Goal? Check.
Branding? Check.
Content? Check.
Navigation? Check.
Design? Check.
All that’s left is to develop your new website. But how do you do it?
That all depends on a number of factors, ranging from your availability to your expertise. Based on your own circumstances, there are three main development options that you could choose from.
- Build your website from the ground up
If you have the in-house capabilities, you may want to develop your website from scratch. This method gives you complete control over the development process, but it’s probably the least popular option. Why? Because the role of an business owner is to look after the day to day running of the business… not focus their time and effort on developing websites. Unless you have a dedicated team with the skills and knowledge needed to code from the ground up, we recommend using options 2 or 3.
Best for: Business’s with a dedicated in-house development team ready to develop and maintain the site.
- Use a page builder
A page builder like WordPress is a quicker, easier way to bring all your different design and content elements together into one cohesive and powerful website. You can use pre-made templates to build your pages, and add any plugins you may need at the click of a button. And the real beauty of this option is that builders such as WordPress are hugely popular. This means that the templates, tools, and plugins are already well-tested by others, so you should encounter very few – if any – dev issues.
Best for: Business’s who want a quick, simple, no-code way to create their own website in-house.
- Work with a creative agency
While page builders are simple, by far the easiest way to develop your new website is to partner with a creative agency specialising in website development. These agencies handle all aspects of the build for you, leaving you with more time to focus on what you do best: running your business. We recommend doing your research before working with an agency read up on testimonials, look at examples of past work, and see if the agency matches your requirements, style, and general vibe.
Best for: Business’s who want to focus on their core business, without any distractions.
What’s involved in web development?
As you build your website, you’ll need to bring all your different elements and pages together, incorporate your visual design, and embed any tools and features that you’ll need to support your efforts. For example, you may wish to use a calendar plugin to make it easy for potential clients to set up a meeting with your team. This is also where you’ll need to think about on-site SEO, SSL certificates, XML sitemaps, and more. There’s a lot to it, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.
Whichever option you choose, you’ll be able to sign off on the final design and development before moving on to the next steps in the web design process: testing the site, and eventually going live.
