FAQs
Custom Development questions we hear often
Straight answers to what Canadian clients ask us before they commit.
Why would we leave our CMS?
If your CMS copes with your size and rendering needs, keep it. A custom build makes sense when you need very fast pages across a large site, when you generate page sets the CMS struggles with, when edge personalization would otherwise confuse canonicals, or when your data simply does not fit a CMS model.
How do you pick the framework?
We look at four things. The shape of your data, whether relational, document or graph. How pages need to render. What your developers already know well, whether React, Vue, Angular or plain TypeScript. Where it will be hosted, whether Vercel, Cloudflare, a Canadian cloud region or your own servers. The best fit is the one we recommend, and we have no favourite.
Will we be locked in to you?
No. All code lives in your repository and depends only on open-source packages. There are no proprietary build tools or hosted services of ours sitting in the critical path, so your developers could take the project over the morning after handover.
Can you work alongside our in-house developers?
Yes. We can run as a separate team, or our framework specialists can work with your engineers through code reviews, architecture sessions and written status updates. Many projects end up as a mix of both.
What happens with SEO once the build launches?
An optional Enterprise Partnership retainer covers ongoing content, protecting rankings, technical monitoring, architecture reviews and regular link and content campaigns. After the first three months it runs month to month with no annual contract.
How long does a Production Build take?
It depends on scope, which is why the Discovery Sprint comes first and ends with a written proposal and schedule. Once you sign off, the build proceeds in weekly milestones you can see and review.
How do you get Core Web Vitals right on a custom build?
This is where custom work gives the most control. Each route gets its own rendering mode. Images come from a CDN that negotiates WebP or AVIF. Critical CSS is inlined. Third-party scripts load later through a tag manager that respects consent. We aim for green results on mobile as well as desktop.
Who owns the intellectual property?
Your organization owns the code, the architecture documents, the pipeline configuration and the monitoring setup. It is all committed to your repository on open-source dependencies, with no CreateITivity-only layer anywhere in the stack. Your own team or another agency can continue from the day after handover.
Where does content editing happen on a custom build?
We connect the front end to a headless CMS that suits your editors, such as Contentful, Sanity or Payload, or to an API you already run. Editors get a comfortable writing screen and developers get typed content. You choose the CMS, and we can work with any of these.
Can you move us from our current CMS to a custom stack?
Yes. We regularly move WordPress, Webflow, HubSpot and Wix sites to custom builds. Content is remodelled into the headless CMS, URLs are mapped with 301s, and the old and new sites run side by side until search data shows the move has settled.
Can you host in Canada and meet privacy rules?
We can deploy to Canadian cloud regions when data residency matters to you or your clients, and we design forms, analytics and data storage with PIPEDA and Québec Law 25 in mind. We are not lawyers, so your privacy officer or counsel should confirm the final setup.