«If your business is not on the Internet, then it does not exist at all» - this phrase became popular 15 years ago, when the World Wide Web began to actively develop. However, it is relevant even now. Creating a website for your business means reaching a wide audience, increasing sales, promoting and scaling. However, many entrepreneurs still lose many customers and profits because the web resource is not optimized for mobile devices, has an outdated design, incomprehensible navigation, low speed, etc. Therefore, potential buyers go to competitors.
What does it take to develop a successful platform? What are the approaches and important nuances? How to make the site clear and convenient? Read the answers to these and other questions in the article.
Steps and tools to create a site
The website development process is complex and lengthy, so a clear and correct sequence of steps is required for a high-quality result. How many stages does website development consist of? We suggest dividing the entire cycle into seven steps:
1. Collection and analysis of information: definition of goals and objectives of the site, target audience, study of business processes.
2. Planning: creating a site map, layout, choosing a technology stack (programming languages, frameworks, SMS).
3. Design: creation of page templates, review by the customer, receiving feedback, making changes if necessary.
4. Content creation: writing and preparing materials of all kinds for transfer to the site.
5. Layout and development: creation and deployment of the site, adding features and interactive elements, SEO optimization.
6. Site testing, review, uploading to the server and launch.
7. Support and maintenance: adding a user feedback system, eliminating errors in the shortest possible time, regularly updating the site.
The first step from this list is very important. For this, the entrepreneur must be deeply knowledgeable in his business logic, in the task at hand, in the details of the processes, formulate his wishes clearly and in detail and imagine the final result. The Golden Team has 12 years of experience in implementing complex web projects, so we will ask the right questions to refine the processes if you missed or did not take them into account. And we will also help with drafting the technical task. Only then will the result of web development be a high-quality commercial product. If you want to create an effective website for your business, sign up for a free consultation.
The platform can be assembled independently on services for creating sites. They are attractive due to the convenience and speed of deployment, ease of use, and the price of creating a site. However, the disadvantages of this format are disappointing: lack of customization, limited capabilities, slowness, difficulties of integration and transfer to another platform.
Therefore, entrepreneurs often choose a different approach - they order development from an experienced team of an IT agency. It can implement anything - from creating a business card site to a complex online store with accounting modules. Advantages of this format:
- assistance in building business processes;
- the team is responsible for the process and the result;
- full customization, solutions of any complexity;
- guaranteed user convenience and speed;
- the agency covers all issues: analytical, technical, legal.
Now let’s look at three examples of how to make a high-quality platform for customers.
Creation of an e-commerce website for the sale and accounting of books
The user needs a site that loads quickly, contains the necessary information, has an attractive design, comfortable navigation and readability. UX design should increase the conversion of each visit, stimulate a person to further actions. This will increase sales and promote business growth.
7 years ago, we were approached by an international business from Great Britain, which published and sold Bible literature in large quantities all over the world. Their site, written on the Magento platform, did not have the necessary functionality. Therefore, the customer decided to create a site from scratch.
The client needed to provide a convenient book purchase process and business accounting system. Before developing the platform, we understood the features and provided for the categorization of buyers, different terms of purchase and delivery of books, multi-currency, branches around the world. The release of the first version took place after 4 months, which already included:
- various personal offices for book buyers and managers;
- personal offices and accounting for each branch separately - how many books received, distributed among different categories of buyers;
- business owners manage sales - keep records of literature, publishers, download new arrivals using csv files, analyse sales statistics;
- complex pricing system with book subscriptions;
- payment module with various payment systems (including accounting of received cash), currency conversion fees, taking into account bonuses and customer categories;
- many terms of delivery of books;
- warehouse accounting;
- a complex notification system - about the release of new books, the end of the subscription period, the sending of the book, the possibility of picking up the book at the church or ordering home delivery.
The platform provides for all business processes and the client could confidently scale, because all routine tasks are automated and taken into account.
Development of an ecommerce website for booking and selling gym services
It is important for gym visitors to easily and quickly form a training schedule in advance. Choose the best time and place online. And for halls, it is important to ensure the full workload of coaches and staffing of groups, manage affairs and see reports on the effectiveness of work.
8 years ago, for a Canadian company, we created a site for selling gym services and organizing their work. Different institutions can register on the platform to keep records of personnel and every training session, organize online records, and accept payments. And the owner of the site acts as an intermediary between visitors and hall owners.
Thanks to the specialists of the Golden Team, the participants of this service received a wide range of opportunities:
- personal accounts for different types of participants;
- trainers can create their classes, form groups in advance;
- the hall visitor sees the current training sessions in all gyms, can view each one in detail, sign up, pay for classes or buy a subscription for a month/year immediately, create his own training calendar;
- different types of subscriptions for visiting halls;
- flexible payment system for coaches;
- a complex system of financial accounting and management, monitoring and control of the receipt of funds;
- notification system;
- different tariff plans for gyms and their customers;
- the system is modular, so the institution can take only the necessary elements.
Such a platform is very convenient for both coaches and athletes – that’s why they willingly used it. Thanks to this, the gyms and the owner of the platform increased the number of customers and profits. If you have a similar business, we will gladly develop a platform for you as well.
Creating a platform to match freelancers with employers
When a freelancer is looking for a project that matches his skills and experience, it is very important to provide him with a convenient function for finding and informing about offers. And the employer in this field needs to see the history of the completed works in the freelancer’s profile in order to understand the qualifications and opportunities. When the project is already open, both parties need tools for tracking the work process, solving financial issues and conflicts.
We managed to take into account all these needs when writing a site to match freelancers with employers. We were part of a large team, the release of the platform took place in 9 months. Our area of responsibility was the freelancer’s personal account, for which we created the following functionality:
- convenient search for offers;
- subscription to specific categories of works by tags;
- receiving offers by mail by tags that are in the freelancer's resume;
- list and history of projects, contracts;
- settings for sending notifications and chats with employers;
- keeping work protocols;
- working time tracker;
- reports on completed works;
- financial instruments for withdrawal of funds, creation of invoices, transaction reports, settlement of disputes;
- the opportunity to create your own agency.
As a result, users of the platform received a comfortable process of cooperation and an easy solution to any financial issues.
Without a website, the competitiveness of modern business, its growth and the achievement of goals are impossible. So if you want to make it really effective, it is important to choose the right experts who are engaged in creating custom websites and are able to help. The Golden Team will analyse the project and suggest the right solutions for you at each stage of implementation. Write to us and leave a request for a free consultation.