Why Your Website Needs a Custom Web Development Framework
Choosing the right website framework is an important business decision. You can choose either a canned solution or a custom web development framework. To make this decision, you need to assess all your website needs. Once you know what you need, you can weigh the benefits of every solution at your disposal.
No matter what you choose, we recommend working with a web design professional. Web design professionals can help you make the best decisions at every turn.
General Web Development Landscape
The most common Content Management Systems (CMS) come with canned systems like WordPress. Out of the box, these solutions give you the ability to manage your website's content. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are popular CMS options. Canned CMS options are, by nature, generalist software. They need to work out of the box for everyone. So, they are not easy to customize for more unique website needs.
Most CMS implementations are also open source, meaning their code is free to viewable and use.
A custom CMS like My JTech, our in-house tool, is a purpose-built web development framework. Custom CMS is often organized to make updating your website as easy as possible.
Our framework allows web developers to build functions and applications using the PHP programming language. This implementation allows developers to create lean, customized websites in an efficient way.
According to W3Tech’s surveys, about 61% of the internet uses template site builders. Most are personal blogs or simple marketing websites used by small businesses. So, a traditional canned CMS architecture is suitable for most. Content creators can produce and publish content for site visitors on their template site.There are three main ways that you can build a website that allows you to manage its content:
- A website builder and all-in-one services like Squarespace or Wix. With these canned website creators, you do not own the website. Instead, you lease space on the platform and use of their web design tools.
- An open source CMS like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla allow you to deploy web pages on various web hosts.
- A custom web design company like us gives you access to a personalized CMS and framework.
About 50 - 60% of the world’s CMS market is controlled by WordPress, making it 12x more widely utilized than any others. Later, we’ll discuss several issues specific to WordPress.
Differences Between a Canned Website System and a Custom Web Framework
CMS and web frameworks are both ways to edit a website or application. A canned CMS is an application that website managers use to alter their digital content. A framework contains robust functionality that web managers can alter with code. A framework gives developers a more effective way to control the development process.
How to Test If One Approach Is Better for You
Each solution approaches core website issues. Those issues include security, scalability, speed, business automation, customizations, updates, and integrations. Still, a solid framework with a custom-built CMS has notable competitive advantages.
So, what factors do you need to understand to do a proper evaluation of which solution is right for your website? We've listed all key web development factors below:
- Security, updates, patches, fixes, and plugin issues
- Content management complexity, customizations
- Uniqueness, speed, scalability, functional capability, business process automation
- UX, client input, support, client-centric approach
- API and software other integrations
Primary Limits of Canned CMS offerings
A canned CMS like WordPress can speed up site development time. Still, there are several drawbacks.
Security Vulnerabilities
Since canned CMS is open source, security is a paramount concern. Open source web development means that there are more people involved who can catch bugs and make security patches. It also means that hackers can find security holes to damage online businesses. As opposed to open source, a closed source framework uses a codebase that is not visible to the public.
Frameworks also have individualized functionality for the needs of the client’s site.
Canned CMS systems tend to add functionality through plugins. Plugins are, by nature, a threat to security. They often go without updates, and their code includes no required QA. In short, Plugin code can often slow down sites and introduce new vulnerabilities.
Finally, any plugins or widgets installed on a CMS need maintenance, upgrades, and monitoring. Most CMSs need third-party plugins and modules to extend the life of your website. In short, it's hard to create a site that isn't open to malicious code that can expose private data.
Custom PHP frameworks are more secure. They're based on vetted code and offer more security features to thwart any breaches.
Website Load Speed
The speed at which your website pages load has a direct effect on your customer conversions. Good page load speed and web server response times are critical for a high position in search.
Slow load times cause a cascade of negative outcomes. These include eCommerce losses, diminished SEO, and a bad user experience.
Canned CMSs need to meet a broad list of needs. So, they're built on large platforms with inherent downsides—causing slower page loads. This means that canned CMS will often offer too much at the expense of performance. Shared hosting environments compound the problem with slow server response times.
Custom website frameworks often have a more focused site architecture and hosting environment. They often deliver faster page loads to all devices—no matter the site.
Upgrades
Getting the latest code updates for canned CMS websites is critical. Your website depends on the latest updates to plugins, PHP, My SQL, and HTTPS to function. Many canned CMS are not updated by their owners. So, they often experience moments of insecurity because of this.
A custom framework provider manages all underlying software systems for you. Our goal as a custom framework provider is to deliver fine-tuned website performance.
Benefits of a Custom Framework for Web Development
My JTech is a custom CMS our developers built custom for every client. Our developers use our framework to create every instance of My JTech to meet your exact needs. You are a part of the design, so we can address your specific needs can with customizations.
In fact, we include unique features in our CMS that often move beyond what a canned CMS can do. A custom framework user can often operate their web app, automate work, and much more.
Security is far improved because the code is proprietary, minimizing vulnerabilities. Then we add more layers of security as needed. A custom CMS from a web designer like us can give significant advantages over a canned CMS.
Web applications - advantages of building custom web applications
A blog is the primary web application of a canned CMS such as WordPress. But, beyond a blog, there are serious limitations to constructing web apps using a canned CMS.
A custom CMS provides many advantages for custom web applications.
We work with customers to create custom web apps that meet a specific business purpose. Or in other words, our web apps are tailor-made to address your customers' problems.
Custom web apps are superior in design because they are unique to the tasks and demands of the users of that site. The best apps integrate with all other elements of your custom website. We've found that this approach saves clients both time and money. Once your app leaves development, you can manage it with your custom CMS.
There will always be a compromise if you attempt to do the same with a web app-like plugin. Learn more about our Custom Web Apps here.
SEO Performance
- Non-optimized URL defaults and permalink structure
- Incorrect meta tags
- Image optimization with alt text and file names
- Excessive plugins that slow load time
- Render blocking issues for javascript or CSS
- Sites need a plugin for an XML sitemap or robots.txt
- Limited keyword focus in SEO plugins and weak on-page optimization tools
- Schema-structured data requires a plugin
- Responsive design limitations
Advantages of Custom Framework Web Development
A custom framework allows your business to develop a CMS that meets your exact needs. Our customized framework can create a tool that matches your unique specifications. You are a part of the design, and we can address your specific needs with customizations.
Security also is greater because the code is proprietary—minimizing vulnerabilities. We'll also add extra layers of security as needed.
A custom web framework also gives us the freedom to create a website design that matches your needs. We're excited for you to create an app that can automate your business and evolve over time. Learn more about the power of Automation.
In short, working with a website development partner can provide significant advantages. Canned CMS deployments are right for some, but we cannot often recommend them.
Summary
Sites built on a custom website development framework are tailor-made to address your exact challenges. Why? Because they serve a specific purpose for your business needs.
In contrast, a canned CMS package will constrain your business in many ways. Worse, it can become vulnerable if you don't commit to learning everything you can about your site.
Our web development process involves detailed client input to produce a custom-designed website. That website will be more secure, useful, and easier to use than almost any other solution. Why? We build our website designs for superior SEO and digital marketing performance. To learn more about how a JTech custom framework website can accelerate your business online, request a free consultation.