The website development market - Portugal

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The website development market includes website creation and improvement services. This includes a variety of professions, from web development itself to graphic identity design, improving the overall user experience or database security.

In 2019, the number of sites around the world has surpassed 1.7 billion, while the number of e-commerce sites in Europe reached more than 645,000 according to internetlivestates .

Currently, there are two main types of service providers active in the website development market:

• Web hosting companies The company offers a variety of options ranging from shared hosting (cheap) to turnkey hosting, which allows a company to keep control of the content of its site;
• Web agencies who are part of a communication group or who are independent. They target clients from all sectors and offer a variety of services adapted to the size and needs of companies. They rely primarily on their experience in digital communications and marketing.

The growth in the number of sites continues to accelerate. Particular attention will be paid to to the development of the creation of websites by companies This is mainly based on the success of e-commerce and the development of the Internet on mobile phones.

However, the market is facing threats such as the democratization (or even trivialization) technological skills related to the creation of websites which is increasingly being observed. Faced with these changes, service providers need to develop their experience in marketing strategy and digital communication. They also need to adapt their content to the use of mobile phones.

It is estimated that thousands of companies in Portugal still do not have a website, or at least a website adapted and able to help the company . This demonstrates a huge potential for expansion of this market in the country. Nevertheless, Portuguese companies are only devoting 10% of their marketing budget to online channels such as websites . They often focus on the issue of price as the main concern when choosing a service. As a result, players that can distinguish themselves through competitive prices are likely to stand out in this market.