How Web Development Can Improve Any Business’s Performance
If you’re ready to get your website unstuck from the early 2000s and transform it from a dusty relic to a sales-generating machine, you’ve come to the right place.
With the help of this guide, you’ll not only explore the hidden potential of your website but also learn how to replace its messy parts with a user-friendly experience that keeps visitors clicking “buy” instead of “back.”
You’ll also understand the true value of a good web developer and discover how to find the perfect partner to turn your website vision into reality.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
I. How Well-Known Businesses like Airbnb are Benefiting from Web Development
Not many people remember the time when Airbnb was just a crazy idea with a website full of blurry cell phone pics.
Yeah, those were rough days for anyone looking to find that perfect, unique apartment in Paris or a cozy cabin in the woods.
But then, something happened.
Sure, they hired pros to take stunning photos that showcased the amazing rentals on their platform, and BAM! Their bookings went way up!
Except that this didn’t happen just due to the pretty pictures they shared.
See, Airbnb’s founders knew they needed to make the whole experience of finding and booking a rental as smooth as possible. So, they put their amazing in-house team to work on a user-friendly design.
They hired someone who truly understood what Airbnb’s typical clientele wanted and focused on making that a reality on a website that’s easy to navigate through.
And this is just one example of how businesses are thriving thanks to smart web development. Stick with us and find out more about how web development can improve your business performance!
II. The Role of UX Design in Making Businesses Shine
There’s more to websites than just being eye candy.
For a website to have an impact on a company’s business performance, it also needs to be super user-friendly.
There are reports indicating that effective front-end development strategies can significantly boost user satisfaction, which leads to increased business performance. Research also indicates that websites with a better user experience (UX) can see conversion rate improvements of up to 400%.
Pretty impressive, wouldn’t you agree?
Now, this is where we truly see why hiring a web developer with exceptional UX design skills is so important.
It’s because users won’t stay on a website that’s difficult to navigate or an app that’s clunky and frustrating to use. And good UX design gets rid of that mess and lays everything out clearly, so finding what you need is a breeze.
Which leaves us with only one more question to address:
How does one even identify a good UX designer?
III. Five Crucial Skills a Good UX Designer Must Have
We talked about how UX design makes websites and apps user-friendly, but what makes a UX designer a total rockstar?
Let’s break down the top 5 skills for a web designer to have, focusing on the ones that separate the good from the great:
1) Understanding User Needs
A good UX designer has to be a mind reader. Well, almost!
They use research, surveys, and even good old-fashioned observation to understand what users are trying to achieve and what struggles they face.
For instance, when Spotify noticed a drop in their user engagement, they did some research and realized they needed to revamp their app to make it more personalized and easier to discover new music.
And guess what?
User satisfaction skyrocketed, and people stuck around for longer on the app.
2) Being a Master of Organization
No one’s going to spend hours on a website trying to make sense of your labyrinth of menus and links. That’s just not cool.
Which is why a UX designer with top-notch information architecture skills is an invaluable asset to any modern business.
They’ll take all that website content and arrange it in a logical, clear way, making it easy for your users to find what they’re looking for.
3) Knowing How to Iron Out the Kinks Before Launch
So you’ve designed a website that looks amazing (high five!), but how does it actually work?
That’s what UX designers will figure out for you!
They’ll put their designs in front of real people and watch how they interact with them.
If there are any confusing buttons or the checkout process seems to take forever, they’ll make sure to take care of it before the website goes live.
4) Being SEO Savvy
Websites are great, but if no one can find them, what’s the point?
If you want your website to climb the search engine rankings and make it more visible to potential users, then you’ll need an SEO-savvy UX designer by your side.
They’ll know which keywords to use, how to optimize all the website elements to perfection, as well as how to structure your website and its content in a way that Google absolutely loves.
5) Making Websites Work Everywhere
A stellar UX designer will know how to leverage responsive design like a champ.
No more squished and confusing layouts for users visiting your website through their mobile devices – your UX designer will make sure they’re tailored to fit any device, from a desktop monitor to a smartphone screen.
By doing so, UX designers will ensure a frustration-free experience for users, no matter how they choose to access the web.
IV. Tips on How to Use Web Development to Boost Business Performance
You want to know our first tip on how to use web development to boost business performance.
Ditch the website that looks like it belongs in a flip phone commercial!
Your customers don’t want to end up squinting at tiny text or wrestling with buttons that seem designed for ants. That’s why you need to focus on mobile-first design.
By making your website mobile-friendly, you’re welcoming a whole new crowd of potential customers with open arms. More happy mobile users means more sales, more leads and, basically, more business wins!
Now, let’s talk about another website killer: slow loading times.
Nobody enjoys waiting for a website to load at the speed of a sloth on vacation. In fact, a Google study found that a delay of just one second in mobile page load time can impact conversion rates by up to 20%, which reinforces the necessity of investing in performance optimization to drive business success.
So, here’s a quick tip: optimize those images! High-quality visuals are great, but gigantic photos can slow things down to a crawl. There are plenty of tools and techniques to compress images without sacrificing quality, and a good web developer knows them all!
Lastly, level up your website’s game with the power of social media integration.
By adding social media buttons and feeds to your website, you’re making it super easy for visitors to spread the word. They can like, share, and comment on your content with just a click, instantly connecting you with a whole new network of potential customers.
Think of it as word-of-mouth marketing on steroids! Plus, social media integration can help build brand loyalty and create a sense of community around your business.
So, don’t be a social outcast online. Embrace social media integration and watch your website attract more customers!
V. Web Development Trends for Business Success
The web development world moves fast, so staying ahead of the curve is key to keeping your business website winning.
And we’re not talking here about some trends that just sound impressive but fizzle out faster than a free trial. Here, we’re going to ditch the fluff and talk about trends that are actually making a real impact!
For starters, we have to mention PWAs – the apps that nobody has to download.
If you remember that struggle of convincing someone to download your app, you’ll understand why Progressive Web Apps are like magic portals that give users all the benefits of an app without the hassle of an app store download.
Just imagine a website that works offline, sends you push notifications, and feels super smooth and responsive – that’s a PWA in action.
And the best thing about it? It’s as perfect for a small business with limited budgets as it is for larger companies with frequently updated content. Restaurants and fitness studios will love it the most!
Our next trend of choice is API-First Design.
For large companies with complex websites and multiple development teams, API-first design makes website updates and changes smoother, allowing for faster innovation and a more unified user experience.
Essentially, changes to one part of the website wouldn’t break the others, keeping the website running like a well-oiled machine even when it was built with different parts by different teams using different tools.
And of course, we can’t end this article without mentioning AI. However, we’re not going to mention them in the context of chatbots and just answering basic questions on websites.
We’re talking about AI that analyzes user behavior, personalizes content recommendations, and even writes product descriptions!
Plenty of e-commerce websites are already using AI to track what users browse and then suggest similar products they might be interested in. This personalized touch leads to more sales and happier customers who feel like the website “gets” them.
