Website development
What is website development and why is it done?
The purpose of website development is to maximise the business benefits of a website. Generally, the ultimate goal of development is to increase sales and profitability.
To put it simply, a website delivers business benefits when it:
- Reach the right target groups (found in the right contexts)
- Influence target groups in the desired way
- Get visitors to buy or ask for a quote, etc.
The website must support the company's strategy and objectives, and work well with digital marketing.
Where to start with website development?
The first step is to set business objectives for the website. After setting the objectives, it is then determined how well the website is performing.
- Can we find the site in the way we want and reach our target audience?
- Search accessibility and visitor traffic
- How different target groups react to the site
- Skip to content at
- For the layout
- Usability (navigation, forward redirects, conversions)
- Technical functionality
The performance of the website is examined using dedicated tools, such as SEO tools and site analytics. Once the results are known, the best measures to improve performance can be selected.
How is website development progressing?
When measures are taken to improve the results of a website, the impact of these measures must be measured to determine whether the desired objective has already been achieved or whether further development is needed.
- Implement the development measure
- Measure the result in the right timeframe
- Make a decision on further development measures
Depending on the intervention, the results may be immediate, but the final impact on the business may be delayed.
Example 1: an improvement in site load speed is immediately visible in the measurement results, but the impact on business can only be assessed once a sufficient number of visitors have visited the site and it is possible to see how the change affected their behaviour.
Example 2: conversion optimisation measures can be very quickly visible if you already have a large number of the right kind of visitors on your site.
Tools for website development
- Search engine optimisation - improving the discoverability of your website to better reach the right target groups
- Content development - editing and producing texts, images and videos for the website so that they appeal to target groups in a timely, easy-to-understand way and meet their needs in a convincing way.
- Developing the look and feel - ensuring the site looks good, content is easy to view, listen to and read, layout and navigation are clear
- The site is a seller - The site is a seller, whose job it is to ask for a deal. Otherwise, the site is just a product presenter. The website must gently or forcefully nudge the visitor towards the goal and ask the visitor to perform the desired action.
- Technical development - technical development is the process of researching and optimising the performance of all website functionalities on different devices and browsers.
Website development is continuous
Website results can and should be continuously improved to maximise the business benefits of the site. Continuous development also extends the life of the site and postpones the need for site renewal - even by years.
How to choose the right partner
Skill requirements for a website development partner
- Technical maintenance of the website and technical expertise
- Business skills
- Search engine optimisation
- Content production and marketing communication skills
- Design and implementation of the layout
- Analytical tools and interpretation of results
- Conversion optimisation
- Website usability
- Digital marketing
Website development is best done with the site builder, as each website company has its own way of implementing technical solutions for the site. Familiarity with the way it is done reduces the number of errors and risks.
However, if someone else is chosen, the partner should be specialised in the website publishing system and implementation method.
When a site cannot be developed
A website cannot be developed if the way it is implemented prevents agile development or if the current publishing system is technically outdated. In both cases website redesign, so that development can begin.
Are you interested in the continuous development of your website?
Digiteam has extensive experience in WordPress websites, digital marketing and analytics, as well as strong business expertise and a solid technical website team. We have everything you need to develop your website. Contact us and ask us for more information.
Antti Kärki
Good digital marketing since 2003, but the humour gets worse every year. All in one package! Antti takes a broad view of marketing through the eyes of the client, the agency and the web analyst, but he is also keen to tackle individual issues. Antti's texts occasionally seek a little wake-up call, as the digital marketing industry has a lot of room for improvement.
