Conducting Market Research For Website Development- Right way to do it!

The world is filled with websites, numerous types of websites, most serving as the entry point of a business’s online portfolio or product. Now on the front, everyone has a website, but does the customer like all of them? Is there room for improvement? Could the website be better overall? The answer to all of them in almost all cases would be yes. 

It all comes down to market research, as the competition is already excessive to even think about entering the market. The market research for website development will help you more than you can imagine, it will give you a path, and save time and cost for development at the very same time. Make sure you give in your all, as a website could be a hefty investment if not done right, and you will still need one in any of the cases.

Are websites important in 2021?

Well under any circumstances, the honest answer would be they are, not that everyone would visit them but they still are a must-have. Not having a website can lead to major damage, it would simply portray you as a new in business or an imposter. People have placed major trust in websites as if they were a certification of a business being true and authentic, and no one can change this fact. 

So yes, websites will be important in 2021, and further beyond, as they were the ones which fueled the internet’s acceptance, and forgetting about them is simply out of question. Getting a simple website made isn’t going to break the bank, and if you aren’t willing to spend much on getting your own website, you should seek that option.

So how do you conduct research for your website?

Research can be perceived as a very broad term when developing a website, and so we would be covering the most parts briefly. It takes a lot to build a website, and a lot more to do it correctly, below are the points which need major research. 

• What type of website do you need?
• Competitor research
• Finding the target users
• Research for marketing
• Who to hire

Below is a brief description of each of the points mentioned above

1.What type of website do you need?

There are countless types of websites in the world right now, each serving a different purpose. So the first thing to research and think about is the type of website you are looking forward to. The type of website will matter as the internet knows no limits, and you can essentially transit your business from X to Y using the internet. The website you create should resonate with the type of business you are planning.

The purpose of your website will essentially be defined in this step, whether it is to showcase your business portfolio, or your line of products, or simply is an informational website about your business. You need to research what fits your needs before starting the development of your website. Choose the type of website you need very carefully, as it can take you to new heights if you are planning to take your business online through it. 

2.Competitor research

With the number of competitors prevailing already, it would be both easy and difficult to do a comprehensive competitor analysis. For any given niche, you will find pretty much at least a few competitors, what your aim should be is to learn from their mistakes, and one-up them using the same. It is really important to research the competition, their targets, their reach, their ranking, everything you can get a hold of. 

This research will help you in almost the complete time you run your website, not just the start of it. Make it a practice to do competitor research while you are there too, as the changing market requires you to change too. Make sure to always try to change your website every few months, it is a good practice which will let you stay on top, once you reach that position. 

3.Finding the target users

The target users are the ones which will highly shape your website development from the experience perspective. It is a long-known fact that the user experience you provide will make up for a major factor when a customer decides to use your website or goes to a competitor. This will also be a major factor later on when you are actually on the ground marketing, the benefit of prior research is all the more. 

Showing a flimsy design to old people, and generic non-colourful designs to children don’t make a lot of sense right? Instead of balancing in between, you should incline towards who your main target audience is. Make a good choice for the future to be better for your online business website, it will be easier in a lot of scenarios if you make a researched and calculated choice earlier on. 

4.Research for marketing

Marketing would be one of the only ways your website will ever come to notice for an unknown user on the internet. SEO and marketing need extensive research in case you are not planning to spend thousands of dollars on them, even organic marketing needs prior planning. You should know that the competition is really tough out there, and almost all are doing the best marketing practices, but still never tops the search results. The solution? Targeting what’s possible, and optimising your website for SEO from the very beginning. 

Designs and code aren’t the only things that go onto a website, so does content, which is essentially a major for ranking your website on the top. Do ample research for marketing, as in due time negligence would cost much more than creating the website again, maybe even 10 times over. You might be the king or queen in your local area, but on the internet, those who know marketing hold the upper hand, in all cases and scenarios. 

5.Who to hire

This point will majorly affect your investment towards your website. You have various choices, with various advantages and disadvantages. Before hiring the developers, you need to pin down the development path to your website, and if you want a fully custom one. A WordPress website for instance would be simply much cheaper than one built using custom code but comes at a cost of lesser security and only minor customisation.

There are free website builders too, from which you will be able to build your website by yourself. The three major choices would be:

• Making the website yourself

You can work without hiring anyone at all or can hire a freelance developer, writer, and SEO, depending upon the research you did. The functionalities would be limited, so would be the number of pages you create and aim to create in the future. 

• Making the website through WordPress or other pre-made CMS.

You will at some point of time need to hire someone with minor technical skills to develop a website in WordPress for you. There are various WordPress development companies too which can help you build a great website, but limited to customisations that come with themes. 

• Making the website through custom code

Unless you are a web developer yourself, this option cannot be done by yourselves. You get a choice to hire freelancers, or a web development company, Both have their pros and cons, both costs different, and best bet would be finding a website development company that specializes in custom web development while offering low development prices. 

Conclusion

No matter the niche you are targeting, as we mentioned before, getting a website is a necessity in today’s world. The question comes down to whether you want to make for taking your business online or just as an online portfolio for your offline business. In both cases, research remains essential, as you might have realised by now reading the points mentioned above. Make sure you invest in research, as it would save you both time and money in the longer run. 

People are investing huge amounts of money to rank their websites on the top, and you need solid market research before stepping in. As we mentioned earlier, you need to add it to your research to gain the maximum output of an online business website. We have years of experience in web development and digital marketing and have worked for hundreds of clients since our inception. If you are looking for top quality web services and lowest prices, contact us, we would love to be a part of your project.