In the 2020s trying to start a new business without some kind of digital presence makes it pretty much impossible to grow the venture at all. While social media seems to be all the rage with everyone under 30 constantly tied to their phone looking at the next video or tweet, websites still provide the fundamental static information and connection between consumers and businesses. So, it stands to reason, that a new business should have a solid, well-designed website before opening its doors or launching a new growth campaign.
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Designing a Site Takes Real Skill
However, talking about needing a website and actually building one are two different things. The basic construct involves a solid understanding of HTML code and CSS framework for esthetics, imagery, consistent design, and presentation. Add in if the site is going to have any kind of interactive tools, and now JavaScript has come into play to operate those tools and functions. If the site is going to have an interactive database involved, with backend server support, and now middleware PHP constructs have to be involved and built as well, along with a server that supports that language and setup. The total combination of all these elements ends up requiring a skill set that isn’t easily learned on the fly or available from just any college graduate who walks in the door. It takes someone who has the training and, more importantly, the experience to know what works best for a given business and its marketing goals.
Why Not Use a Template?
No argument, there are plenty of tools and online platforms where one can gin up a website pretty quick with pre-written templates. They even give options to pick colors, move images around, and install some basic navigation tools. These work greater for personal sites where one wants to stand up quickly for a professional appearance, but they don’t work so well for a business.
For example, let’s say your new company launch needs to have an e-commerce setup. That requires four of the coding tools mentioned above, and most build-it-yourself templates don’t provide those fixtures for easy, non-code installation. In fact, one still has to get into the code with a template to tweak its details to work properly for a specific setup, account, cart payment tool, and database connection. Add in the fact that most businesses want to house their platform on a cloud account to reduce hardware costs, and that adds yet another layer of technical knowledge a template doesn’t solve. It becomes obvious very quickly how useless a generic template can be for a serious business venture.
Why a Tailored Approach Makes More Sense
With service websites, a business starts off with defining its marketing goals clearly. This is essential as the website to be built needs to match that plan, not work against it. The website also needs to be part of a bigger strategy about how the business will grow over time. This helps with the expansion of the website as traffic starts to grow and new resources need to be added later for additional income channels and awareness building.
Based on the defined marketing plan above, the initial site is then built with all the right tools from the start. If the website is simply going to be for awareness, the coding will emphasize the use of content provision, media, storage, and easy tools for updating material to keep the presentation fresh. There will also be built-in tools for data capture, interaction, and contact channels for consumers to reach out and engage. These types of sites are also heavily interconnected with social media channels for a fluid move back and forth.
On the other hand, if the site is going to be engaged in direct selling, it also needs to be structured to provide easy engagement, selling, commerce, payment, and accounting. The site backbone has to be able to handle the social aspects above as well as the e-commerce tools for transactions and buying. Most importantly, the site also needs to be operated in a protected manner so that connections, transactions, and consumer information are kept secure. Businesses are liable for their customer’s privacy, so a sloppily-designed site is an instant recipe for problems and legal penalties when the company gets hacked. Using the right database connections and transaction channels is critical.
Don’t Fake a Site Setup, Get Professional Help
Remember, a website and related portal tools are frequently a business’ first chance to make a big impression. Done wrong, that impression can be costly. Instead, using professional design help from support like EZ Service Websites and similar can bring in the valuable expertise needed without having to crash through a brutal learning curve in coding and server management. Doing so, your business can focus on what it does best for success with customers, and your coding can be set up correctly so that it is a digital advantage versus a landmine risk to your company.
Top-notch website design involves a lot more than slapping some generic HTML together with AI images and big font letters or trying to run an aggressive Twitter account. Regardless of anyone promising they can set up a quick site in 24 hours, a professionally designed website continues to be a well, thought-out extension a business plan and marketing campaign. Every element should be contributing to the total, not being a distraction or an afterthought. If an aspect of a site isn’t producing or supporting traffic and growth, then it needs to be eliminated and replaced with effective content. This kind of proactive design and feedback loop is what makes viable business websites stand out from the crowd. Yours can too with the right help.
