Strategic Approach to Website Development: 10 Key Factors to Consider

A website is not just a company’s business card but also an essential marketing tool. Whether it is a corporate website, an online store (E-Commerce Store), or a simple landing page, all of them play a crucial role in a company’s business activities

Unfortunately, we often come across cases where the quality of website development is so low that it fails to perform its primary functions, creates inconvenience for users, and negatively impacts the company’s image. We believe that website development should follow a strategic approach. That’s why we want to share how we do it at seven mountains

1. Studying the company for which we develop the website

The first and important stage is getting to know the company for which we are developing the website. We study its business model, positioning, unique selling propositions (USP), products/services, customers, reviews, processes, and more. This is necessary to properly represent the company, its products or services, and highlight its strengths. After processing this information, we integrate it into the site structure and the structure of specific pages 

Before developing the corporate website for Dr. Vardaev’s dental clinic, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the company. We familiarized ourselves with the services, identified key features and unique advantages of the clinic, spoke with the founders, studied customer service processes, researched social media presence and reviews, and analyzed competitors. Additionally, we visited the clinic in person to experience the atmosphere and interact with the team

This thorough approach provided a solid foundation for designing the website’s structure, pages, and overall user experience. It also informed our work on marketing and communication aspects, including positioning, unique selling points, and key messaging – all of which we successfully implemented on the site

2. Considering the company’s future growth during website development

Very often, website owners have to seek additional development services because their website was initially designed for the short term - in simple terms, «for now». This leads to additional costs in money, time, and effort. To help avoid this scenario, we consider product/service expansion, the company’s growth plan, and its vision in advance by designing sections, hierarchy, functionalities, and more

A client approached us with a request to develop a corporate website for a moving company in Sweden. Since the company was recently founded, its range of services is still limited. However, they plan to expand over time

Understanding their needs, we designed a website structure that allows for seamless integration of new services, sections, and features without additional development costs. We also implemented a modern CMS, ensuring that the company can easily and efficiently scale its website in the future

3. Customer segmentation analysis

This is a must-have for any marketing product development, and websites are no exception. We analyze how customers make purchasing decisions, their selection criteria, and their customer journey, then effectively integrate these insights into the site structure

For example, during audience analysis, we identified four key selection criteria for customers. We then «wrap» these criteria into a creative format (key messages, banners, blocks, etc.) and arrange them in order of significance (from most to least important) on the homepage

Before designing the structure and layout of the landing page for the LMS platform, we conducted audience research. We identified four key segments, analyzing their characteristics, pain points, and triggers. Only after this deep understanding did we begin constructing the landing page, crafting content, messaging, and design

We implemented a bright and engaging design, integrating the platform’s positioning to resonate with user criteria such as «fun», «exciting», and «a need for positive emotions». The solutions to the audience segments' pain points were strategically placed in the Benefits and Features sections, while tailored messaging was separately communicated to each segment

Turn your website into a sales growth engine. Let’s talk about your goals!

Request a consultation 

4. Competitor website analysis

Competitor analysis, like audience analysis, is a mandatory stage in any marketing work. Before starting website development, we examine competitor website structures, analyze how individual pages are built, evaluate text quality, length, placement, density, and more. Additionally, we assess creative elements, overall design, UI/UX features, and, of course, SEO optimization levels. Based on this research, we form industry patterns and use them when developing our client’s website

5. Analysis of best global practices

Along with analyzing competitors' sites and forming industry patterns, we look for successful cases from global practice, identify the best examples for us in other regions/countries, consider industry leaders, and also take this into account when developing a site. We also sometimes analyze trends, UX/UI solutions and innovative approaches that are used in website development. The main task of this stage is to find and understand how we can differentiate ourselves qualitatively from competitors' sites

6. Consideration of branding, including design systems

During website development, we always consider branding, including corporate identity, communication messages, and brand tone of voice (ToV). Sometimes, a company’s branding and its website design do not align at all, which negatively affects customer perception and brand recognition. That’s why all branding elements should be coordinated with the website and be an integral part of it

IMPORTANT!

We would like to say separately about the design of the site - it must be of high quality, in line with modernity and the peculiarities of the industry. Here we are talking about the creative component and trends. And this is very important!

Because, for example, design from the 90s or 2000s automatically (sometimes even subconsciously for the consumer) says that the company is stuck there - in technology, and in thinking, and in solving customer problems. And no amount of communication messages about success, much less innovation, will help. They just don't match with a very outdated website design. And the customer doesn't want to work with a NOT successful and NOT modern company

For the IT company .K.I.S.S., we created a website design based on the brand identity system we developed. The design features various abstract shapes associated with the IT industry, as well as elements inspired by electronic chips and neural networks. We also incorporated the company's signature colors, successfully adapting both dark and light themes to ensure a cohesive visual experience

A crucial part of the process was conducting competitive research before designing the site. We analyzed websites of similar companies, studied leading global examples, and identified industry patterns. This allowed us to create a design that aligns with modern trends, enhances the company's image as a high-tech, professional, and innovation-driven brand – reflecting its true identity

7. High-Quality UI/UX

In addition to design, let's emphasize the importance of quality UI (User Interface), and UX (User Experience). Professional consideration of these aspects in the development of the site affects a large number of important indicators of its performance:

• attracting users to interact with the site (Engagement): time and depth of interaction, bounce rate, number of views, clicks, etc.
• monetization, sales, if we are talking about e-commerce: conversions, revenue per user, clickability, percentage of paid users, average check, etc.
• retention on the site: return and retention rates, average number of sessions per user, frequency of visits, user lifecycle, active users, etc.
• perception of the company as technological, and in combination with appropriate design - as high-tech

8. Proper landing page development

Pages of the site, which contain the main offers of the company and which will later «pour» paid traffic from advertising, should be given special attention and qualitatively work them out. They should:

• be developed according to the relevant rules
• be properly structured
• repeatedly contain a call to action (CTA)
• include evidence, testimonials, anti-doubt elements, etc.

The offer itself, which is placed on the landing page, should be clear and attractive to the potential buyer. This approach directly affects the number of conversions - that is, effective for the company actions that are performed by visitors to such a page. For example, filling out a feedback form or directly making a purchase

When designing the structure and layout of the homepage for E.M.A., we followed key principles of offer construction while adapting them to the company's unique specifics. We showcased the equipment, highlighted the unique selling proposition and advantages, provided a brief company overview, and included a section to address potential doubts by listing its clients. Additionally, we incorporated a strong call-to-action (CTA) block to drive engagement

9. SEO Considerations when planning a website

Another fairly common practice and mistake in website development is poor technical SEO preparation. And it is very frustrating when there is active work on content SEO - unique texts are created, the blog is developed, money, time and effort are spent on the development of quality articles, but the result is minimal due to technical SEO errors that were made during the development of the site

What mistakes are we talking about? For example: 

• absence or incorrect robots.txt
• lack of site map (sitemap.xml) or new pages in general, wrong structure
• incorrect redirects (301/302)
• broken links (404 errors)
• lack of micro markup or extended snippets
• slow page load speed
• incorrect URL structure
• errors in SSL certificates, etc.

Therefore, do not neglect the technical SEO preparation of the site according to the checklist, because this is the foundation for quality and effective overall SEO-promotion in the future

We at seven mountains offer our clients to develop an SEO strategy before creating a website. It includes:

• keyword research
• search engine results analysis
• competitor case studies
• formation of specifications for SEO-promotion: integration into the site structure, texts, tags and accordingly KW core, LSI

Consideration of SEO aspects during development significantly affects the result, because SEO-optimization is implemented from the very beginning of the site, and saves money, because in the future you do not have to redesign or refine the site, adjusting to SEO tasks

When developing a website for the Clinic of Dr. Vardaev, we immediately implemented technical SEO of the site, and also worked well on content SEO - formed and clustered the basic core of keywords for the two languages of the site, wrote unique texts for each category and service, worked on meta tags. In total, more than 50 unique texts were created and optimized

And the result did not make us wait long. In six months, organic traffic to the site increased by more than 77% 

10. Using modern CMS

A crucial stage in website development is selecting a content management system (CMS). The choice is influenced by factors such as:

• website tasks and functions
• ease of administration and content management
• easy customization, including design changes
• performance
• website search engine optimization (SEO)
• scalability and customization
• security
• technical service, including a large number of developers on the market
• cost

A well-chosen CMS ensures ease of management, website stability, and future scalability

We recommend our clients use the MODX content management system. It allows for easy content management and scalability, provides a strong technical foundation for effective SEO optimization, offers seamless customization, and ensures a high level of security

The seven mountains website is also built on MODX – after all, we wouldn't recommend anything less than the best for ourselves!

A high-quality website is a strategic investment. Start with the right approach and avoid costly redesigns

Request a consultation 

Conclusion: strategic website development

From experience, we can confidently say that a broad and deep approach to website development brings undeniable benefits, despite requiring more time and higher initial investment. A strategically developed website:

• is far more effective in terms of attracting and retaining users, increasing sales, shaping the company’s desired image, and enhancing brand recognition
• requires fewer overall costs, considering the long-term expenses of continuously fixing a site developed without strategy
• requires the involvement of 5-8 specialized specialists: marketer (strategist, analyst), creative, web designer, SEO-specialist, layout designer, web developer, content and project managers; at the same time, as a rule, when using the standard approach in the development of the site are involved 3-5 specialists. And this is an important difference! It is obvious that the quality and effectiveness of the site as a business tool is much higher with a strategic approach to development

«Cheap fish - bad ear» - a very common practice. And to confirm this, we have compiled a comparative table of typical website development (using a template or website builder) versus development with a strategic approach, taking into account the average cost of revisions

*Prices are based on average market indicators in Ukraine