The Complete Guide To Business Website Development

Now more than ever, a business’s presence online matters. With Google being a main way customers and clients find businesses and mobile devices acting as our daily gateway to connection and online shopping, a business simply must have a solid website if they hope to compete in their industry. That makes the decision of hiring a website developer a very important one.

When hiring someone or a firm to do business website development, here are some of the important factors to look for.

Table of Contents

Custom Designed Business Website Development

No two businesses are the same. And yet, the business website development industry has relied heavily for many years on cookie-cutter style web design. Although this may turn a profit more quickly for the developer and is marketed as an easier solution for clients, the result is typically a subpar design that not only doesn’t meet all the client’s needs but also is not unique enough to stand out.

For a truly successful business website, you need a custom approach. You need a web developer who can create a design that is aesthetically and functionally catered to you and your business’s specific needs. Whether you are looking to increase online sales or provide an online portal for your staff or clients, a custom design can streamline processes and produce results.

Responsive Design

In today’s world many potential clients and customers are looking at websites on their phones or tablets. This means that responsive web design, or designs that automatically adjust to look great on screens of any size, is a key element of successful business website development. By designing your website for all screens and window sizes, you ensure that your website gets seen by the most possible people. Whereas non-responsive designs can get overlooked completely if the user is unable to access pages via mobile.

E-Commerce

Whether you’re collecting donations, selling physical products, selling online services, or enrolling online memberships, e-commerce is a very important aspect of business website development. Not only do you want a visually pleasing design that is optimized for e-commerce, but you also need a site that is equipped with all the functionality for e-commerce, such as:

Online payment processing
Integration with top billing platforms
Shopping cart functionality
Inventory management
Online order management
Shipping integration
Coupon and discount codes

Branding Through Design

As a business, consistent branding throughout all aspects of your marketing, including your website, is essential. When searching for the right business website development provider, ask to see example websites to ensure the designer has a keen eye for capturing their client’s brand via web design. Branding is more than just colors and logos – it is a unique combination of design, tone, and aesthetics that can only be achieved by experienced web developers.

Third-Party App Integration

To streamline business operations and ensure consistency for clients, customers, and staff, your business’s website should be able to integrate with nearly any third-party software or application. For example, payment process systems should be integrated with any online shop. If your business utilizes WordPress or various social media platforms for updating customers, it’s essential to have your new website be developed with those integrations in mind.

Scalable

Ideally, your business’s website design should meet your short-term goals while also being scalable for your long- term goals. With the right web developer, you can ensure that you’ll never be stuck with a website that doesn’t meet your needs, because they will become a long-term partner who can add and change things as needed.

Additional Services

Regardless of industry, businesses often need more than just a website design to run at an optimal level in terms of their IT. From managed services to other IT needs, businesses always need IT assistance from various vendors. To streamline providers, it’s always helpful to have a business website development team that can do more than web design. Look for full-service IT firms that offer a variety of solutions, such as: