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Template or bespoke

Template or bespoke: which one is right for your agency?

We build bespoke websites, so you would expect us to say bespoke. For plenty of agencies it is the wrong answer, and this page says which.

In short
  • A template is quick, proven and cheap to start. A bespoke site is designed around how you win instructions.
  • Choose a template if you are new, the budget is small, or the website just needs to be there.
  • Choose bespoke if the website has a job: winning valuations in a patch you mean to own.

What the words actually mean

  • A template is a design chosen from a set and made yours with your logo, colours, photographs and words. The layout, the page order and how it works are shared with every other agency on the same design.
  • A customised template goes further: more changes, sometimes extra pages. It is still the shared design underneath, and some providers sell it as bespoke.
  • A bespoke site starts from a blank page. The design, the order of the pages and the valuation journey are worked out for one agency, and nobody else has it.

The useful question is not what it is called but what was designed for you. Ask to see what the site looked like before it was yours.

Which one fits

 Choose a template ifChoose bespoke if
The jobThe site needs to exist and look rightThe site needs to win valuations
Where you areNew, still finding your feetEstablished, taking ground
This year's budgetA few thousand, or a monthly fee£10,000 or more for the build
How it should lookLike a good agency siteLike no other agency's site
Tie-inA term agreement suits youYou want to own it outright
Mostly on the left? Buy a template, and spend the difference on photography and your reviews.

When a template is the right answer

Honestly, more often than our line of work would like. A template is the right buy when:

  • You are new. Get something good live, win your first instructions, and come back to the website when there is money and a patch to defend.
  • The budget is small. A well chosen template with good photographs beats a bespoke site that was cut back until it no longer does its job.
  • You want it looked after. A platform comes with a support desk and a product that someone else keeps improving.

When bespoke earns its fee

Bespoke is worth it when the website is expected to bring in work, not just to be found. That usually means an established agency, a patch it intends to own, and a vendor who is comparing three agents on a phone at night.

What the fee buys is the part a template cannot share: a valuation journey designed around how you win, local pages with real substance, a look nobody else in town has, and a site you own outright. See what a project includes.

Ask what one extra instruction a month is worth to the agency. If the website cannot plausibly bring that, buy the template.

Compare the cost over three years

Comparing the build fee alone flatters a template. Compare three years.

  • A template on a licence: the build fee, plus the monthly figure times the months in the agreement. At the end you are still renting.
  • A bespoke site from us: £10,000 plus VAT for the build, the first year of hosting included, then £99 a month plus VAT if you want us to host it and make changes. Three years with our hosting comes to £12,376 plus VAT, and the site has been yours since launch.

The published prices in this market, each linked to the company's own page and checked every week, are on our cost page.

Guides on this

What should an estate agent website include?

A sold record, reviews and valuation booking for vendors; full listings for buyers; the company, EPC and material information the law requires.

How long does it take to build an estate agency website, and what happens at each stage?

A template can be live in a day; a bespoke build takes weeks, and some providers quote months. The stages, what causes delays, and when to start.

How can an estate agency get more valuation requests from its website?

Pass the vendor's check and make booking easy: proof, a local record, a fast page on a phone and a day and time to choose. Then measure bookings, not visits.

More on the guides page.

Questions

Is a bespoke estate agency website worth it?

If the website has a job, yes: winning valuations in a patch you intend to own for years. If it only needs to exist and look professional, a template does that for a fraction of the price, and that is the better buy.

How much does a template estate agency website cost?

Anything from nothing to a few thousand pounds up front, usually with a monthly fee on top, often on an agreement of two or three years. The published figures, each linked to the company's own page and checked every week, are on our cost page.

Can a template be customised to look bespoke?

Up to a point. Colours, logo, photographs and words, yes. The order of the pages, the valuation journey and how the site works, usually not, because that is the part every customer shares. Some providers call a heavily customised template bespoke, so ask whether anything was designed from a blank page.

Can I start with a template and move to bespoke later?

Yes, and for a new agency it is often the right order. Keep your domain in your own name from day one, and check the notice period on the template's agreement, so the move is simple when you make it.

Start a project

Bespoke, from £10,000. If a template is the better answer for you, we will say so. See the main companies compared.