Custom Web design vs. Template | Which one to Choose?

The direction of your company's digital marketing strategy will be decided by a template or a custom web design.

Are you considering making a new website investment for your company but need to know if a theme or a custom design is better for you? Whether you are familiar with the differences between the two or are just beginning your research, this article should offer some helpful things to consider while deciding which path to choose.

The Right Next Step for Your Website Design and Digital Strategy

Time for an illustration. Consider a custom-built home against a production home to help you better comprehend the distinctions between the two types of websites: custom and template. Both have comparable functions, but it will be much simpler to design your home bespoke from the beginning if you require extra amenities (like a master bedroom with two closets).

Website design is comparable in this regard. The website with a production home concept provides quick move-in, reduced prices, and specifications that can be suitable for your requirements. Of course, you could eventually outgrow this choice or modify your lifestyle to suit it, depending on what you're searching for.

We initially assess the primary goals of the website and the target audience while collaborating with customers to decide which strategy will perform best. The significance of outperforming rivals, the distinctiveness of the business and brand, the budget and timeframe, and who is included in the company's target market are a few possible considerations.

Working with a Template

You may get a website theme from one of the many themes and website builders available today. WordPress is the most popular platform for these sites, although you have seen commercials for themed websites from Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy. There are both free and premium themes available. Almost any website development company can design WordPress websites, but not all are built similarly. Keep this in mind if you're searching for a team to develop your site.

A thematic approach works well for specific customers when building a website that serves simple functions with little to no particular requirements. They could reinvest part of the money they save on design and development time in the link-building and SEO tactics used on the site to drive targeted visitors. There is a cap to this tactic, though. There is a limit to how rapidly your themed site can load before you start to experience design issues.

Additionally, it could be challenging to locate support or make changes to the theme if your web firm doesn't provide continuous assistance because the code is designed in a way that makes it challenging just to go in and make changes. There are countless methods to build code for a website since WordPress is so popular, and no two developers work in precisely the same manner. It's comparable to being given a copy of Goosebumps and instructed to turn it into a Steven King book. Scary!

Pros for Templates

1. Quick market approach

2. Cost-effective

3. Additional third-party apps are available

4. Topics relevant to industries (Construction, law firm, restaurant, etc.)

Cons for Templates

1. Due to a lack of design alternatives, the website's theme could be clearer and easier to support.

2. Finding assistance is challenging.

3. Not every construction is receptive to mobile devices.

4. Themes are designed to support several add-ons and third parties, which slow down the website.

5. The technique doesn't incorporate organic SEO.

Working with a Custom Web Design

There is a reason why large corporations opt for a custom web design over adhering to a predetermined theme. Custom web designs are better at bringing in customers.

You needn't fear that your site contains extra features you won't utilize because they were created with one firm in mind. The problem with templated websites is that they are designed to accommodate all after-market changes, but a custom web design is focused on giving your business what YOU need. A custom site will also have a greater SEO value because the coding will be cleaner and explicitly designed for your business.

While the main drawback of the bespoke design is that it costs more and takes longer, it could be advantageous in the long term. The custom site allows both teams to review each design, or even each page if required, to ensure that it is what the user wants rather than attempting to rush perfection. Analyzing your return on investment might be very different due to this degree of information.

Pros for Custom Design

1. Specific to your business and market

2. The website was created with search engine optimization in mind.

3. All browser and device kinds will be checked for your website.

4. The website provider provides ongoing assistance.

Cons for Custom Design

1. It takes longer to implement

2. Greater cost

3. Additional time and effort are needed throughout the building procedure.

4 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHILE CHOOSING A TEMPLATE OR CUSTOM WEB DESIGN

When making a decision, ask yourself the following.

1. Which alternative is most likely to provide a profitable long-term investment?

Typically, custom websites produce a larger return on investment. More ROI is produced from distinctive design, superior customer experience, and stronger branding. Your products, services, and marketing initiatives affect your investment return. No matter what sector you work in, you should always know how much money you hope to recover from your website.

2. Which one is superior in terms of design?

Custom websites are better at satisfying your company's design requirements and objectives. On the other side, it is challenging to produce a distinctive design using templates independently. Furthermore, if you use a template, your website will likely resemble many other websites on the internet.

3. Which one offers the greatest chance of long-term scalability?

It is quite challenging to customize your template if you want to expand your design to highlight new features and functions.

A personalized website may be modified and expanded. A website built with templates may not assist your business in attracting a sizable volume of inbound visitors. The majority of templates are universal.

4. How long, on average, has each website been online?

Custom websites are more durable. According to Go-Globe, a personalized website's typical lifespan is 3 to 4 years, compared to 1 to 1.5 years for a template.

Since custom web designs are created specifically for your company from the start, they are more cost-efficient overall. However, as your company and traffic expand, you might need to invest more money and effort in template upkeep.

The final verdict

You may decide whether to use a template or create a unique website. Some businesses will succeed just fine with a template website. They could be familiar with coding or content management systems, or the site they are searching for only requires basic functionality. But for most organizations, it makes sense to let website experts handle website security, software upgrades, and functionality upkeep.

A custom website may be more expensive up front, but you can expect it to require less ongoing maintenance from your staff, fewer third-party plug-in expenses, and less time spent trying to get a theme to work the way you want it to.

The money you spend on a bespoke website is an investment in the marketing plan for your business. How much may your business lose with a poor website strategy? It can cost more upfront.

The CodeAutomation Difference

Even with a personalized website in mind, not all providers are created equal. CodeAutomation has been offering conversion-driven websites that carefully examine our clients' brands for 15 years. This method has consistently produced original website designs and great ROI for our clients.

Contact us via our contact page or email info@codeautomation.ai to set up a discovery meeting immediately if we sound like the right marketing partner for your business.

QA Automation Testing | A Brief Guide

 Software is getting more and more complicated as user demand rises. Developers are thus under increased pressure to provide new applications and upgrades quickly, yet in-depth testing is still required to find defects and guarantee software quality.

Therefore, it is not unexpected that many businesses employ automated testing to streamline processes and enhance the effectiveness of the quality assurance (QA) procedure. While manual testing is always essential, automation may help small firms and established corporations save time and money.

In this article, we'll look at automated quality assurance (QA), how it works, and how it might help your business.

What is automated QA?

The software development life cycle includes QA as a subset (SDLC). Automated testing tools are used in quality assurance (QA) to execute tests on the program under development and record the findings.

Many time-consuming procedures formerly performed by manual testers are now handled via automation testing. Additionally, it helps with continuous integration and delivery, discontinuously developing, testing, and deploying software rather than in phases.

In conventional software development, the coding and testing phases were handled separately. Nevertheless, automated QA makes testing more regular, making it simpler to identify issues as you go.

Difference between manual and automated QA testing

While human testers adhere to a written test plan and notify developers of any bugs, automated QA testing completely depends on specialized tools to carry out test cases and produce findings. Although the two approaches may coexist, each works better in a particular situation.

Manual testing is suitable for evaluating an application's user experience (UX) and look and feel, which can only be done by a human. Therefore, it is most frequently applied to newly created and ad hoc test cases with flexible criteria.

Testers' frameworks serve as the foundation for automated testing. Large-scale software testing is appropriate and is typically more accurate than manual testing. The main advantage is time savings, particularly in regression testing, which can be tiresome for manual testers.

The human testing method cannot be recorded. At the same time, automation test scripts may be used repeatedly, making automated quality assurance beneficial for repeated execution testing and subsequent development cycles. Additionally, computerized tests may be conducted continuously without human input, while you can use manual testing techniques to cross-check findings.

How does QA automated testing work?

Parallel to the software development life cycle, the automated QA testing process goes through many crucial stages.

1. Establish the scope

Consider the goals of the testing process first, then do a feasibility study. Which tests can be automated, and which ones need human intervention? Additional considerations include finance, workforce, and expertise.

2. Select a tool for automation

You must choose a tool that meets your needs, but your decision will also be influenced by the technology of the web application you are testing. There are many options for automation solutions, so weigh cost, usability, intuitiveness, and adaptability before making your decision. Ensure the QA staff is instructed to make the most of the tool.

3. Create a plan.

The QA team should develop a test plan outlining the project's strategy and end objective and select an appropriate framework for the test cases. Standards, testing equipment, and common procedures should all be included in the framework. Examples of popular test automation frameworks are data-driven, keyword-driven, linear scripting, and modular testing.

4. Create the environment:

You must establish the appropriate environment to increase test coverage across many situations. The test team will plan and keep track of environment setup tasks, including setting up hardware and software and creating test bed scripts. Consider using a company like Global App Testing to assist with this process, as it can be time-consuming.

5. Compose a play.

At this point, QA engineers will create scripts based on actual requirements and scripting standards to execute the tests. Scripts must be organized, reusable, and simple enough for a third party to comprehend.

You may write automated test scripts and test online apps across many browsers using open-source tools like Selenium WebDriver, Appium, and Android Monitor. These tools support several programming languages, including Java and Python.

6. Carry out the tests.

GUI (graphical user interface) testing and API testing are the primary methods for automating QA testing. With tools like TestComplete, GUI testing tries to replicate the user experience. For example, each iteration might test a distinct program feature or operate the same way every time.

The application programming interface is tested using APIs. It also evaluates internal and external APIs, focusing on individual components and end-to-end transactions.

We'll look at a few of the many software test types in the section after this.

7. Research and analyze

The automated program will produce a report once the tests have been run. The outcomes will demonstrate whether parts have faults or flaws and whether more testing is necessary.

Types of software test

Which software test to choose will depend on the program being tested and your development techniques. Different software tests are suited for different circumstances. You can employ some of the most well-liked approaches we've chosen alone or more frequently in combination.

Prioritizing the tests that will be executed often throughout the project makes sense when deciding which tests to automate. By automating the simplest tests, the team will have more time to focus on the more complicated tasks.

1.  Unit tests

Unit testing involves putting an application's parts (or units) through their paces to ensure they function as intended. They are among the simplest QA tests to automate since they are frequently created by the same programmers who created the unit's code.

Unit testing is specific enough to identify problems, which facilitates bug detection. In addition, because just the most recent modifications need to be corrected when a test fails, debugging is very straightforward. Typically, errors are corrected as soon as they are discovered.

2.  Integration tests

To verify how the software functions as a whole or how it interacts with hardware, integration tests handle numerous components simultaneously. For instance, it may determine whether an eCommerce software sends a purchase confirmation email to the consumer.

Instead of focusing on the already-tested unit functions, integration testing primarily examines the interfaces and information flow across the modules.

3.  Functional tests

Functional tests assess whether the program can carry out tasks described by the necessary documentation. Whether using automated tools or manual testers, you can make that the outcome is what you want.

Black-box testing methods, in which the tester is unaware of the underlying code, are used for functional testing.

4. Smoke tests

Smoke testing is another evaluation that testers employ to check the functionality of the software's core features. Because it examines the reliability of the software build, it is also known as build verification testing. Before moving on to the next round of testing, developers may immediately address any problems.

5.  End-to-end tests

This more thorough test verifies the seamless operation of all the corresponding parts throughout the software package. It emphasizes system elements that are difficult to accurately assess with smaller tests and attempts to recreate genuine user experiences.

6.  Performance tests

Performance testing is a set of non-functional tests intended to evaluate the software's responsiveness, dependability, and capacity under a certain load, such as the simultaneous usage of many users. The program must meet performance requirements, and performance-related bottlenecks must be found and fixed.

7.  Regression tests

Regression tests show that an update to the code or program hasn't negatively impacted the app's current functionalities. Before the product is made available, it entails conducting functional and non-functional tests for a final review.

What can you get from automation?

Overall, automated testing is a terrific approach to speed up the testing process and provide greater accuracy while saving your business time and money. Additionally, it allows you to increase test coverage and frees up the QA team to conduct more sophisticated testing, which results in higher-quality products.

You will still need to choose the appropriate tools and design, build, and manage the tests; automation will only handle some things for you. Also, keep in mind that manual testing will always be required to some extent.

You have the highest chance of finding numerous flaws and faults if you combine automated and manual testing. Visit the website to learn more and talk with a helpful representative. Professionals like CodeAutomation can assist you in connecting the two ways for the best results.

How to Tell the Difference Between Unit Testing and Integration Testing?

Unit testing, regression testing, system testing, acceptance testing, and integration testing are just a few examples of the different functional testing techniques. Unit testing and integration testing are two crucial testing methods that must be used throughout the software development lifecycle out of these many testing kinds. To help you better comprehend the fundamental distinctions between these two testing kinds, we shall now define the contrast between them.

Definitions of Unit Testing and Integration Testing

We should first look at the definitions of unit and integration tests to better grasp their differences.

What Is Unit Testing?

Unit testing is a form of software testing technique that involves completely isolating the testing of a single unit or piece of source code. By simulating the interactions with the external dependencies, this approach seeks to evaluate the individual components so that they perform as planned. A function, class, or method might be the unit tested in this form of testing. Typically, the developer does this activity by creating test cases, running them, and evaluating if they provide the desired results. The initial stage of software testing is frequently referred to as unit testing.

Why Unit Testing?

A unit test is crucial because it aids in the early detection of flaws in the software development cycle. By doing this, you can avoid having to spend a lot of time and energy later on fixing these flaws. Unit testing also increases the code's dependability and readability. It thereby lowers the total cost of development.

Unit testing can be carried out either manually or with the use of automated testing software. Tests that are automated are quicker and more effective. TestNG, JUnit, NUnit, Mockito, PHPUnit, and Selenium are a few of the well-liked unit testing technologies. With the help of all these tools, developers may create test programs in the programming language they are most familiar with, like Java.

What Is Integration Testing?

The software testing technique known as integration testing, on the other hand, involves evaluating a set of software components or modules. This procedure tries to ensure that these components function in harmony with one another by validating their interaction and communication. After unit testing, integration testing is frequently regarded as the second stage of software testing.

Various forms of integration testing are created to test various forms of communication between software units. Integration tests often take the following forms:

• Top-down Integration Testing: In this sort of testing, the top-level module is tested before the lower-level modules are tested. It is used to confirm that the lower-level modules and higher-level modules can interact.

• Bottom-up Integration Testing: This sort of testing works its way up from the lower-level modules to the higher-level modules with a similar goal.

• Testing that involves integrating all the modules at once is known as "big-bang" integration testing. They will then undergo an entity test.

• Sandwich Integration Testing: As implied by the name, module pairings are combined and tested simultaneously in this sort of integration testing.

Why Integration Testing?

To examine the whole system's functionality, performance, and load behavior, an integration test is run. Additionally, it checks to see if the components work properly after integration. Integration testing also aids in locating any communication gaps between different components. Additionally, it reveals flaws that may not have been picked up during unit testing.

Why Do People Mix Up Them?

People frequently confuse unit testing and integration testing because they share several characteristics. In essence, they are both functional tests to find flaws and problems early in the development process. These software testing techniques all aim to increase maintainability, save debugging time, and ensure codebase quality prior to release. They are connected and are an important component of your software development team's complete testing plan.

A Detailed Comparison Between Unit Tests and Integration Tests

Although they have certain similarities, unit testing and integration testing are not the same thing. In actuality, they differ from one another in a number of significant ways. Perhaps the in-depth analysis that follows will help you see how these two software testing approaches differ from one another:

• Each software component is tested independently as part of the unit tests to ensure that each piece of code works as intended. In contrast, integration tests combine and test two or more independent modules to determine how well they function together.

• Unit testing is carried out by developers during the coding process, but integration testing is normally carried out by the test team. This is a key difference between unit and integration testing.

• The integration tests are completed only after unit testing, which can be done at any time. While a unit test can be performed in any order, including concurrently, an integration test must be executed in a certain sequence.

• Compared to integration problems, faults in unit testing findings are simpler to identify and correct. A unit test is furthermore less complex than an integration test. This explains why integration tests are more expensive than unit tests.

• While unit tests simulate interactions with external dependencies, integration tests employ actual dependencies.

• The fact that unit testing is a white box test and integration testing a black box test is another obvious distinction between these two functional tests.

• Not to mention that whereas integration tests start with the interface specification, unit tests start with the module specification. The internal architecture of the program is known to development teams during unit testing, but not to testers during integration tests.

Final Thoughts

In summary, both unit testing and integration testing are critical since they allow for early mistake discovery and issue remedies. But they shouldn't be done one after the other. Despite the fact that both are functional testing techniques and share certain similarities, as we noted in the comparison above, there are many differences between the two kinds of testing. The secret to choosing how to apply each of these two software testing techniques exactly and effectively is having a solid awareness of their distinctions.

How Can the Development of Custom Mobile Apps Help Your Business?

It is difficult to find a business with a mobile or web app. Companies frequently use pre-built platforms to find quick fixes. However, many enterprises are let down since commercially available platforms only partially meet their requirements. You may solve these issues with bespoke app development.

Customizing mobile apps may be a potent tool for assisting your staff, operations, and company. However, many businesses want assistance to create a tailored app that perfectly suits their requirements.

We'll discuss the following in this piece:

• What custom mobile app development is 

• When it's necessary, and 

• How it helps businesses achieve their goals.

So let's get started!

What Is Custom Mobile App Development?

Here, the name very well speaks for itself. Creating apps particularly suited to your company's requirements is known as custom mobile app development. Such an app is developed to answer the demands of a specific audience rather than the needs of the entire population, whether fully or partially personalized. Custom-developed apps, sometimes called bespoke or tailor-made software, offer the capability and capabilities that straightforward off-the-shelf alternatives do not.

The majority of apps available are custom-based. However, many contain third-party, off-the-shelf functionality that has been incorporated. Such connections are typically developed for chats, bulletin boards, CRMs, and other features.

Sendbird, for instance, is a well-liked option for applications that incorporate a pre-made messaging chatbot into their offering. Such a chatbot may be changed in design colors even though it is incorporated. You still have limited ability to alter it. So, if a built-in app cannot meet your objectives, you must create a unique chat.

For instance, we instantly declined to use a pre-made chat when developing Yaza, a video-sharing software for realtors. Instead, we had to create a unique chat because pre-made solutions did not provide sharing of customized video messages, better serving the objectives of the app.

While choosing the ready-to-use choice is perfectly OK, occasionally you need something special.

The same holds for your company. Those commercially available solutions can only address your company's essential requirements, leaving out some objectives that, although not fundamental, are nonetheless essential to your success.

Benefits of Developing Custom Mobile Apps for Business

Today, businesses of all sizes, whether small, medium-sized, or large, benefit from tailored business applications since it helps them maintain their competitiveness and boost productivity. The following are some of the most well-liked benefits of developing unique mobile applications for businesses:

1. Improves Efficiency

Company applications work as a complete app performing various duties, negating the need for several apps because they are specifically designed with your business needs in mind. Additionally, because these applications are made to fit your working style, employee productivity is increased, which boosts corporate ROI.

2. Offers High Scalability

Apps that are used often are made to manage a small number of resources and operations. Therefore, these apps might not withstand the strain if your business were to expand. On the other hand, custom apps are created considering all of these factors and may be scaled up quickly when the need arises.

3. Secures Your App Data

General business applications may lack specific security measures, which might put the security of your company's data in danger. Because your company's demands will consider pertinent security measures when app creation, having a bespoke app created just for your organization will strengthen your data security system.

4. Integrates With Existing Software

General business apps may work seamlessly with your current software. However, because they are created concerning the business software you already use, custom applications are sure to connect correctly and run without any issues.

5. Easy to Maintain

You risk putting yourself in the hands of an unreliable mobile app developer if you use standard applications for your routine company activities. You will need to locate a new app and stop using your present one if the developer decides to stop supporting the app for whatever reason. You may have full control over your bespoke business app and eliminate any dependency on others by creating one.

6. Improves Customer Relationship

Using customized business applications, you may provide real-time customized updates about your goods and services to your existing clients. It also gives you access to client information and comments, which you may use to strengthen enduring client connections.

7. Facilitates New Client Data Retrieval

You may obtain the necessary customer information by including simple questionnaires and surveys in the custom mobile application. In addition to being a covert method of gathering data, it also saves clients and workers time because they don't need to submit the paperwork physically.

8. Provides Real-time Project Access

Having quick access to your business documents is quite helpful when traveling. With a tailored app for your company, you can quickly connect your phone and PC and access your work-related files, tasks, calendars, etc. Additionally, obtaining contracts and brochures that you can distribute to your clients is simple by using customized business applications.

9. Ease in Project Management

You may install custom applications to keep track of deadlines and project progress in real-time. Updates can be delivered following the conclusion of each project phase, maintaining the project's billing cycle.

10. Record Digital Files for Accountability

One may quickly record ideas and thoughts on the phone for dictation if they are pertinent to your consumer. Only authorized personnel will subsequently be able to view these recordings, which You can then save immediately in safe places. By doing so, you can increase responsibility and better serve your consumers.

Things to Consider While Developing a Custom Mobile App

The market environment, rapidly evolving mobile platforms, and the need for quick turnaround make it essential that bespoke app solutions are carefully considered before being put into practice. Before creating a customized mobile app for your company, you must consider a few things.

• Faster Time to Market - For custom business applications to launch rapidly, they must be affordable and produced in a short amount of time.

• Improved Efficiency - To ensure that the end solution is successful and clearly improves, the bespoke applications need to be adjusted and fixed for greater efficiency.

• Many Network Compatibility - You must test the produced app for multiple operators to guarantee that it functions appropriately on diverse networks in different regions.

• Data Security - Since most applications are designed to be used by multiple users, they must provide robust authentication and secure data access.

• Battery Life - You must evaluate the app for how it affects battery life, as people dislike apps that rapidly use their batteries.

• Impressive UI/UX - The custom app should have a beautiful user interface and a wonderful user experience.

• Effective Data Synchronization - The application must regularly synchronize data with the server at an appropriate frequency.

• Streamlined Communication Channel - The app has to have a specified communication channel, such as texting, WAP, etc.

                   

Custom Mobile Application Development Trends

Due to the growing consumerization of information technology, Build Your App (BYOA) is an extension of the idea of bringing your device (BYOD). BYOA allows employees to use better apps for work, but it can also be viewed as a significant security risk. Therefore, employees will only use mobile or cloud apps if they control how their data is kept, accessed, and utilized.

Businesses can benefit significantly from BYOA by spending less on user training and purchasing authorized equipment. However, the main difficulties bespoke mobile applications must overcome are technical support, integration with existing network services, support for a broad range of mobile platforms, designing the user experience, and project cost estimation.

Due to a rise in smartphone usage, the bespoke mobile app creation industry has experienced enormous growth. The following are some of the most recent developments in the creation of unique mobile apps:

• Users of your mobile applications love responsive designs, which are the newest fad. In addition, cloud-based apps are more popular since they require fewer data locally saved on the phone.

• The majority of applications today must incorporate social networking.

• The newest trend, known as the "internet of things," allows users to operate various devices and home appliances using smartphone apps.

• Wearable technology is quickly catching up with today's growing awareness of health and fitness concerns.

• One of the fastest-growing technologies, beacon technology, is being used in bespoke apps more and more.

• Near-field communication (NFC) is utilized more frequently, particularly for mobile app purchases.

• Payment gateways allow customers to make cashless purchases at retail establishments and to conduct online transactions on e-commerce websites.

• Big data and app analytics are rapidly expanding fields in the data analytics industry because they enhance user experience.

How CodeAutomation Can Help To Build Custom Apps

At CodeAutomation, we have experience developing applications with customized interfaces, such as Aspiration, Dollar Shave Club, Sprent, and Nomad. All of our development efforts are based on user requirements and input from user testing and interviews. One of our beliefs is having a product mindset. Because of this, product discovery is a crucial component of our development processes.

We always do a customer interview to understand the initial request before moving on with the development of a bespoke app. We also conduct a discovery stage to test the idea, proposal, and product hypothesis. Then, finally, find the greatest tech solution by studying in the field.

The final verdict

If a custom app is developed with your company's needs in mind, it might provide your company with a significant boost. By offering improved security, simplicity of maintenance, and excellent scalability, custom-developed applications support the growth of enterprises.

Contact our experts to determine if developing a bespoke app is the best option for your project.