10 Key Steps To Building A Supercharged Business Website Or App

By Alvaro Chacon, founding partner and president at Stateside Co. Sourcing, retaining and managing stellar digital talent on your behalf.

As the CEO of a large-scale website production company, I constantly get the same questions:

• How much does building a website cost? 

• How long will it take to build my web presence?  

• What are the advantages of working with an agency? Why not hire a freelancer? 

I always answer: The best solution is the one that aligns with your business strategy. 

For some clients, it’s best to launch a site quickly at a low cost and scale later. For others, it makes sense to invest more at the start, building a bulletproof platform that’s both scalable and flexible. In other words, the best solution depends on your short- and long-term goals and your budget. 

Here are the steps I recommend going through as you and your team plan how to build your digital platform:

1. Clarify your platform’s objectives.

• What is the role of your website or app in your overall business model?

• Who is your audience? Are they mobile-first? What media do they consume — videos, articles, audio or a combination?

• What does success look like? What is the website or app’s main goal?

• How will you drive traffic to the website?

2. Build your content.

• Make an inventory of the content you currently have (i.e., copy, images, video, etc.).

• Map out the process for creating the content you know you’ll need in the future for you to reach your stated objectives.

• Brainstorm any ideas for new content — images, videos, podcasts or articles — you want to produce.

• Determine the time and cost for creating new content, and set aside a budget.

3. Organize your content based on your objectives.

• Review your content with an expert or a person you trust in your field. Take advantage of having an outside eye and do a preliminary organization.

• Do the same exercise with your developer. Note the differences between the perspective of a technology professional and someone in business.

• Work with your product management team (which might be yourself) to reconcile both points of view. 

4. ‘Build’ your website on paper.

• Conceive of the site map with your developer — a text document, some slides or a pen and paper will do.

• Organize your content into this map and use this as the starting point for the site’s design and development.

5. Always remember the 1/10/100 rule.

The 1/10/100 rule is essential when budgeting for revisions with your designer:

• 1: Fixing a mistake during the planning phase will cost $1.

• 10: Fixing that same mistake during the development phase will cost $10.

• 100: Fixing it when the website is already built will cost $100.

Plan ahead to avoid costly changes down the line.

6. Finalize the home page design before starting any development work.

• Agree on how your brand will be represented on this website.

• Determine logo, buttons, CTA, images, etc. for the homepage. 

7. Choose a development partner you trust.

• I recommend using agile methodologies. This approach allows you to iterate during the development process and make changes on the go. Keep in mind, though, that a set price for a project will likely limit your ability to make changes. 

• Be sure your development partner has a quality analysis (QA) department so they can test across different platforms and operating systems before launching.

• Remember that in this business, like many others, you get what you pay for.

8. Budget for 25% contingency.

• Assume the project will go at least 25% over budget.

• There will be some changes and improvements you will not think of from the planning phase. 

9. Create a monthly budget for maintenance and enhancements.

Adapting to technology updates and enhancements will be necessary if you want to succeed; plan for constantly optimizing the flow of your platform. 

10. Use analytics to measure and improve your website.

• Review analytics and stats weekly or at least once a month.

• Try A/B testing if you can afford it and constantly tweak, test and review changes based on users’ behavior and trends.

One final note: Pay attention to partners and agencies that try to rush. It’s important to clarify objectives, establish the timeframe and propose a budget. At my company, we believe that investing time, energy and money during the website planning phase undoubtedly pays off down the road. An agency or partner that pushes to get a project off the ground without going through the proper process and planning is likely focused on one-off projects, not ensuring your site helps you reach your business goals.