Why an Efficient & Iterative Website Operations Strategy is the Key to Scaling Marketing Websites

WebOps is a data-driven and goal-oriented approach to website optimization.

It is an evolutionary perspective of web design and development that aims at minor, iterative solutions and updates instead of long-term, project-based planning in the ever-evolving landscapes of technology and SaaS.

This article will discuss how successful SaaS teams are rapidly adapting to market needs and avoiding website stagnancy with the processes established by WebOps.

By thinking out of the box, cooperating on ideas, and discussing solutions, a WebOps team creates an evolution roadmap that lays out the most effective way to accomplish website goals. 

Small solutions are targeted, designed, installed, measured, and assessed. Each successful iteration improves the platform for the next, whereas each failed attempt results in a positive failure point. 

What is WebOps?

The main objective of web operations is to make sure the major operations take place smoothly and deliver to its remote and local connected users. There is a specialized enterprise environment for the WebOps team where they perform all their complex tasks. 

This relationship between marketers, developers, and designers creates more holistic solutions and well-rounded concepts. More opportunities for growth and achievement are available when a multi-disciplined team focuses on large-picture goals. 

A company's web approach can easily alter with changing market conditions, client feelings, or global influences, thanks to frequent iterations and fresh ideas brought to the table regularly.

Now is the time to make the shift when businesses resume operations and markets reopen. The moment has come to evolve. Switch to a goal-focused and data-driven approach to avoid the website rebuild rollercoaster and take small steps to lead to bigger results.

The Differences between WebOps and DevOps

WebOps and DevOps are two distinct disciplines that are similar in a few areas but different in what they accomplish. 

DevOps is implemented to break down boundaries between previously siloed teams, such as development and operations. These solutions provide the automated capabilities required to perform and manage continuous delivery for those teams. 

In a DevOps paradigm, development and operations teams collaborate across the whole software application life cycle, from development and testing to implementation and operations in a quick and agile way. 

DevOps and WebOps are simply new terms used to describe new ways of completing old, familiar tasks. WebOps is an optimized version of DevOps that encompasses the complete web team. The major difference between WebOps and DevOps is that WebOps satisfies a larger number of requirements and individuals of different areas.

The Three Pillars of WebOps

The three main pillars of WebOps are people, process, and technology. 

People: A Collaboration between Marketers, Designers, and Developers

The digital world requires collaboration, and better collaboration leads to better results. There is no shared environment in which marketers, designers, developers, and creators can collaborate in traditional development. Traditional software and tools were almost entirely focused on a technical persona.

This can be constraining for a variety of reasons. While developing an exceptional website is the developers' primary goal, metrics and goals related to that website (such as traffic, conversions, form submissions, and so on) are frequently owned by marketers.

Collaboration between the two teams is required for marketers to be able to do this effectively. This increased level of collaboration will have an impact on more than just efficiency. Equally important, it is a more customer-centric approach than the alternative.

It sounds so simple, but it can be difficult to implement at times (often, actually). Please use correct and precise words, numbers, facts, and so on if you want to explain, change, or ask something.

For example, it is preferable to give developers specific dimensions for buttons, images, and text blocks to speed up the process and improve communication. 

It is preferable to provide marketers with an explanation (a human explanation!) of what happens when a specific code is added to the site.

Process: An Iterative Approach to Website Products

An iterative process simply means breaking down a project into phases and completing them one at a time, with plenty of review and input from internal and external teams along the way.

This process (correctly) assumes that you don't know everything at the start of the project, and you don't try to build the entire application at once.

Phases allow teams to gradually build toward the finished product while continuously improving existing functionality along the way.

Working in iterations is a normal practice in software development because large-scale development projects are frequently complex and necessitate a great deal of trial and error. 

When applying it to a website project, the process allows for continuous feedback from everyone involved, as opposed to having teams plan, design, and launch the website before showing it to the client for the first time — and then asking for feedback on the entire thing.

Technology: Using the Latest and Greatest Technologies to Maintain Operations

Regardless of how much money American companies spend on R&D, there is often a persistent and troubling gap between the inherent value of the technology they develop and their ability to put it to use effectively. 

The goal of implementing new technology in the workplace is to solve problems or inefficiencies. While some solutions are self-evident, others necessitate a little (or a lot) of investigation.

When it comes to WebOps, teams naturally look for solutions as problems arise. Because WebOps requires relying on processes driven by technology, teams are forced to adapt to new technologies and face a learning curve.

But the upside is a website that is always maintained through technology. Without world-class technology like a headless CMS or a content modeling solution, internal teams are faced with more challenges for their content editors and engineers.

To ensure the gears of the operation are constantly spinning, corners should not be cut when it comes to technology.

The Need for WebOps to Resolve Client and Project Pain Points

Rather than reinventing the wheel with a costly site rebuild, the main purpose is to make faster changes and improvements that are tested and measured consistently and regularly. 

With data-driven results from each iterative change made to the website, this approach allows your company to identify the major pain points of clients and projects and resolve them easily.

The organization of a successful project is commonly the most difficult aspect of project delivery. Planning and keeping track of tasks can be especially difficult when dealing with remote workers and outsourced providers. 

Planning, assigning duties, and then keeping track of those tasks are all important processes for a project to run smoothly. Once these processes are in place, the project manager can shift his or her focus to other important tasks.

Create an Intuitive Website Experience

Building an intuitive web experience is critical. Doing it all at once is impossible.

Implementing a WebOps process allows design teams to approach the website project in phases and ensure client satisfaction every step of the way.

The key here is to open collaboration between design and development to build the website experience. From design mockups to implementation, bringing these often siloed teams together in an iterative process ensures all aspects of the project are in mind.

Bringing Siloed Teams Together

As mentioned, WebOps bakes in the processes needed to keep all internal teams in the loop. 

This shared ground allows teams to share information and collaborate on tasks in each phase to work towards the shared common goal: launch the website project and iterate along the way

Teams will see a significant increase in productivity if more opportunities for cross-border work are created. It will also result in higher customer retention and overall success in meeting company objectives. 

More importantly, breaking down team barriers helps improve the efficiency of your speed-to-market strategy. Speed-to-market is the time it takes to launch a new product and involves all teams working on the product launch.

In this case, speed-to-market is key for website projects for successful high-growth SaaS teams because they bring in the business to make impactful decisions that will lead to the production of an efficient and effective website product.

Start, Run and Grow Your Website Operations

WebOps is the formula to start, run, and grow the operations behind your online storefront. Use this guide to help you bettered understand how a website team fits into your overall website strategy.

Not sure if you can hire an in-house, dedicated website team? See how our website product teams help high-growth SaaS companies to continue to maintain the growth of their websites—read how we did it for Circle, a global FinTech firm at the center of digital currency innovation aimed to unlock growth for businesses, and investors globally.