Web Development Checklist For Online Business Founders

New to online business, or to developing a website for lead generation and revenue growth? In any case, you’ll need a detailed strategy to utilize this web development venture as a success for your business. Coming right from the web development experts, this web development checklist will walk you through the process the way you must have envisioned. This checklist covers necessary steps to complete the five most important stages before your website is ready to make an impact online; it covers:

• Steps to prepare for website development venture
• Hiring a web development company in Dubai
• KPIs during the website design and development stage
• Battle-testing the website for launching

Let’s start!

Preparing for Web Development

1.     Define your web development goals.

Start with documenting a business plan that utilizes a website as your main lead generation engine. Clearly outline the purpose and objectives you want to achieve with your website: brand awareness, educating visitors, converting online, or scale your brick and mortar store.

2.     Decide the kind of website you need.

Think about your business requirements, then check if you’d like to go for a template-based or custom website. Template-based websites run on themes – and still give you decent options for customization. Custom websites are built on HTML and CSS, now on Elementor too – but the main difference lies in the user experience and of course the cost. Custom websites are expensive to build – and with complex design web development companies in Dubai will charge you between AED 4000 to AED 8000. Template-based websites often run on WordPress and Wix and cost less, around AED 2000.

3.     Allocate budget for web development.

Decide a realistic budget you are ready to invest for your web development project. Consider both, upfront costs and ongoing maintenance expenses. As a ballpark figure, you’ll need at least AED 3500 to start with a multi-featured website.

4.     Research and analyze.

Regardless of your time doing this business, you must have a competitor or two, at least, in the industry. Study their websites, then compare against industry trends. See what you like and what you’d like to change. Analyze what and what might not be working for your competitors. Then make a new list of what you’d like to replicate and what you’d like to do differently with your website. Most importantly, identify the key features and functionalities you want to incorporate into your own site. Finally, make a list of all the most important pages you notice on other websites, then make a list for your own website.

5.     Create a content strategy.

Plan your website content including text, images, videos and multimedia elements. Again, here you can seek inspiration from your competitors. Check if they are writing simply for search engine rankings, or actually helping visitors with their content.

6.     Get a domain and hosting plan.

Register a domain name that reflects your business and is easy to remember. Ideally, your domain should be exactly like your business brand name. Then choose a reliable web hosting provider that can accommodate your website’s traffic and performance needs. As per my experience working with a web development company in Dubai, I would recommend you buy hosting and domain from the same provider – so later on, you don’t have to incur transfer and migration costs.

7.     Set deadlines with milestones.

Establish a timeline for your web development project with clear milestones and deadlines. Put KPIs for design, development, testing and launch, then associate a date of completion with each. After each stage, keep 5 to 8 development hours as a buffer.

Hiring a web development company

1.     Define requirements.

You know the kind of website you need and the trends that your competitors are following. Now before you approach a web developer, clearly state what you’d like them to do. For example, prepare a detailed project brief with the number of pages you want, your niche, the lead forms and expectations from the entire website.

2.     Research potential agencies.

Look for web development companies locally with relevant experience and a strong portfolio of successful projects. Consider factors such as industry expertise, client testimonials and team composition.

3.     Request proposals.

Reach out to multiple web development agencies and request proposals. Ask them their web development approach, their charges per hour, the timeline of development and the documents they would deliver. Then compare proposals and shortlist 2 to 3 agencies.

4.     Check references.

Request references from shortlisted agencies’ past clients and follow up to inquire about their experience working with the agencies. LinkedIn is an ideal platform to seek this information.

5.     Review contracts

Review contracts carefully to ensure clarity on project scope, deliverables, payment terms and intellectual property rights. Check if they have included a non-disclosure agreement.

6.     Finalize selection

Select the web development company that best meets your requirements in terms of budget, expertise and experience. Confirm project kickoff dates and establish clear schedules and channels for communication.

Website Design and Development KPIs

1.     Check design mockups

Ask your website developers to start with wireframing your website concept. Once you are satisfied, ask them for web page mockups so you can visualize the layout and structure of your website. Recheck the mockups for user experience (UX) principles and ensure that your website is easy to access and navigate.

2.     Review frontend user experience

When developers execute the coding stage, they start with frontend. This is the face of your website that directly interacts with the visitors. So when each page is done, check it for responsiveness and functionality of CTAs.

3.     Check mobile responsiveness

Your website should be optimized for mobile too and you can also make a web app or an app from one of the leading mobile app development companies in dubai that will provide a seamless user experience across different screens. The website should be able to adjust to different mobile screen sizes and resolutions.

4.     Check SEO optimization

Before your content goes up on the website, you have to make sure that it is optimized for search engines – meaning that it has all the necessary keywords, images are compressed, Alt-Tags are done, schemas are active and meta data are updated.

5.     Recheck the Content Management System (CMS)

You must choose a user-friendly CMS that helps you self-manage and update website content efficiently.

6.     Check security measures

When the website is ready to test and publish, you have to implement robust security measures. This will build trust and credibility of visitors, protect your website from cyber threats and will secure transactions especially if it has ecommerce integration. Include SSL encryption.

7.     Test your website

The last KPI before launching is battle-testing across five different fronts: performance, functionality, security, compatibility and traffic handling. Closely look at the website’s loading speed and check core web vitals through the official page speed insights from Google.

Conclusion

So this comprehensive website development checklist concludes here. When you have your lightbulb moment and make a decision to invest in a website – know that it’s an asset that will bring benefits to your business in the long-run. So make hiring, design and development decisions rationally while striking the right balance between expertise, quality, budget and timelines.