Published
Reading time
6 min
Category
- Insight
Published
Reading time
6 min
Category
Author
Aapo Mäki
We create successful web services for a living. Intuitively usable, visually striking, and technically high-quality websites and online stores. But what makes a successful web service and how are they created?
Most of a company’s customers will visit its web service at some point during their purchasing journey, often multiple times. The web service is often the company’s most important single tool for marketing, communication, and frequently also sales.
A successful web service has a positive impact on a company’s business growth. It provides customers with the information they need and builds positive perceptions of the company’s operations. When the web service works, it helps the customer make a purchase.
A successful web service has a clearly defined purpose and objectives:
The design and implementation of the web service are done in a way that ensures the final outcome best meets the chosen purposes and goals. A web service like this fulfills its purpose and delivers the desired results.
We believe that, ultimately, the purpose of a web service is always (in one way or another) to help the customer make a purchase. Therefore, the web service is a tool for driving the company’s growth. However, the approach varies between different companies.
Service design methods are used to identify and plan how users of the web service can smoothly find what they’re looking for and efficiently accomplish their tasks. For example, this involves designing different user journeys and defining the content and functionalities needed to achieve them.
The focus is on the user, the person who uses the web service. A successful web service is designed to meet users’ needs and expectations as effectively as possible.
This can only be achieved when we know who the users are and what they are like. Existing web service analytics provide valuable information about users, but user understanding can also be enhanced through quantitative and qualitative research.
A successful web service has high-quality content. Its content structure is clear, the navigation is user-friendly, and the presentation of content is rich. The content is also easy to manage and can be easily found by search engines.
Without quality content, a web service is useless. Content sparks the user’s interest and drives the customer to make a purchase. The user interface and technical implementation simply enable the smooth discovery and use of high-quality content.
It is crucial that the implementation and editing of the web service content is smooth. This requires an easy-to-use and versatile content management tool. WordPress Gutenberg is an example of such a tool.
High-quality content also improves a web service’s search engine visibility. As search engines are typically the main source of traffic for web services, the importance of search engine visibility in the success of a web service is significant.
Through the user interface, the user interacts with the web service. This includes the arrangement and layout of different content, the placement of buttons, the implementation of menus, and the visual design of the web service.
A successful web service has an intuitive user interface and a smooth user experience. Using the web service feels pleasant, and completing the desired task is straightforward.
The visual design of the user interface enriches and illustrates the experience. It is particularly important for creating the right impressions and the overall atmosphere of the web service. Ideally, the visual appearance also positively impacts the smoothness of the user experience.
A successful web service’s visual appearance aligns with its purpose and goals: it can be impressive, stylish, colorful, professional, persuasive, fun, formal, etc. When the visual design resonates with the user, using the web service becomes a pleasant experience.
A successful web service is technically reliable, high-performing, and secure. It uses modern technologies and can scale as needed to accommodate more content, functionalities, and larger numbers of users.
By choosing technologies wisely, the web service’s high technical quality is ensured, and costly licensing fees are avoided. This also allows for the agile replacement of service providers if the collaboration doesn’t proceed as desired. The security of the web service is carefully managed using selected tools and practices.
The technical implementation also takes into account the server solution and the ongoing maintenance of the web service. After the launch, the service’s functionality and security are closely monitored and maintained.
When a user browses a web service, the analytics solution records the events. Based on the collected data, it is possible to understand how the web service is being used.
A successful web service has measurable goals, and the achievement of these goals is tracked closely. The tracking and reporting tools gather the necessary data and help structure it into a comprehensible and actionable format.
The web service and business growth actions are developed based on user data. However, this requires that the analytics solution is functioning effectively and truly serves the needs of development:
A successful web service is carefully maintained and continuously developed. We have named our own maintenance service “Huolenpito” (Care).
Maintenance includes, for example, version and security updates for the content management system and other backend systems, daily backups, and user support.
Most web services require defined practices and a service level agreement (SLA). This, for instance, specifies response times for various actions based on their criticality.
Ongoing development involves implementing new content and functionalities into the web service:
When a web service is continuously developed, it functions effectively and delivers the desired results.