When it comes to embracing digital transformation and building an online presence, having a website is a must. However, nowadays, every kid with a computer can make a basic website. If you are taking your business seriously and you want your customers to do the same, you need the real deal.
This goes especially for mid-sized and large companies as they have higher technical standards, such as complex customer journeys, specialized features, third-party software integrations, custom add-ons, improved security, and multiple administration roles with different access.
These call for an individual overall approach and nothing less than first-class code quality.
To that end, your best move is to partner up with a WordPress agency with enterprise experience.
A professional WordPress development company can design and build cutting edge, user-friendly enterprise solutions, and provide a bespoke experience both to you and your clients.
However, before we delve into the details of why Enterprises need a WordPress agency, let’s take a step back and recap why WordPress should be your platform of choice for enterprise web development?
In this article, we’ll cover the specific needs of larger organizations, talk to experts in the field about the platform, and look at the many reasons why WordPress is a perfect fit for your enterprise business. We’ll also touch on competitors and myths about the platform as we go. Let’s start with some brief definitions and background.
Corporate Website Development: Is WordPress the Answer?
Most people still consider WordPress to be a DIY web platform for bloggers on a budget. And it still is, in a way. It’s still free, it’s open-source, and it’s easy to install and use.
However, WordPress has grown to be so much more than that. It’s agile, scalable, and enables full-on customization which makes it the perfect choice for large companies.
WordPress provides developers with a foundation to build upon, and the freedom to create unique enterprise solutions that match the client’s needs. This means that you can have all the features you want and integrate with other platforms. It’s software you can use and scale at will with maximum efficiency and security.
Furthermore, as compared to creating a completely new system from scratch, WordPress presents another vital advantage – it’s simple and intuitive to use.
Enterprises, more often than not, have multiple teams from different countries and departments working together. Thus, having a user-friendly interface makes administration, collaboration, and onboarding new team members quicker and easier than with any other platform.
On top of that, when working with a WordPress agency that designs and develops custom solutions that match your needs, you can ensure the top performance of your theme, plugins, and all your pages.
All in all, quality WordPress websites for enterprises can handle high traffic, scale accordingly, provide superb design and functionality, and help large companies meet their online needs, build a digital presence, and grow.
As a result, aside from being the content management system (CMS) powering more than 43% of the web, WordPress is the most popular Enterprise Management Systems (EMS).
More than most organizations, enterprise businesses need to maintain a scalable and reliable web presence to remain competitive. To that end, many IT leaders of large-scale organizations have historically looked to expensive web solutions requiring proprietary support contracts to guarantee quality. There is another way, though. Over a decade into its existence and now powering 43.3% of the web, WordPress is steadily becoming a solution that demands attention from even the largest of firms.
What Do We Mean by Enterprise?
“Enterprise” itself is obviously a generic term but when applied in the context of a particular type of business it generally means a large, usually multinational organization. These outfits will typically be comprised of individual organizational units with their own budgets and objectives.
People’s precise definitions of what constitutes an enterprise business vary considerably but, as it relates to web technology, an enterprise website will usually require the ability to handle significant traffic throughput – especially if it’s a media site.
It’s also often the case that enterprise sites will have to accommodate localization, multilingual content, and many smaller microsites. Enterprise solutions also often arrive with complex access requirements which include the need for clearly defined roles and permissions.
As the world’s most popular CMS with over ten years active development behind it (and the spawning of a billion-dollar company in the form of Automattic), WordPress is more than mature enough to handle these requirements.
We’ve covered WordPress’ history in depth here before at eSearch so we won’t retrace our steps in that department. A quick look at the blue-chip enterprise clients served by both WordPress.com and WordPress.org should be enough to establish the platform’s current credentials in that space though
Why Do Enterprises Need a WordPress Agency?
As mentioned, practically anyone can make a WordPress website. It’s that easy. However, what differentiates working with an agency from hiring a freelancer or assembling an in-house team, are the higher technical standards and the dedication to quality.
With a WordPress corporate partner having your back, your enterprise can thrive online, acquire new customers, and build a strong reputation.
Why is that? Let’s break it down:
Expertise
When you partner up with a web development company, you are not only hiring a group of professionals, you are tapping into the creative minds of a variety of experts with years of experience, business insight, and knowledge in their different fields.
For example, our WordPress developers at eSearch are not only proficient in PHP, JavaScript and SQL, but have substantial practical experience building web solutions, SaaS architectures, and catering to large companies. We’ve created and are maintaining multiple enterprise solutions and each one has taught us something new.
Furthermore, depending on your project and the type of contract, it doesn’t end with simply building the website. You can benefit from project management, quality assurance, AdOps, SEO optimization, content management, marketing assistance, business advisory, and anything else pertinent to your online presence.
You get the full package.
Efficiency
Enterprise solutions have complex technical requirements and to be able to achieve them and ensure optimal performance and functionality you need a professional team. By working with experts, you save time, money, and resources.
Furthermore, there’s no need to go around looking for talent, hiring different teams, and then moderating their communication and work to ensure the results are consistent.
In an agency, all the people know each other, have an established process, and operate in sync. This results in better efficiency and productivity, fewer setbacks, higher code quality, and has, overall, a faster implementation of tasks and projects.
Experience
Development companies with a background in enterprise web development have, generally, worked on multiple projects for high-end clients with heavy traffic. Simply put, they know what they are doing.
For example, here at eSearch, we have been working with most of our clients for years. Name any feature or solution – we’ve most likely built it. Name a crisis – we’ve been there, done that, and fixed it.
Developing web projects for large companies in diverse industries, scaling for traffic spikes, building complex features and integrating them to fit perfectly, as well as putting out fires on a regular basis has made us who we are today.
As a result, we know how to achieve optimal results with minimal hassle, know where to look for potential problems, and resolve issues before they blow out of proportion.
This skill level of development comes only with experience and dedication, and we live and breathe WordPress.
Furthermore, the most important lesson that we’ve learned is the value of teamwork. And, when it comes to enterprise web development, only a WordPress agency can provide that.
(Disclaimer: Nope. We are not bragging. That’s simply the way things are.)
Reliability
Reliability is one of the most important perks of working with an agency. Enterprise websites are usually complex solutions, and as such they need constant monitoring, because regardless of the code quality, issues are bound to occur from time to time.
Having an agency in charge of your website means that the code will be implemented with precision, and, as a result, the risk will be minimized. At the same time, whenever there’s an emergency it will be addressed instantly.
Depending on the company’s internal organization, more often than not, you’ll have a dedicated team assigned to your account that is responsible for taking care of you and your projects.
When you are on a retainer plan, you have the team’s undivided attention for a set amount of time each month. These people know your site and business needs inside out and can provide solutions, support, advice, performance monitoring, improvement suggestions, and growth hacks.
Furthermore, whether there is a new feature to be implemented or a bug to be taken care of, you know that it will be handled promptly and with care.
Streamlined Implementation
Project management is the backbone of any venture’s proper implementation.
Building an enterprise solution project usually consists of multiple pages, functions, microsites with unique design, multilingual versions with different requirements, and so forth. This involves participation by different teams whose work needs to be carefully orchestrated in order to meet deadlines and deliver a product that’s of high quality and meets the client’s expectations.
At the agency, there is a team of project managers (PMs) who prioritize the work on your website based on the specified business needs, human resources, and deadlines. They assess the team’s availability and skill sets, cross-reference the information with the project’s requirements, and devise an implementation plan.
Once it’s in motion, the PMs co-ordinate the process, while, at the same time, serving as a liaison between the client and the team.
This improves the overall efficiency of the work, streamlines and optimizes the development process, increases productivity, and reduces the time it takes to wrap up the project.
Customization
WordPress is infamous for how easy it is to accomplish anything by simply installing a plugin. However, plugins can be a double-edged sword. The same applies to themes.
Enterprise websites usually have multiple pages and many functions, and that makes them complex. If you stack too many add-ons without care, this may cause speed and loading issues, code errors, and performance setbacks.
Furthermore, not all plugins and themes are compatible, and this can cause a whole new set of headaches.
The professionals know the best and highest quality plugins that will cater to your needs and can adapt them to boost performance. On top of that, they can develop custom-made themes, plugins, and add-ons designed especially for your business’s needs and that follow the highest technical standards and code quality.
In a way, what differentiates working with an agency from other development options is the same as what differentiates patchwork from tailoring. It’s the bespokeness of the result.
Maintenance and Security
When it comes to WordPress, security is a hot topic. People deem the platform unsafe, because it is, allegedly, prone to data breaches and hacking.
However, while this isn’t entirely untrue, security issues are, more often than not, the result of using low-quality themes and plugins by dubious providers, as well as bad or zero maintenance.
What’s more, as mentioned, if you stack too many plugins, to provide the functionality your website needs, especially when these are of poor code quality, your website may crash and will become easy prey to hackers.
As a large company, trusted by your clients, you cannot afford to expose their, nor your data, to such risks.
Working with an agency eradicates all these issues.
When your website is regularly monitored, backed up, and updated, all your data is safe and secure.
Furthermore, even if an attack does occur or malware finds its way into your website, the professionals know how to handle and minimize the damage.
On top of that, high-quality maintenance means that your website will be free from bugs and errors, fast, SEO optimized, and in top operating condition.
Hassle-Free Integrations
Because it’s so popular, WordPress easily integrates with most digital solutions. Enterprises use advanced CRM, sales, tracking and monitoring software, as well as other solutions that need to integrate seamlessly with the website in order to deliver results.
However, even with official integrations and add-ons, errors may occur. Your dedicated team of developers will make sure that these are removed and, if necessary, they can build custom APIs that facilitate the collaboration between your website and third-party apps.
As large company websites rely on more integrations than small-scale solutions, it’s vital they function properly and provide an excellent user experience.
Affordability
Regardless of how generous your budget is, more often than not, it’s price-prohibitive to keep on staff a team of professional developers, project managers, QAs, digital marketers, etc.
And while custom WordPress development doesn’t come cheap, it’s still way more affordable than building a completely new CMS from scratch. At the same time, your agency can still adapt the platform to perfectly fit your needs and provide an excellent experience.
All in all, by working with an enterprise WordPress agency, you will obtain a far better result but at a lower price.
Benefits of Working with a WordPress Agency
So far, we’ve talked about the advantages for enterprises working with WordPress agencies, with a focus on the B2B experience and overall quality of the interaction.
However, the immediate benefits to your website are not to be underestimated:
- Smarter Information Architecture. Information architecture (IA) is the skeleton of the website. It’s also the foundation of its success. However, the more complicated the website is, the more difficult it is to maintain simplicity.
Planning and implementing your IA smartly ensures that search engines will be able to crawl, understand, and index your pages properly, and that users will be able to do the human equivalent just as easily.
- Better UI. An intuitive, well-designed, and user-friendly UI ensures hassle-free interaction between your visitors and your content.
- Improved UX. Nowadays, user experience is important not only to the users, but to search engines as well. By providing a top-notch experience, you ensure that visitors will spend more time on your pages, browse your website more efficiently, and eventually convert. This affects not only your bottom line, but your digital presence as well.
- Enhanced SEO. Search engine optimization is a top priority when building a digital presence. However, the larger the website, the more challenging the SEO becomes.
When your website is in top operating condition and meets the latest requirements of search engines, it will be more visible in organic searches, attract more traffic, and have more engagement.
- Streamlined Lead Generation. With a well-made, up-to-date, and modern website your enterprise can attract, capture, and retain high-quality leads. Building efficient landing pages equipped to engage and entertain the client is the foundation of successful lead generation.
- More Conversions. Designing the customer journey on a website is not an easy task. It takes an in-depth knowledge of the business, its goals, and its buyer personas. If done right, it can result in seamless conversions and a boost in new client acquisition.
Bottom Line
WordPress is the best choice for enterprises. It allows companies to work with a professional agency that not only unfolds their potential but maximizes it to the fullest.
Enterprise web development is complex and requires expertise, experience, business-thinking, and, above all, hard work and dedication.
If you are looking for a partner to help you build and maintain your corporate website and or enterprise web solution, be sure to give us a call.
