Your website’s development is something nobody sees. It could be great, but unless something goes wrong your visitors won’t even notice. Slow loading websites, non functioning contact forms and websites that look great on a laptop but terrible on a smartphone are just a few examples of things that can go wrong with a website.
It’s the part of building a website that most small business owners don’t understand and therefore it’s worth getting right from the start. Here’s what actually matters when you’re thinking about the technical side of your website.
1. Choosing a platform (CMS) CMS.
The Content Management System that your website is built on has a huge bearing on things like how easy it is to do updates, how much it is going to cost to maintain the website and how locked into a particular supplier you are going to be. The four main CMS’s that most websites are built on are WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace and a fully custom build. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Depending on your business and what you are trying to do with your website, one will be more suitable than the others. I would always recommend choosing a CMS that is suitable for your business after careful consideration. Choosing a CMS after looking at what your friends have done with their websites can be disastrous within a couple of years as you will end up having to migrate your website to a new platform.
2. Speed and performance
The only thing worse than a really slow website is not knowing how long it’s going to take for a page to load. If you’re thinking of a new website it’s worth checking how long it takes to load. Large unoptimised images, too many third-party scripts and a bloated theme can all make for a slow website. Once the website has launched speed needs to be checked from time to time as new plugins, new images and new functionality can all slow down a website.
3. Accessibility as a build requirement, not an afterthought
Most of the accessibility decisions are actually made during the development of the website. So whether or not a screen reader can properly read through and navigate your website, whether or not the forms on your website have been properly labeled, whether or not your website can be properly used without a mouse are all decisions that are typically made during the development of a website.
These decisions are typically much easier to make and to implement during the development of a website as opposed to after the website has been completed and launched as a retrofit. This is typically how most websites that have not been properly developed to be accessible end up excluding people with disabilities. They are usually very easy to implement during the development of a website and can typically be implemented as part of the normal development process for a website without having to add a lot of extra time or cost to the development of the website.
4. Website costs and what you’re actually paying for
Costs can vary greatly and often not in line with the price to build the website. When looking for quotes on building a website, a template site on a hosted platform will be a lot cheaper than a WordPress build with custom work, let alone a fully bespoke development project. When comparing quotes make sure you know which part of the development process is being charged for in the quote you are comparing. It is better to find out what you need to build before starting to look for quotes.
5. Maintenance doesn’t stop at launch
A website is a piece of equipment and requires maintenance in the form of updating of plugins and application of security patches. The content on a website also deteriorates as it becomes stale. A website that has been developed and then left to deteriorate will within a year or two of its launch deteriorate to the point of it breaking, becoming too slow to use and becoming a security risk to others.
6. Development choices that affect your marketing
The technical decisions made when a website is developed can have far-reaching consequences. The way that a website is structured can affect how search engines are able to read and index a website. The loading time of a website can affect the amount of time that visitors to a website spend on a website before they “bounce” away.
The way that URLs are written can affect how easily web pages are to find, and how easily web pages can be shared with others. Development is not something that can be done as a separate track to the rest of the marketing for a website. Development is the foundation upon which the rest of the website is built. Therefore, even the best of marketing strategies for a website will fail if they are built upon a slow, badly structured website.
7. Knowing what to ask for
Here are a few questions you might want to ask your web developer:
- What platform will this site be built on, and why?
- How will I be able to add features to my site later?
- Who will be able to fix any problems that arise with the site after it has launched?
- How will you test for speed on the site before it launches?
(Note: A good web developer will be able to explain in plain language what they are doing and why. If the developer falls back to using jargon, it’s best to pause development of the site and re-evaluate your options.) This information isn’t intended to cause any concern, as long as you know what questions to ask before handing over your development project to someone else. Good decisions are all that’s required and, in turn, lead to you having a great website.