What is The Importance of Web Development?

Web development is a boon for businesses. It gives them the much-required online visibility, a fair chance to convey their brand ethos and story, and organize their client-side operations better. And thus, the importance of web development cannot be undermined.   

Since we understand the imperativeness of a website for any business, we have devoted this blog to web development.   

Starting with a brief discussion about web development, we will be moving to the importance of web development in business.   

What is Web Development?

Web development refers to the end-to-end process of ideating, designing, developing, and managing a website. It has multiple phases such as business idea and strategy, product planning, web designing, and web development.   

Web designing and development bring the business idea to life by making it visually appealing, usable, and functional. From the creation of wireframes, prototypes, and mock-ups with visual UI/UX elements to programming and writing codes, web development is a result of multiple elements and tasks carried out by creative designers and dedicated development teams.   

The web design team includes UI/UX designers and visual/graphic designers, while the web development team is made up of front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers. While the former team utilizes design editing software, website builders, and CRMs, the latter deals in more technical tools and uses coding libraries and frameworks along with some other software/platforms to develop the most practical websites/apps.   

The importance of web development has been further increased due to some modern concepts such as progressive web apps (PWAs), responsive websites, etc. A survey highlighted that almost 8 in 10 customers would stop engaging with content if it does not adjust according to the screen size & resolution of their device.  

These concepts thus helped businesses build websites/apps that are more interactive, accessible, and responsive. Responsive websites can adjust to multiple hardware and screen sizes, making them portable and user-friendly.   

Importance of Web Development 

A website bridges the gap between a business and its target audience. It enables the former to sell products and services that the users relate to and require, by offering the brand and product story and purpose.   

There are multiple points that highlight the importance of web development for a business. Let’s look at some of them:   

1. Business Visibility and Identity

Web development helps a business gain an online presence, which is a must in this digital era. It helps spread brand awareness and create a brand image and identity that attracts the target audience. Stating a company’s mission, vision, values, and story on an online platform such as a website, helps a customer better connect to it.   

A dated, dull or unengaging website may make a customer feel the same about the brand, while an interactive and visually appealing website reflects dedication, enthusiasm, and commitment of the brand.  

In fact, the first impression formed of a website is around 94% design related. 

Websites are the virtual showrooms/ stores that a customer explores in order to find suitable products or services and additionally, offer all the relevant information that a customer could need, based on frequently asked questions.   

Web development helps a business to stand out from its competition by offering customers a sensory experience and ease of navigation, through its website as well as catering to its needs. Websites help a business build its distinct image and identity in the marketplace even when there’s no product differentiation.   

Apple, for example, just does not have stand-out products but also a website that does justice to its global image of an innovation pioneer and quality expert. The design is sleek, with an ease of navigation, user-friendly UI, and stunning visuals. Apple.com embodies technical supremacy and sophistication.    

2. Cost-Effective

Web development has many benefits. While it facilitates a greater online presence, it is also a medium for digital marketing and a replacement for traditional marketing. This helps a business to bring down the marketing costs allocated to paid advertisements and gain higher website/app engagement.   

Moreover, in this digital era where a customer does almost everything on the Internet, from research to shopping, a search engine optimized (SEO), a responsive website is a magical tool. It helps you rank higher on the search engines such as Google and gain online visibility, acceptance, and traction. This helps a business market its products and tools without going door to door and saves traveling and other traditional marketing-related costs.  

A well-designed and well-articulated website with all the relevant information is one of the most effective marketing tools a business can leverage. It attracts the right crowd, lures them to engage, and produces positive results for the business, without breaking its bank.

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3. Boosted Sales and Revenue

A website or a web app is like a business store, just an online one. It takes the customer to an environment created by the business to showcase its products and services, hence initiating engagement and encouraging trade.   

In fact, 88% of customers who search for a type of business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.  

Furthermore, a responsive website optimized for search engines is a great step to attract more engagement, sales, and revenue. A website with clear photographs, graphic elements, short videos, relevant descriptions, and information, product/service reviews and ratings, etc., leads to higher user interest, interaction, and hence, sales.   

Thus, a well-designed and maintained website is a lead magnet. This means that a business need to carefully choose its software development partner to ensure maximum results.  

Leading names like BigOhTech can do justice to the web development process and offer the results a business hopes for.   

4. Around-The-Clock Accessibility

Web development means 24*7 open shop/business. Customers can anytime walk into the online store and shop at their convenience. This facilitates enhanced customer experience and offers greater sales opportunities to businesses. Without having to employ additional resources, a business is able to engage and sell during the off hours.  

As Paul Cookson said, ‘Websites promote you 24/7: No employee will do that.’  

Whatever web development offers, it offers for 24 hours, 7 days, with no time and geographical constraints. Oh, does not even demand holidays or offs, what else does one need?!  

5. Enhanced Customer Experience

An easy-to-navigate, user-friendly website saves customers the hassles to visit physical stores and shop for the required product or service, without having to consider time and geographical factors. With a few clicks, the customer gets what he/she wants. This leaves a positive impact on the customer and helps a business forge fruitful connections and associations.   

Thus, web development facilitates a positive customer/user experience.   

6. Effective Marketing

Web development serves as a marketing platform for businesses. Website is also a good alternative to traditional marketing efforts.   

Companies can create visual marketing campaigns and communicate them in the most creative ways to their target audience using multiple UI/UX elements through their website. Customers notice these efforts, engage and some even give brownie points for freshness and creativity embodied in positive reviews, higher ratings, and sales.  

7. Builds Credibility and Customer Trust

A professional and well-maintained website often wins a customer’s trust and creates business credibility. A website that has well-articulated and updated content, relevant information, product/service reviews and ratings, and valid contact details anyway enables the customer to trust the brand and creates its market credibility. These are some of the qualitative indicators of a good website and a trustable and authentic brand.   

A customer forms a brand opinion based on the shopping/service experience, and if it’s online, then the website is the first impression and a solid one, that a brand creates on its customer.  In fact, around 75% of customers say that they judge a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design.  

A user-friendly website offers its customers a superior browsing and shopping experience, whereas a poorly built website creates a bad impression, forces customers to lose brand trust, and results in missed lead opportunities.

Humans generally believe and take a decision based on whatever they see, especially while shopping online. Thus, a well-designed website can help a brand gain customer trust, and hence, a loyal customer army.   

8. Greater Reach and Market Accessibility

The internet knows no geographical boundaries or borders. Its functions and reach are global. And thus, the websites run on it also have a global influence. Web development helps a business access distant markets and expand its operations, which otherwise is not very feasible through local physical stores. 

A website optimized for search engines and mobile phones can incorporate multiple languages, currencies, etc., options depending upon the international traffic and data analytics. This would facilitate global reach and sales.   

Alibaba, for example, started off as a local eCommerce Chinese brand, however, with increased demand, it expanded its reach to global markets as well. And the first change was made to the website. Additional language options, local search optimization, and secure payment gateways were incorporated into the website.

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Conclusion

Thus, the importance of web development is great. It is a powerful marketing as well as visibility tool for businesses that allows them to improve their customer’s experience and create long-lasting impact and associations.   

Web development just does not give an online presence to the brand but ensures that the business does not lag behind in this digital era. A customer must have a platform to explore after clicking on an ad or filling out a contact form. A website is a warm welcome to online customers and an attempt to offer them a seamless shopping/collaboration experience.   

This platform is essential for the brand to create an image in the market and spread its vision and values for collective action and larger impact. Web development is a profitable affair that facilitates business growth and success.   

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