5 Services That Any Full-Service Web Development Company Should Provide

 If you don't have much experience with web development, you may believe that Custom Website Design and development is a "one-and-done" experience – you approach a dev shop (like us) to design you a beautiful new website that solves your business challenges, and then you're on your way (at least, that's what we hope your experience is like!) Or, you could be a busy marketer on a small team who is already overburdened with responsibilities and lacks the time, expertise, or tools to maintain your website beyond content management and basic updates.

You deserve a web development partner who takes care of the details that you might not even be aware of when it comes to long-term website maintenance. After all, having a dedicated partner who supports other areas of your website saves you time, money, and the headache of trying to do it all yourself.

But, if you're not experienced in web development, what should a potential partner be able to maintain so you can return to your other responsibilities? Let's take a look at five key services that your website development partner should provide in addition to building a great website:

Constant monitoring, maintenance, and enhancements

It is critical to work with a partner who has a long-term maintenance and support plan in place to support your site long after it has been completed. Can your site handle varying amounts of traffic and scale automatically to accommodate for extra bandwidth to ensure a positive visitor experience? If you are unsure, it is critical that you find a Web Development Services partner who can handle cloud-based hosting, bug fixes, enhancements, and new feature development. Keeping your site up to date with ongoing improvements allows you to stay ahead of the competition and attract as many customers as possible. Run (don't walk) away from anyone who offers to build you a website and then fails to support it.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Strategy

Increasing the number of potential customers who visit your website through Google searches is a common goal for many marketers. After all, Google accounts for 71% of search traffic clicks, while only 6% of users click on second-page search results. As a result, it is more important than ever to ensure that your website appears on the first page of search results. A Custom Web Design partner who is well-versed in search engine optimization (SEO) best practices can assist you in maximizing your site's potential to rank higher in search results. It is critical to find a partner who will perform an SEO assessment to review the quality of your site and its content and can assist in identifying the areas of greatest opportunity. When combined with your digital marketing objectives, these opportunities can help you increase brand recognition, make your website more user-friendly, attract a higher-quality audience, and much more!

Availability

According to the American Community Survey (ACS), 12.8 percent of all users have accessibility requirements that make using a non-accessible website difficult or impossible. People with disabilities frequently require website accommodations such as text-to-speech, the ability to enlarge fonts, high contrast colors, and keyboard navigation. Learning, vision, and mobility issues can all prevent a prospective customer from interacting with your website. Remember that website accessibility is the law, so it's critical to avoid potential legal issues and ensure your site is compliant.

Safety

Do you believe your company is too small to be targeted online? Think again: hackers are now using automated scanning tools to detect and exploit vulnerabilities, frequently targeting small and medium-sized businesses. It's especially important if your site collects customer data like email addresses, credit card information, or mailing addresses to ensure that security flaws are discovered and fixed on a quarterly basis. Most businesses, unless they have a dedicated web developer on staff, do not scan their website for security risks as frequently as they should. A Custom Web Design and Development partner can take this burden off your shoulders by performing these security scans, reporting the results (which can sometimes be as simple as installing a Web Application Firewall (WAF), and filling any gaps in your site's overall security coverage.

Automated marketing

Is your website generating quality leads? Are you familiar with the buyer's journey from prospect to customer? Personalizing your marketing efforts with marketing automation tools not only allows you to be more efficient, but it also allows you to build valuable and lasting relationships with potential customers in order to understand their needs and, ultimately, generate sales for your business. Because many marketing automation platforms integrate with your website, your web development partner should be able to provide you with cutting-edge tools and assist you in developing a strategy to build your sales pipeline and generate quality leads.

When it comes to your Custom Website Design Company, we at Emergent Software strive to go above and beyond. Because we are interested in developing a long-term client relationship with you, we want to continue to support you, your business goals, and your website long after it has been completed.