You're Paying Too Much for a Template
There's a version of this story I hear all the time. A business owner pays a marketing agency a few thousand dollars for a "custom" website. The agency delivers something that looks fine. Modern enough. Professional enough. And then one day the owner visits a competitor's site and sees the same layout, the same stock hero image, the same button placement. Same everything, really, just with a different logo dropped in.
That's not a custom website. That's a template with your name on it.
How to Spot a Template Site
Most agencies won't tell you they're using a template. They don't have to. The site looks good enough at first glance, and most business owners aren't comparing code. But there are signs.
Your site uses the same layout as other businesses in your industry, sometimes down to the section order. The stock photography feels generic because it is; the agency licensed the same pack they use for every client in your vertical. You've tried to move a section or change a layout and been told it "isn't possible" or would cost extra. Your URL might even include the agency's platform name in it.
None of that is custom. That's a product being sold at a custom price with marketing costs added on.
What You're Actually Paying For
A template site costs an agency very little to produce. They start with a pre-built layout, swap in your logo and colors, drop in some stock photos, and write (or generate) a few paragraphs of copy. The whole build might take a day or two of actual work. But the invoice? That often lands somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000, plus ongoing monthly fees for hosting and "maintenance" that amounts to keeping the lights on.
For context, a Squarespace subscription starts at $16 per month and tops out at $39 for their Plus plan. If someone is charging you $300 per month for something that looks and functions the same way, the math should bother you.
What Custom Actually Looks Like
A genuinely custom site starts with your business, not a template library. The layout is designed around how your customers find you and what they need to do when they arrive. The code is written for your content, your goals, your growth. It loads fast because it was built to, not because a plugin was bolted on after the fact.
The technology matters, too. Vistoso Creative builds on Next.js, the same framework used by Nike, TikTok, Stripe, and The Washington Post. It's not a page builder or a drag and drop platform. It's production-grade software used by tens of thousands of companies worldwide because it's fast, secure, and scales without breaking.
Custom doesn't mean expensive or complicated. It means the site was built for you specifically, with technology that matches, and you can tell. You can see what that looks like in practice on our projects page.
What to Do About It
If you suspect your current site is a template, ask your provider a direct question: "Can I see the base theme or template this was built from?" If they hesitate, that tells you something.
Then ask yourself whether your website is doing the job you're paying it to do. Is it bringing in calls? Is it showing up in local search? Does it represent your business the way you'd represent it in person?
If the answer is no, you have options. Vistoso Creative builds custom sites from scratch on a flat monthly plan that includes hosting, maintenance, and scheduled Site Refreshes. No templates, no surprises, no copyright tricks if you ever decide to leave, and you own everything.
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