driven; go custom when your website is how new customers find and judge you.",[11,701,702,201],{},[197,703,704],{"href":260},"See what a custom site would cost for your business",{"title":263,"searchDepth":264,"depth":264,"links":706},[707,708,709,710,711,712,713,714,715],{"id":501,"depth":267,"text":502},{"id":511,"depth":267,"text":512},{"id":597,"depth":267,"text":598},{"id":607,"depth":267,"text":608},{"id":620,"depth":267,"text":621},{"id":635,"depth":267,"text":636},{"id":645,"depth":267,"text":646},{"id":669,"depth":267,"text":670},{"id":251,"depth":267,"text":252},"Templates are cheap and fast; custom sites are distinctive and easier to tune. How to weigh distinctiveness, speed, SEO, and flexibility for your business.",[718,721,724,727],{"q":719,"a":720},"Can't a template look custom if I change the colors?","Sometimes. But the underlying layout still matches every other site built on the same template, and the layout is usually what makes a website feel generic.",{"q":722,"a":723},"When is a template the right call?","When your business is still figuring out its brand, your budget is small, or you need something live this week. Plan to rebuild once you know what's working.",{"q":725,"a":726},"Is a custom website faster than a template?","Not automatically, but it's easier to make fast because it only includes the code your site actually uses. Templates often ship with features and scripts you never turn on.",{"q":728,"a":729},"How long does a custom website take?","With Made by Velocity, about 10 to 15 business days depending on the package. A template site can go live in a few days.",{},{"title":493,"description":716},"template-vs-custom-website","blog\u002Ftemplate-vs-custom-website","YJlVfNWit4nQJcGjsrvxnyOmOaJ7roLuO5M0-jtnOfs",1792426631945]