Website Build

That's quite a list. Having been in the web development business for over 20 years, I suggest you do this in phases. Each of these services typically take advantage of decisions you make in the previous steps.

For example, tracking client activity can be accomplished in tools outside of your website with hooks into your website. Salesforce.com is a great tool to do several of these things, but it's quite a commitment in terms of cost and complexity. Choosing it to do these things will, therefore, affect your other options going forward.

I guess I'm saying that this is a very complex project and not one that can be answered in a post. You will most likely need to decide, from a business standpoint, how you want it to run at a high level before you decide on specific technologies. Once you have your business processes and priorities mapped out, you can then start to evaluate tools to help you add automation and integration.

Even the choice of website platform has started you down a road that will automatically disqualify certain options and enable others.

This is hard, but the time and energy you put into doing it right will pay huge dividends in the future. Cutting corners only delays and amplifies the pain of doing it correctly.

All the best.

That's quite an extensive list of requirements. As you evaluate vendors to help you, make sure you see examples of websites they have created that have those capabilities. You may not find all of them in one website, but don't take someone's word for it that they've done it before.

It sounds like there may be custom coding involved - I don't think all of those things can be done with plugins - so make sure the vendor you choose has the depth of tech talent you need.

There are many reliable, professional web designers around, but there are also quite a few who will tell you anything and deliver very little.

Read the contract carefully to make sure you are protected against unscrupulous vendors who might take your money and run. Make sure there is a timeline and specific things that will be completed at each milestone, and a description of what will happen if milestones are missed.

And, insist on progress payments so that the vendor is only paid when some portion of the project is complete. Well, you'll probably need a downpayment, but never pay everything at once.

Finally, I recommend that you have complete access to the server where the site is being built, or at least duplicate files, and that you retain ownership. There's nothing more frustrating than finding out when all is complete that you don't even own the website you paid for!

This is a multi-dimensional and complex project and we have an expert web development and marketing team to help you with it. We provide custom ecommerce solutions, premium hosting and SEO services for small to medium sized businesses. Rather than asking questions here, I would like to schedule a virtual meeting with you to gain a better understanding of your business needs.

Take care and I look forward to learning more about you.

Good Afternoon,

There are many some decisions you will have to make before moving forward.  How much do you want to spend?  What industry and type of website is it?  Is sales the priority?  I would list each function you want and prioritize each of them.  WordPress can do whatever you need it to do with additional plugins, either smaller individual ones or fully featured plugins with many of the functions that you need.  Using smaller plugins usually means you will have more plugins to get all the features you want.  Cost will come into play as well.  Some plugins will be free, but to get the advanced features, you will need to upgrade to pro and the cost of that can vary.  If downloading files is a big part of the website, you will need to consider space and ensure you buy hosting that provides enough space.   

There is a plenitude of automatic mailing lists that integrate with WordPress.  Also, how big is the anticipated client base?  Heavy traffic will require quicker servers and that will also play into what type of hosting plan you select. 

Once you get the frame work down that explains the details of the above then you will be able to get hosting parties to provide you the best plan, then you move on from there.  Are you branded yet? Do you have a logo, color scheme, and a style of design you prefer?  This should be laid out as well before you move forward with doing any work.

If you are not sure about how to proceed, or not sure how to create a detailed framework, you might want to hire a consultant to assist you.

I am a website and graphic designer with many years of marketing and consulting experience.  I would be happy to talk to you to help steer you in the right direction. 

Best Wishes,

Pia

A web developer is a programmer who specializes in, and it sounds like you need one. This is our agency expertise, and specially helping small businesses realize their full potential online through responsive web design, proven SEO and Shopify web development strategies.

Our team is available to review your needs and help you to accomplish you business goals.

We are here to serve you!

Please contact us: [email address] or (888) 526-3264

QS-EBusiness, Inc

WordPress can accommodate all of what you are asking for - you may need to purchase the additional plugins (small apps) that enhance the WordPress website - BuddyPress Link 

Fun & flexible software for online communities, teams, and groups

BuddyPress helps you build any kind of community website using WordPress, with member profiles, activity streams, user groups, messaging, and more.

I would start here and do a bit of research - making sure that WordPress is the way to go and utilizing the many great themes and plugins - hope this helps

Hi there

If you need to build out solutions and don’t have all the required expertise needed to get you up and running and off to market, then it might make sense to hire out a fully-fledged development firm.   My team and I are small web design & development firm,  and we'll be happy to review you selections and discuss further if you desire! 

But if you have the technical leader who has an idea on how to build the development team and knows exactly what skill sets they need to fill up then it might make a lot of sense to hire freelancers.

Email us at   [email address]

Best

Dusan Agbaba

Well, this is complex and the website alone is not the answer. But Integrating the site with these things most likely is. Using sub-domains and project management platforms. All can be done and depending on the depth of need, security, reporting, and access will drive the platforms we need to integrate. (meaning the person that does it)... Helps to have a realtime conversation to direct you to the best resources. But it can be done. 

Your list of functions is not unusual and it is good that you are thinking of these things in advance. Some of your requests are a bit too generic for me to answer specifically, but overall, a flexible platform like WordPress likely would be able to handle all of the items in your list. For online sales, WooCommerce likely would be able to handle your shopping cart needs. Uploading and downloading files, depending on what you are actually wanting done, can also be handled by WooCommerce or using a form tool add-on. WordPress comes standard with a very good blogging platform and various themes and add-ons can turn your blog articles into works of art. WordPress and most plugins use MySQL databases by default for keeping track of and reporting. There are many email marketing tools that connect directly with WordPress that can handle your newsletters and Email marketing. Some of the features you want may require you to upgrade to premium versions or may even require a bit of code customization or tools that connect various applications to function they way you want them to work. We have taken many similar function requests and turned them into fully functional websites for clients. We'd be happy to help you convert your wish list into a powerful sales and marketing platform to do what you have indicated you want done. Feel free to drop us a direct message to set up some time to discuss your specific needs.

We are exactly what you are looking for.  We do all of that plus more if you would like.   We have built 10's of thousands of websites.  We build small to sites with over 300 pages.  We would love the opportunity to talk with you.  We are the experts and we can do whatever it takes to get it done. 

Please reach out to me at your earliest convenience.

Natalie 

xxx xxx xxxx