3Whether you're in charge of a local small business, an emerging start-up, or an established company, you should realize the importance of your digital strategy and the online presence of your brand. Having helped many companies reach their digital goals, we created a full list of tips on how to approach your web development strategy so it serves your customers the best way possible. We'll also let you know what's a big no-no in website development in 2022. Keep on reading!

Your brand digital presence is everything - especially during the pandemic

Due to a survey conducted by Salesforce, 71% of small and medium businesses survived the pandemic by going digital and enhancing their online presence. Additionally, 66% of business owners claim they couldn't have survived 2020 using the technology from a decade ago. If that doesn't show us the magnitude of staying on top of technological trends and updating your company's tech stack - we don't know what would. To sum up the survey results:

• if your brand isn't present online yet - you should change that immediately,

• if you have a website and it hasn't been updated in months/years - that might be worse for your business than having no site at all!

When you decide to invest in digital, you should also remember to allocate the proper budget to keep your online presence fresh and updated. And the right website development strategy will help you achieve just that.

3 rules of good website development strategy

After you've decided to strengthen your online presence, it's time to focus on the strategy. As there isn't a one-fits-all solution that suits every case, it's good to know basic rules and a few tricks to maximizing your website dev ROI.

1. Find the best web development company for your use case

Sure, there are hundreds of website development agencies when you browse through Google search results. But how to recognize the one that will understand your business requirements, is absolutely tech-savvy, and knows all of the principles of good design? Start with looking for web development companies by browsing their case studies portfolio. If they have projects similar to your own, you're on the right track. Experience in working with customers from your industry is invaluable when you're looking for something more than just a vendor. In such a case, a web development company becomes your partner and the best advisor. Let's look at Rumble Fish as an example - after successfully working with many Blockchain-oriented investors, we are now able to exceed even the most demanding expectations of other companies that operate in this area. We know their pain points, the best technology & tools to apply, and we can easily lead them in the right direction if they're not sure what to do next.

The next thing you might want to check out when looking for web development services is the tech stack used by the company. It's important that their UI/UX designers know the latest trends in web & app development as new tools and solutions might be exactly what your website needs to satisfy your clients. Check out if they use languages like React, React Native, or Nest, as they are very useful when it comes to smooth & modern website design. If your project is more complicated and requires enhanced security and privacy features, make sure that your software house can handle that.

While building bigger online platforms dedicated to thousands or millions of users your dev team needs to be diverse enough to cover all the bases of the project - you might need cloud or Blockchain engineers to help you achieve your goals. Make sure to discuss that with your potential software house in the early stages of your talks.

In 2022 it's more clear than ever that we don't have to be in the same room/city/country to be business partners. So don't limit your search to the local companies only. Sure, in some cases face to face meetings might be helpful but as Covid-19 proved to us, Zoom is just as effective. So if you've found a company from another country or continent but you really like their work and approach, don't be afraid to try them out.

2. Focus on your customers and their specific needs

Don't ever assume that you know everything about your customers and their preferences. People tend to be very surprising and might use your product in a way you never would've imagined. That's why it's important to talk to them, analyze their behavior online, observe them when they use your product.

If your industry is, for example, healthcare or HealthTech, you should be especially sensitive to users with disabilities and accommodate their needs accordingly. Your website should be WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant, which means it should be built in a way accessible for people with various disabilities. WCAG is a set of technical standards that gives your web development team specific details on how to build accessible pages. At Rumble Fish, we have extensive experience with WCAG standards - both in QA and implementation of the guideline. Read the case study.

3. Explore your options - a website is only one of them

In some cases it's obvious - your business needs a website to serve as your company's portfolio. No additional tricks are required. But what if your customers wanted to log in to schedule an appointment or download materials? If you want improved functionalities you're no longer creating a website, but a web application. And sometimes it makes more sense to develop a mobile app instead of an elaborate web app. The form you choose should be carefully analyzed with a team of digital experts who are masters at their craft. One thing that is certain is that your digital branding should be mobile-friendly. The rest is a matter of preference and business incentives.

How not to design digital products in 2022

1. Focus solely on the aesthetic

We all want our websites to have a sleek and modern look. That's a no-brainer. But there is nothing more annoying for your potential customer than looking up your business online and seeing a beautifully designed website with no basic info to be found.  It's crucial for your web design team to know the current trends but it's also important to remember why you're setting up your digital presence in the first place. And good design should be complementing your content, not replacing it.

2. Skip the discovery phase

In theory, everyone knows the importance of the discovery phase but, as experience shows us on a daily basis, it's often being forgotten in practice. Sometimes, startup founders or product creators seem to think that they know their stuff the best and no discovery phase is necessary. But if you want your product to reflect exactly what your customers need and require, you have to ask them first. And that is one of the phases of a product discovery workshop. Not to mention the money you can save in the process. A well-planned product is much cheaper to develop than using a trial and error methodology. By conducting a discovery workshop, you greatly boost your chances of delivering a better product. In this piece, we explain the details and benefits of a good discovery workshop.

3. Forget the importance of UX

Good user experience design is crucial in the web development process. Why? For the same reasons a good product should have a discovery phase. Good UX can increase your sales, drive business growth, expand your customer base. UX puts your customer in the center therefore you need to be able to put your own preferences aside. User experience is not about guessing what the end-user wants but researching and testing it on your target group. Good design makes your website, web app, or mobile app more useful, credible, and accessible.

Whether you want to launch a small website, an e-commerce business, or a specific mobile app, you need to focus on your target group, their needs and desires. An experienced software development company should help you every step of the way, delivering the team tailored to your requirements.