Do you need to create a website to grow your business but don't know how the process works? Do you want your website to meet every need of your business? In any case, if you are one of those who want to broaden your knowledge on this subject, you are at the right place.
We have developed this complete guide to help you understand what a custom website is, to know the different types of websites and all the facets of this field. Indeed, depending on your needs, there are different types of websites. To present your activity or make a blog, prefer a showcase site made with a CMS. On the other hand, if you want to create a website with many features and needs, prefer a custom website that will be developed from scratch by a freelance developer or a web agency.
It is important to know that a custom website is, as its name indicates, a website that has been designed in a personalized way technically or graphically. Indeed, according to the needs of the owner of the site, i.e. the company, a site can be different on various points:
So, if you need to call a developer to create your website, you just have to tell him what you really want for your site. This way, it will be easier for him to accompany you and to carry out your project of creation of personalized website. You can also create a complete specification to understand your needs.
According to your needs, the developer will be able to define the type of website you need: showcase site, e-commerce site, CMS, web application, etc.
The custom website is perfect for people who see things in big and who can not be satisfied with the current tools for creating websites such as Wordpress or Wix for example. A custom website allows you to develop features not available on basic tools.
It is then to go through a freelance developer or a web agency to create "from scratch" the website. "From Scratch" is an English expression that means "to create something from nothing". As you would have understood, this type of site cannot be done alone and requires time and knowledge. Even if the modifications are possible, it should be recognized that they are not easy to make. You have to contact the developer again.
Any custom website relies on an important basis: the business logic. To explain it simply, I will take the example of Airbnb. Everyone knows Airbnb, it's about renting houses or apartments between individuals. Well, the business logic here is the apartment or the house. You have to understand how the user will add his apartment on Airbnb, how another user will rent this apartment, how the financial transaction is done, etc.
The process of creating a custom website is quite dense. Indeed, upstream, a specification must be established. It will include all the information, objectives, features and axes to develop. But also the technical, editorial, design, temporal and financial constraints.
A quick launch allows you to test your users as soon as possible and to get the first feedback on improvements and new features.
The tests allow to detect, prevent and correct anomalies on your personalized website. They are essential to ensure a smooth operation.
Your admin dashboard is designed to give you control over all of your custom website data. Easily manage, measure and modify.
It is important to know that CMS is short for Content Management System. Thus, it is a content management system. Among other things, the CMS is a tool that allows the update and creation of a website without touching the source code.
Find the details of the functionalities of a CMS here.
Don't forget that the richer the basic functionalities are, the better you will work on your website.
There are different features on a blog, namely:
Here's what a content page includes:
An e-commerce website is an online sales platform that allows the merchant to display his products and reach a larger target audience.
Find a comparison of the different e-commerce CMS to better make your choice!
In order to define the purchase tunnel that best suits your online store, you need to ask yourself the right questions. Here are some of them:
We say that the buying tunnel is simple when the prospect consults a product then adds it to his cart. He chooses a delivery method, then enters his personal information and chooses a payment method to finally pay for his purchases.
The buying tunnel is complex when the approach is as follows: the prospect consults a product, then compares it to other similar products that you offer. They add their product to the shopping cart and add a promo code or not. He logs in or creates a customer account. Finally, they choose a delivery method, enter their personal information and choose a payment method and pay for their purchases.
Here are some essential questions you should ask yourself before creating your e-commerce website:
You can choose from the most commonly used payment methods such as PayPal, credit card, or Apple Pay. Next, you will need to define the list of payments and currencies used to allow your buyers to choose the payment method that suits them, and then pay.
To set up a delivery service on your custom e-commerce website, first ask yourself the following questions:
If the answer is yes, you can develop a custom system where when a purchase is made, your intermediary or supplier handles the delivery directly without you having to touch your computer. In addition, this will allow you to avoid having to personally take care of the delivery.
You will need to define delivery service offers to know which delivery method is suitable for your buyer, for example: a relay point, a carrier delivery, a delivery by post, etc.
You will have to define beforehand the destination where you can deliver your products. Specify the name of the countries concerned if there is a possibility of international delivery.
If you are wondering how to import your products on an e-commerce website, here are some useful tips.
First of all, you should know that importing your product catalogs requires the use of a dedicated tool such as a spreadsheet. In general, the import process is easy as long as you respect the requirements when creating your files.
Good to know: If you have more than 100 products in your online store and you don't know how to import them, you can customize the import of your products to avoid importing them 1 by 1. Don't hesitate to ask your developer for a personalized import so that your e-commerce website is ready as soon as possible.
The promotional code is a code that the seller makes available to its potential buyers so that they can take advantage of a promotional offer when they add a product to their cart. This includes taking advantage of a price reduction. Also, if you want to offer customizable deals to your buyers, then you can customize a system. Use your best ideas and creativity!
Note : The Performance and Acquisition Collective (CPA) took advantage of an e-commerce trade show held in 2016 at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, to release an infographic on the use of promotional codes in e-commerce. According to the CPA, 53% of users abandon their shopping cart if they can't find a promo code. These coupons are sometimes more important to customers than sales.
E-commerce websites adopting promotional codes are therefore an important lever to increase the customer portfolio. Moreover, according to the CPA, the conversion rate is 7 times higher when a user has a promotional code.
A website needs an environment to be online. This environment must be optimized as much as possible.
If the traffic rate is high, i.e. when there are a lot of visitors at the same time, the infrastructure of the website must be fast to accelerate the page loading.
For this, it is possible to put several optimizations:
It is also important to have a good infrastructure for websites that often need to be updated.
For e-commerce websites, having a good infrastructure is necessary for a speedy purchase and an optimal user experience.
To conclude, it is obvious that the terms of the web can be unclear for beginners and in particular, for those who wish to create a custom website. However, before creating a website, it is necessary to understand the existing terms and their concepts.
The website you need depends mainly on the needs of your business.
Find all our articles on the development of a website
Anne-Laure Compain
Alexis Le Baron
Alexis Le Baron
Alexis Le Baron
Alexis Le Baron
Anne-Laure Compain
