There are a lot of church website design companies nowadays that offer template-based solutions. It is not wrong to use templates especially if the church's budget doesn't allow a custom solution. However, there are several drawbacks when using a template-based church website.

1.It is not surprising if there are more than 100 church websites or perhaps even thousands that has the same look and feel.

2. No matter how you think the template design you picked is cool, it cheapens the look and feel when people see it on other websites.

3. You are not unique. Your church's personality is lost or not even conveyed to begin with.

4. It does not encourage repeat visits or drive more traffic.

It is understandable for a small church or a church plant to opt for the lower price solution such as templates.

However, it must also be considered that a church website is not just to have a pretty online presence but it is an investment being made for an effective online ministry and any investment has a price tag attached to it.

There are several advantages of developing a custom church website:

1. You can brand it and put together elements that reflect your church.

With template websites, you do not have any choice as far as what color scheme you want your website to have or what kind of design elements you want to put. But if you are customizing, you have the flexibility to tell the church website designer the elements that you feel would best represent your church's personality.

2. Your site is unique.

This is exactly the reason why you want a custom solution. You do not want your website to look like several hundred others. You give value to how your church looks on the web by customizing it.

3. You can enhance your user's online experience by adding interactive features.

A lot of template-based sites are limited with features. If the church website design company does offer some interactive features, it will add up to your monthly fees which eventually will cost you more money.

4. Your church's visual-appeal encourage repeat visits.

People are visual. They like colors and beautiful images by nature. We are created to be that way. If the images in your website are pleasurable, you convince them to keep coming back for more.

A customized website for your church may not be the most cost-effective option but it is an investment that is worth making.