5 Reasons Why HTML and CSS Outshine Website Templates
It’s time to decide what the face of your website is going to look like. With new and evolving applications and web development technologies, it’s hard to choose whether to go with custom HTML/CSS development or pre-made templates. While templates are usually the more straightforward route, the dynamic duo of HTML/CSS is the better option […]
It’s time to decide what the face of your website is going to look like. With new and evolving applications and web development technologies, it’s hard to choose whether to go with custom HTML/CSS development or pre-made templates. While templates are usually the more straightforward route, the dynamic duo of HTML/CSS is the better option if you want to give your project a unique look that stands out and is tailored to your specific needs. Here’s why:
Total Customization Control
HTML/CSS gives the developer complete control over the design and layout of the website. This enables you to precisely manage every aspect of the project, from brand needs to fonts, spacing, and colors. It gives you the freedom to be as creative as you desire by easily adding complex design concepts like animations and transitions that are either impossible or limited with templates.
Overall Performance and Functionality
When building your website, it is essential to consider user experience. To ensure the website works seamlessly, the developer can optimize performance by ensuring every bit of code serves some desired functionality. Unused code often causes delays in loading and overall poor user experience. Templates are usually preloaded with scripts and code that can be quite bulky, negatively impacting their loading times. While with templates, you cannot remove unused components and unused bulky code, it is an effortless task when using HTML/CSS.
Search Access and Visibility
Custom code also enables the developer to make the website more accessible for all users on different platforms, which can help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for greater visibility on the internet. Using browser-specific HTML/CSS code ensures that your website is compatible across multiple browsers. Moreover, you can also enable the design to be responsive, allowing it to seamlessly adapt to various screen sizes and devices, giving your project a consistent look regardless of the user’s browser or device.
Backend Functionality
When custom coding the frontend from scratch, the developer has complete control over the code handling required functionalities. This makes the interaction between the user interface logic and server code seamless decreasing the chances of errors and significantly enhancing overall functionality.
Long-term Maintainability
Updates can easily be made to the code, whether it be functionality or design. In the long run, custom code is much easier to maintain and modify depending on the evolving needs and constraints of the project.
Choosing the right approach to web development can be significantly beneficial for your project. Pre-built templates have their place and can be helpful for smaller and simpler prototypes and projects. However, when building a unique project to represent your brand or organization, the options and customization benefits of HTML/CSS remain unmatched.
Prachi is a Full Stack Developer based in Blacksburg, Virginia. She joined Exelaration as a student team member and earned her Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. Since graduating, Prachi’s goals include learning new skills and expanding her knowledge across various engineering fields. She enjoys spending her free time playing guitar, reading books, learning new languages, and picking up new hobbies and skills.