- Identify your objectives and your website's functionality requirements
The initial step in this phase is to identify your goals and then map out the solutions to realize those objectives. Additionally, we will outline the functionality and project assets required for the success of your project. - Research and identify your buyer persona and optimal user journey
Your WordPress website will be crafted for the user experience your visitors need and expect. Designing your "buyer's journey" is an exciting step for every client investing in custom WordPress web development. - Market and competitive analysis
Not only do we research your competition, we research your industry and market landscape. This enables us to refine your website and build the functionality best suited to your target audience. - Develop website's architecture and sitemap
With your user experience mapped out, we develop the overall structure of your website and sitemap. - Build high-fidelity prototypes
Your website architecture is then built into high-fidelity wireframes that you can browse to get a "first-glance" at how each page and element will interact. This is an exciting phase where your website begins to come to life. - SEO research
Your marketing goals and site architecture are the two needed pieces to start our SEO analysis. We build out the necessary SEO architecture to ensure your finished WordPress site is optimized for findability and gives your target users the information they need.
WordPress Website Development
WordPress is the most-used Content Management System (CMS) in the world, and for good reason. WordPress makes it easy to manage and update websites while keeping the site’s unique personalization in tact with plugins and integrations.
For more than a decade, Comrade’s WordPress experts have been building websites for clients across dozens of different industries. We continually expand our knowledge-base with every project. Please visit our portfolio to see our experience in action.
Custom-Built vs. Template WordPress Websites
After making the decision to build a new WordPress website, the natural question is: “Can I save money using a template?” WordPress and all compatible builder plugins have templates for pages and whole sites that can save time and money. The real question, however, is whether a template suits your goals.
Comrade or any custom WordPress development company will start by assessing your marketing objectives. If you’re aiming for more leads and sales or greater visibility, your website is built to drive those results in a predictable and measurable way. Using a template can make for a lower-dollar spend on the actual website, but it will not be designed to deliver certain results, thus your return on investment could suffer. A custom-built website is designed to generate specific, pre-determined results. If traffic, lead generation, conversion and sales opportunities are the goal, custom sites are always the better investment. Please visit our blog for informative articles explaining the ins and outs of custom vs. template-built websites.
Advantages of a custom-built WordPress website:
- A design as unique as your brand that marries your organization’s personality with its marketing objectives
- Faster page-loading, which decreases bounce rate, more effectively engages users and ranks higher on search engines
- Clean web design and development void of unnecessary elements that clutter your admin panel and slow website performance
- Custom SEO architecture that boosts your findability and delivers users the information they’re seeking
- Your site is scalable; built to grow with your business
- ROI. The spend on your project is later offset by better website performance (meeting deliverables)
What are the disadvantages of custom WordPress development?
- Most custom WordPress websites require a greater investment than with a template-based site
- Developing a custom site requires more time than does a template-based project
Cost to Develop WordPress Websites in Chicago
Our WordPress website development is highly competitive and best of all, delivers lasting results for our clients. Depending on your project's functionality and complexity, the average price of a high-performance WordPress web development project begins at $10,000. Again, the more complex your website, the price will increase reasonably.
Components of Custom WordPress Website Development
A properly-developed WordPress website is high-performing. It’s an engine to drive your marketing goals across the finish line. It empowers your business to attract and engage your audience. How? Below are key components the Comrade WordPress development team builds into all its high-performance WordPress websites.
Custom websites designed for the ideal User Experience
WordPress is a remarkably flexible platform with an enormous storefront of pre-set tools and plugins. Our WordPress experts leverage these invaluable tools to design a custom website that reflects your brand and works to deliver on your objectives. Our customization begins with a careful assessment of your buyer personas and their expectations when interacting with your website
Proper SEO to boost findability
Not only does SEO make your WordPress website findable, it packs each page with the key information your users are looking for. Today, more than ever, SEO today is about valuable content, meaning a strategically-built website will deliver users the specific information they seek and make it incredibly easy to discover what you offer. WordPress is especially well-suited for projects featuring a blog, which ultimately becomes your brand’s “stomping ground” for ongoing SEO and value-rich content.
Analytical tools that help you assess your website's effectiveness
With all aspects of your business, the only way to measure success is to track performance against previously identified KPIs (key performance indicators). Your website is no different. We install all the necessary analytical tools and set up the “triggers” and “rules” that align with your overall objectives. Once these tools have been installed, we train you and/or members of your team on how to put them to use.
Conversion tools that help you "close" more sales
Every website on the Internet has some kind of contact form or call-to-action. What other conversion tools does your business need? What about reviews, testimonials, case studies or lead magnets? How many do you need? How can these tools be applied for optimal response and built to shape your buyer journey? Your Comrade WordPress experts will help setup the necessary conversion tools to increase your website’s conversion rate.
Full adoption to mobile and other devices
More than 50% of web traffic across the Internet is happening on smartphones. Add to that tablets and other hand-held devices and your website must be fully responsive and adaptable to survive. “Responsive” means both looking good and functioning perfectly on every device, and ensuring this is part of every Comrade project.
Integration with 3rd party tools and plugins that power your business
In 2020, almost every business operates with a suite of different business tools: a CRM for easier client management, email solutions for engaging up with your customers, analytical tools for better reporting, and more. We consult with every client to identify the tools and figure out ways they can be connected to boost your website’s performance.
Featured WordPress Case Studies in Chicago
What Types of Websites Are WordPress Used For?
Our WordPress development team hears some common questions about the types of businesses, markets and websites WordPress works for.
The answer is almost always “all of them” because of how WordPress is setup. WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that can be applied to any project, no matter the goals. The flexibility provided by WordPress plugins and tools on the already-robust CMS opens up limitless opportunities for your brand to customize the website functions your project requires. The result? A fully-customized website designed for the sole purpose of driving measurable results. WordPress website development works for:
Business or corporate websites
Blogs and informational websites
Question-and-Answer websites
E-commerce websites
Portfolio websites
Non-profit websites
And more...
Do you have a WordPress web development project in mind?
Let's design and develop the perfect WordPress website for your business needs. Send us a message or visit our Wordpress development company in Chicago
Get your business growth plan Our WordPress Web Development Process
1
Project Discovery
2
Web Design
3
Web Development
4
Foundational SEO
5
Acceptance, Launch & Stakeholder Onboarding
- Project style guide is built
Your project's style guide serves as the design "rule book" for your website's look and feel. This guide is built around your branding and priorities. We work closely with you to identify the colors, elements and overall style that will be applied to your website. - Website architecture is organized
The content already outlined in your high-fidelity wireframe is then organized into an architecture of all the webpages mapped out for your website. - Homepage design
The "concepting" of the homepage design is done during this phase. The homepage is, fundamentally, the most important page of your website. It's serves as the first impression of your business and our team takes great care to design a homepage that will serve as a solid foundation for your entire project. - Subpage design
Once the homepage design is right, the remainder of the internal pages for your WordPress site are designed. All our web designs are fully scalable for desktop and mobile devices. - Additional WordPress website elements designed If your website requires additional elements, we will design and implement them according to your website's needs. Additional elements might include highlighting important information on the page, incorporating calls to action, etc.
- Map out website architecture
This phase of your WordPress website project launches in parallel with the web design phase. The first step here is to map out the underlying architecture of your entire website. - Take approved designs and design elements and set them into your site
Next, we take all the approved page designs and design elements and slice and code them into your website. The code is then connected with your WordPress CMS. At completion, your team will learn to adjust or change your website and content through the easy-to-use WordPress admin panel. - Build in website functionality
After all the attractive, front-facing website design elements are built in, next we code in the functionality of your website. This "behind-the-scenes" coding includes everything from third-party tool integrations to complex member-access areas. - All content is built in
At this phase both your website copy and images are added to the site. This is the wonderful, unifying moment when all the design decisions meet your brand's message. - Mobile-responsive site set up
Comrade Web ensures your website is fully functional and equally attractive across all devices: desktop, laptop and mobile.
- Identify and set up SEO priorities
Our team, in collaboration with yours, identify SEO priorities and long-term insights into how your website performs against your ranking objectives. - Onsite SEO is woven into your website
The SEO priorities are then used on all your website elements for optimal findability of all your content. This helps Google understand the value of your content so it recommends your site to its users. - Check website for embedded SEO keywords
The SEO keywords used on your website have to be "readable" by Google to get you the SEO benefits. We perform a full sweep of your website to check for embedded SEO keywords so that Google can understand every optimization on the page. - Set up Google Analytics, Google Webmasters and other monitoring systems
Our team also sets up all the website monitoring tools your team will need. We even establish the event triggers and work with you to ensure you get the most out of the data collected.
- Website functionality and performance testing
Once everything has been built and optimized, testing is the final phase to ensure the full functionality of your WordPress web design. We test every last detail to maximize your site's performance. - Website "sign-off"
Once we've completed testing, the final website is sent to you for review and approval. As soon as you give us the green light, we launch your website live. - Deployment and tracking of initial performance
As soon as your website is live, Google finds and indexes it. After this process is complete, we start monitoring the initial performance numbers to ensure your site has optimal findability and functions properly once users land on a page. We review this initial performance with you. - Training for you and your team
Whether it's you, other stakeholders, or teammates identified in your organization, we train the people who will be responsible for monitoring, managing and updating your WordPress website in the future. - Support for your website as needed
Once a project is completed, we don't disappear into the horizon. First, our WordPress website development comes with a set warranty period during which we monitor your website and continue to make necessary adjustments. We also have maintenance packages available if you would like our team to perform website updates and optimizations over time. We are here, every step of the way to answer any questions you may have.
“Clients sometimes think that a custom, high-performance website needs to be complicated, but we work with great platforms like WordPress that make managing highly sophisticated websites painless.”
Yuriy
Marketing Manager, Strategist
Why Comrade?
We love working with clients across a range of industries on building their WordPress websites and think the platform is a phenomenal tool that’s made web development and functionality seamless for so many businesses. Here’s why you can feel secure working with Comrade on your WordPress website development project:
- YOU WORK WITH EXPERTS
Our team members have been working with WordPress since the platform’s inception and have achieved great success building everything from functionality-rich eCommerce sites to B2B manufacturing websites on WordPress with phenomenal success.
- YOU’RE ALWAYS IN THE KNOW
Every step of the way, we’ll deliver status reports on your project and walk you through the ins and outs of your WordPress website. We’ll even provide you and your team training on WordPress so you can get the most out of this user-friendly, highly functional platform.
- YOU GET RESULTS
Comrade measures the success of your WordPress website on two metrics: that it’s easy for you and your team to use; and that it generates qualified leads and conversions for your business. We work hard to ensure those goals are met.
Our experts will be glad to create a plan tailored to deliver a powerful WordPress website for your business.
During our planning session, we will evaluate:
- Business growth and revenue goals
- Target market and competitive landscape
- Unique functionality required
- Sales funnel integration
- Google Analytics and more
We’ll provide a full market landscape and analysis to either build a new WordPress site or enhance your existing WordPress site to work smarter for your business.
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Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Web Development
How much does a WordPress website cost?
WordPress website development costs vary based on several factors including the website's objectives, the project's technical complexity, the level of functionality required on the site, and the timeline for development. Average costs for high-performance WordPress web development begins at $10,000+ for simple informational websites and $20,000+ for more complex projects.
How long does it take to develop a custom WordPress site?
Typically, creating a high-performance WordPress website takes 3-4 months. This will depend on functionality, the scope of your project's architecture and your availability. The latter is very important as certain steps require the client's input and/or approval. If your assets are lined up and you're ready to dedicate the needed time to your project, it will streamline the development process and deliver quicker turnaround time.
Can you support or enhance my existing WordPress website?
If you already have a WordPress website, it can sometimes be updated or supported to meet your needs. This comes down to your specific goals. Was your existing website designed with your current objectives in mind? Was it optimized to support you in meeting those objectives? Was it properly set up from technology standpoint?
If you would like to explore this option, start with an assessment. Our team will review the strategy and technology used on your existing website and then present you with options.
Should I choose a template-based or custom-built WordPress website?
Companies just starting out often tend to consider template-based websites due to their lower sticker price. Templated WordPress websites, however, have many drawbacks. They are slower to upload across all devices, thereby lowering your search ranking on Google and other search engines and they also limit your online strategy to pre-defined ideations of "brand," "user experience" and "buyer persona." To power your website to meet your specific goals, a custom WordPress site is the solution required. Please call us for a consultation and we can explain in greater detail the difference between custom-built and template-based WordPress websites.
Is WordPress the right CSM for my project?
WordPress is the most popular CSM in the world, but that doesn't automatically mean it's the right platform for every project. If you want to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of WordPress versus other platforms like Drupal, Wix and Squarespace, start a conversation with our team and we'll explain the differences and pros and cons of each.