Web Design or Web Development : Which one is Needed for your Company

Website design and development signifies the process of website creation. Coordinated together, they result in fully functioning web systems developed for varied business goals. Let’s first clear the confusion regarding design and development when it comes to website building.

What is Website Development?

Website Development is the process of creating a functional website to ensure individual or business ventures are online. Internet users use websites to do anything and everything online. That’s precisely why it is monumental for businesses to have online outlets in the shape of websites.

Web Development

Backend Development

Backend Development is to do with everything you cannot see on websites, but that is the most important part of making the website what it is. Backend developers work on the server end of any website to build it from scratch.

Programming Languages

  • Javascript (JS)
  • Python
  • PHP
  • Ruby

Frameworks

  • NodeJS
  • Django
  • Laravel
  • Ruby on the Rails

Frontend Development

The part internet users see on websites is the “Front-end” of these sites or applications. The development or programming done to create the client-end of these websites is termed Frontend Development

Programming Languages and Frameworks for Frontend Development

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • React
  • jQuery
  • JSON

What is Website Design?

Web Design

Web designing is the essential front of businesses online. In the development phase, this segment is done in two different parts - UI and UX. These are two different aspects of web designing though you often see them come up together confusing many that they may be the same thing.

What is User Interface (UI)?

The user interface is the face of digital products that businesses use to communicate with their customers. It concentrates on the aesthetics of the online persona of brands on the internet.

UI designers usually conduct heavy design research to develop a User Interface with the client's requirements and industry standards.

Important Elements of UI Design

  • Color Theory
  • Typography
  • Graphics
  • Design Pattern
  • Links and Buttons
  • Interactivity

What is User Experience (UX)?

User experience or UX is to do with the functional aspects of the website designing process. The structural design solution for any physical or digital product of any business helps ensure its users have a great experience.

UX designers and developers do thorough customer research and competitor analysis to create a product strategy set for success. Businesses aim to ease the pain points of users through high-quality UX designs.

Important Elements of UX Design

  • Testing
  • Iteration
  • Prototyping
  • Wireframing
  • Easy-to-Use Functionality

Also Read: Customized Web Development

Why Does Your Company Need A Website?

There is no alternative to getting a website for businesses nowadays. No matter what kind of business you run, we will greatly benefit from an official business website any day. A few major perks would be to -

Make Businesses More Credible

A website works as your business's storefront when it comes to online presence. A beautiful, professional-looking website with customer testimonials will make your business more credible and help you gain consumers' trust.  

Establish Brand Awareness

We live in an era where most people use the internet, and most people search online when they know about a brand. This is where the website comes in. A visually appealing and professional-looking website will increase brand awareness and long-term ongoing engagement. 

Lead Generation

Lead generation and business website credibility is interconnected. You can generate more leads with a credible business website that will ultimately help the company to succeed.

Increase of Sales

Sales depend on leads. A website with customer testimonials creates credibility and attracts leads, which can significantly increase sales.

Exposure to Potential Organing Traffic

Your website is a vital touchpoint for increasing brand awareness. A visually pleasing, professional-looking website can help you establish brand awareness. On top of that, strong, effective SEO paves the way to be placed at the top of google search results, which will assist you in gaining organic traffic.

Constant Interactiveness

Your website is the first contact point for many potential customers. With an interactive website, potential customers will find the site content engaging and browse the products and services you offer with curiosity and eagerness.

Better Customer Connectivity

More potential customers will connect with your business if done correctly and with quality content. Live chat features and continuous quality content posting on your website can help maintain customer engagement and connectivity.

Official Outlet for Business Announcements

Let's say you have a credible website. The daily traffic you get every day has helped you generate vast leads. You can utilize this advantage when announcing a new product launch or opening a new outlet. With the help of your website, you can reach your loyal consumers rapidly and effectively.

Digital Marketing Opportunities

All of the above points discussed are the roles of a website in digital marketing. Nowadays, people tend to judge your business based on your website. With compelling content on the website, you represent your business online, and connect with more people, generating more leads and thus leads to more sales.

How to Determine which one your company needs?

Understanding your business needs can help you determine the operation plan and grow your business in the long run.

- Know your Needs and requirements.

Fundamentally a business's needs and requirements refer to the roadmap to pursuing a company's mission effectively. Therefore, operation planning and implementation to achieve the company's mission and vision should be discussed thoroughly in this stage before going operational.

- Know the Goals of your Business

A good and healthy company with a clear mission and vision statement have a goal. A business goal can be defined as a specific business objective or target that a business wants to achieve within a specific period. These periods can be broken down into two categories. A short-term goal and a long-term goal. The SMART goal-setting process can be used here to set the business goal.

- Who are your audience?

Based on your business type, you have to identify your target audience. This can be done by analyzing audience demographics, i.e., age, gender, economic status, interest, education, etc. Remember that the audience is your potential customer, and identifying the audience is the first step in creating a marketing strategy.

- Who are your Competitors?

Identifying competitors and analyzing their marketing strategy is crucial to maintain a competitive edge. Remember, your consumer will need a reason to buy your products and services over a competitor's product.

- List your service areas

If you own a service-based business rather than a physical storefront, you should list your business name and website in your Google Business Profile. The advantage of this profile is that you can attract more potential customers in your service vicinity.

- Develop your content.

An effective content strategy is essential to growing your audience. The more you attract your audience with content, the more you'll have leads which can turn into more sales. In addition, you should develop a content strategy that turns leads into customers and keeps them engaged with you even after their purchase. 

Types of features that a company website needs

Who does not want to make their business stand out from other companies? A visually attractive, professionally easy-to-use website can help you out in this case. Remember, a website is a central hub for digital marketing. This is why it is essential to decide the type of your website based on your business type and add features according to your business needs

1. Company Portfolio

This type of website is mainly for creative professionals, but nowadays, it's getting popular in every sector. The purpose of this type of website is to showcase achievements, performance, projects etc.

2. Dynamic Functionality

A dynamic website, aka data-driven website, as the data in the website's feed changes continuously and shows different information each time a user visits the website. This type of website is beneficial for a business because of the interactiveness, as the user, supplier and owner can all see real-time data and make decisions based on the data.

5. Static Website

This type of website is precisely the opposite of a dynamic website. In a static website, the content is fixed and only changes when the page is updated. So, for example, this page you are reading. This page is static and will remain this way till someone updates the page.

6. Business Specific Functionality.

7. User-Friendliness for Customer Satisfaction

It is essential to keep in touch with all your customers and know their satisfaction levels. To build a loyal customer base, you have to ask your customers questions and do customer surveys. You have to give them options to solve their problem on their own. To do so, you must add FAQ and community posting features to your website. You can also add live chat features to your website.

8. User Authentication and Authorization

This is a feature where the user must go through a security process to verify their identity to access the server or website. We live in an era where digital theft is frequently occurring. It is also your responsibility to keep your customer information secure.

Choose the Right Web Stack for Design & Development

For Frontend and UI/UX Development

  • HTML - HyperText Markup Language for Structure and Layout
  • CSS (Cascading Style Sheets ), Bootstrap for Designing
  • Javascript, jQuery for Interactivity
  • Vue.js, React 
  • Asynchronous JavaScript & XML (AJAX)

For Backend Development

  • PHP, Python, Go Lang etc. (Programming Language)
  • Laravel, Codeigniter etc. (Web Framework)
  • WordPress, Ghost CMS etc. (Website Builder)