Few things from the 1990s have survived as steadily and triumphantly as the Internet. From the age of dial-up connections to the burgeoning IoT sector, the Internet has become a staple we cannot imagine our lives without. Every brand worth its salt knows the importance of having a presence on the Internet — in other words, a website. Who would have thought that the importance of having one would skyrocket in these uncertain times?
Businesses that once relied on the physical footfall of their target audience rapidly expanded their operations online. Those who did not pivot to accommodate the changing market scenario did not live long enough to taste success. The moral of the story here is that you should build a valuable website for your business. It is the face of what you offer to your target audience. If you want an expert to set up one for you, speak to any web development company.
While full-stack website development is an entire discipline on its own, in this guide, we will take you through the basics of developing a website so that you know what to ask for when you talk to professional web developers. But first, let us get on with the basics:
What A Website Development Process Entails
Generally speaking, Website Development is the set of tasks that go into constructing a website and making it ready for release on the Internet. The term could apply to anything from setting up a simple, plain-text landing page to creating a complex application. While most people understand the basics of web development to refer to the coding and markup aspects of the job, it also includes server-side scripting, client-side scripting, eCommerce development, server, network security configuration, CMS development, and so on.
Whether you are a seasoned marketer looking to amplify your organization's brand online or a new business owner setting up an eCommerce shop, knowing the basics of website building is a handy and indeed a critical skill to have. The Internet has become the world's primary platform on which to communicate, transact, and share, and having a presence here amidst all the billions of competitors requires you to have a website that stands out for its robust structure and attractive offerings.
Building a website means writing the code, designing wireframes, setting up a content management system, and so on. The process is indeed so much more than the aesthetics. At the end of the day, websites attract visitors and help them understand what a company is about and what it offers through various indicators — such as text, interactions, and visuals.
Having said that, every element of the website or application matters as it needs to work towards achieving that specific goal. If you want to get the website development fundamentals right, you'll need to outsource some professional webmasters. Small wonder, then, the thought of hiring website designers or application developers is constantly on the uptick and expected to grow rapidly between now and the near future.
1. Coding
Coding is how developers write code for applications and programs using various programming languages such as JavaScript, C++, Python, and Node.js. They are called 'languages' because there are vocabulary and syntax rules the developer needs to be aware of.
Programming languages vary based on style, operating system, and platform, and some software applications may be written in more than one coding language. The developer must also know about unique abbreviations and commands.
2. IP Address
Internet Protocol, or IP, refers to a set of standards that apply to all Internet interactions. An IP address comprises a unique set of numbers that distinguishes each device from the other billions of devices and sites out there.
You can search for a site's IP address by visiting search directories like Site 24x7, and you can find your own device's IP address by typing a search query in your browser. However, most Internet users prefer looking for a site by its domain name rather than its IP address.
3. Frontend
This is the customer-facing component of a website that allows end-users to interact with a website by expanding images, highlighting text, playing videos, and so on. When website information travels to a browser from a server, frontend technologies let the website function without constantly communicating with the server.
4. Backend
The backend is the part that end-users do not see when they log into your website. However, it is the very heart of every piece of information out there on the Internet. Backend, or server-side, refers to your website's digital infrastructure.
There are more backend coding languages than there are for frontend because a server can be configured to work with any language, rather than being restricted to JavaScript (as frontend browsers are).
5. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
HTTP is essentially a set of rules that dictates how messages can be sent online. It connects your website to the remote server that contains all site data and allows users to move between websites and web pages.
When you search for a particular site in your browser, HTTP provides the necessary framework for the user's computer and the server to communicate with each other through 'translation,' so that the code shared by the server in response to your request is displayed to you as your chosen site.
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, and "S" stands for "Secure." It prevents sites from broadcasting information in a way that anyone on the network can easily view. HTTPS has SERP repercussions and is an essential factor to consider by businesses that deal with online payments — e.g., eCommerce platforms and official banking websites.
6. Content Management System (CMS)
A CMS is a web application that helps you create, store, and manage your web content. While not essential to building a website, it provides you with the building blocks you need (think plugins of all kinds) and then lets you structure your site as you like with code.
It is important to note that a CMS is not the same as a website-building tool, like Wix or Squarespace — if you use those to create your site, you will still need a CMS to get things running.
7. Cybersecurity
There will always be malicious users of the Internet looking for breaches or vulnerabilities in websites they can use. Cybersecurity is the practice of safeguarding databases, networks, and computers against those users.
As hackers become more sophisticated in how they commit crimes, it is essential to ramp up your security measures so that your website is safe. You should, thus, have at least a basic understanding of how cybersecurity works when you learn about web development.
8. Browsers
Websites are essential files stored on a hosting server, which are all connected to the Internet. The computer programs that load each website onto your device via an Internet connection are known as browsers — think Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Why Create A Business Website For Your Brand?
Irrespective of your industry niche, having an online presence can significantly impact your business success. Unfortunately, some companies still do not understand that most potential customers will visit their website before buying from them.
Moreover, given the ever-evolving digital landscapes, being online has become more critical than ever. You cannot only have an offline presence and wonder why your profits are taking a hit. It is vital to get out there. The best web development companies will not limit themselves to a few skills.
In today's fast-paced world, good agencies will always try new things, understanding what worked and learning from what did not. This helps them create relevant and specific websites for their clients, thereby increasing satisfaction levels. Adding to that thought, there are several reasons why you must have a website:
1. Enjoy a limitless digital online presence
When you have a website in place, your target audience can reach out to you anytime and anywhere without having to worry about business hours or traveling to your location. It also makes the browsing process more convenient, as the consumer can navigate through your site at leisure from wherever they are without any pressure to buy at once.
2. Freedom of information exchange
A website also allows you to quickly and easily share all the necessary information with your target audience. From basics such as contact details and product categories, you can take it up to promotional videos that demonstrate your products, fun quizzes to match your customers' tastes with the right products, and blog posts with detailed information and how-to guides.
You can also solicit information from your potential customers by offering contact forms on your website that can be used to make an appointment or drop a query.
3. Boost credibility
Today, consumers hardly ever visit a store or consider buying from a brand without checking it online first. Not having an up-to-date website can come off as suspicious, and you will end up losing a chunk of potential business.
Having a website establishes your legitimacy and gives your target audience all the basics about what you do to know you are the right brand for them. Plus, having an eye-catching and easy-to-navigate website creates a positive feeling in the consumer's mind and is good evidence for them to believe that their other interactions with you will be just as smooth.
4. The cost-effectiveness advantage
Your website is the simplest and cheapest way to sell your goods and services to your target audience. You can avoid all the costs of setting up a brick-and-mortar store and staffing it with people and focus on creating the best possible inventory for sale.
A website is also the easiest way to communicate important updates to your existing customers and store information that they might need to access at any time. It is a place where they can come and seek help, irrespective of the time zones and geographies.
5. Expansion in other markets
A website is the easiest way to reach out to potential customers from around the globe. As long as you have a solid social media presence and have a reliable shipping partner to deliver goods worldwide, you are set.
6. Access to consumer insights
Analytics is your best friend in today's world. With the proper analytics support, you can get unprecedented insights into your target audience's likes, how they came across your website, what kind of customer service they expect, and what they say about you on social media.
The information can give you essential ideas on fine-tuning your business strategy, such as expanding business hours to cater to more calls or adding different varieties to products that people will love receiving from you.
7. Possibilities of advertising
It is not a stretch to say that most consumers do not pay attention to offline ads anymore. The Internet is the place to put your advertising money on, with various options from Google AdWords to Facebook Ads to Instagram stories. With suitable ads, you can boost traffic to your website — and if your website is sufficiently compelling, you will see more conversions.
Another part of this is SEO, where you optimize your website so that search engine bots identify your site as an authority in your sector and list you on the first page when customers search for relevant keywords.
8. Gain a competitive edge
This is perhaps the most straightforward and most apparent reason to have a website. Chances are, your competitors will all have their websites, so if a potential customer sees their site online and not yours, you lose business.
9. Offer online customer service
When you have a website, you can help your customers much more effectively than relying only on a hotline or an email address. You can set up an FAQ section to find answers to essential questions, and a chatbot can take care of queries with instant replies.
This saves you time and money (as you do not have to hire a large team of customer executives) and earns you positive feedback for your speedy and helpful replies.
10. Leverage growth opportunities
Your website is your one-stop portal to demonstrate what you do, what you have done, and what you plan to do in the future. This allows potential investors to vet your business — and, if your site is robust enough, convince them that your brand is worth investing money in.
The Most Essential Website Development Fundamentals For Beginners
1. Identify your project goal
First things first: no web development agency will be able to help you if you cannot answer the following questions for your benefit:
- Who is the website or application for?
- What do the target audience plan to find here?
- Does the platform need to convey a brand’s core messaging?
- How do the competitor websites fare?
If these questions are not answered correctly, the whole project can set off in a completely wrong direction. Therefore, have multiple sessions with your team to come up with a concrete plan. The project, whether big or small, will cost you money and time.
Do your homework — lay down the foundation. Please make sure you understand the site’s target audience and develop a working knowledge of your competitors.
Focus on these areas:
- Competitor analysis
- Target audience personas
- Brand attributes
2. Write the scope of work
The most exciting thing about web development is perhaps that it is constantly changing. You might start with one goal in mind, but it could gradually evolve, expand, and pivot into something else by the time the website or web app is launched.
This happens with almost every web development project. However, if you do color between the lines, it could cost you a lot of money and delay the launch. Therefore, you must ensure your development project does not become utterly unrealistic, and you plan each aspect of the project thoroughly.
Chalk out some realistic timelines for the project, including significant milestones. Provide references to your web development team and in-house staff so that everyone knows what they are supposed to do throughout the project.
Tools to use for defining the scope:
- A Gantt chart
- A contract
3. Create a sitemap and a wireframe
Whatever web application you decide to go for, please make sure you start creating its page hierarchy, i.e., a sitemap. This would provide a foundation for any well-designed website and give designers and developers a clear idea about the site’s information architecture. A sitemap clarifies the relationships between various pages and content elements. Just as building a house without a blueprint is a recipe for disaster, creating a website without a sitemap can have grave consequences.
Therefore, sit down with your web development team and sort out a sitemap. You might undergo a few iterations, but at the end of the day, the result will be worth it. Once you are done with the sitemap, the next step is to design a wireframe. It provides a framework for storing the site’s visual design and content elements. It also helps in identifying potential gaps with the sitemap.
Please note that a wireframe does not contain any new final design elements. But it does give a sneak peek into how a site will look once it is fully developed. You can use tools such as Webflow and Balsamiq to create wireframes.
Tools for site mapping and wireframing:
- Writemaps
- Axure
- Sketch
- Pen or pencil and paper
4. Sort out your content and SEO
The reason website copy is essential is that it helps drive engagement and action to the website. Content is influenced by both the written text and how it is presented on the page — through typography and structural elements. Before the site or web app goes into development, it is essential to ensure that the copy is adequately placed throughout the platform. It is short and intriguing and gets the visitors to navigate through the website.
Even if your website is copy-heavy, you can break it down into smaller paragraphs, supplemented by visuals to give it a light and attractive feel. Once the custom web development process starts, it is impossible to fix the page structures, so please do it now. Besides the copy, you also have to take care of the SEO. Look for keywords that need to appear in the H1 tag, body content, and meta descriptions. Place them all properly on the site.
Brilliant content creation tools to use:
- Dropbox Paper
- Google Docs
- Quip
- Excellent SEO tools that come in handy:
- Google Analytics dashboard
- Google Keyword Planner
- Talkwalker Alerts
5. Design the website layout and visual elements
With your wireframe and copy ready, the next step is to start the web design process. Incorporate existing branding elements such as colors, logos, font type, and tone of voice. You also need to select high-quality images and videos to give your web app a professional look. You can use free stock photos or take a subscription to Shutterstock for fueling visual content. If the budget permits, you can also go for a professional photography team. This is helpful if you are an eCommerce business.
Ensure your graphic designers do not stuff the pages with lots of content and imagery. The pages need to breathe and convey the right messaging without overwhelming the website visitor. Only after you have designed all pages on the site can you send it for development.
The website layout, at this stage, can be a graphic sketch, and its primary purpose is to represent the information structure, demonstrate the basic functionality of the website, and visualize the content from the target audience’s perspective.
Tools to design the User Interface:
- Moodboards
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Visual style guides
6. Code the website
This is where you begin to build a web app. The visual elements that were designed previously are coded on the website. The homepage codebase is written first based on the wireframe. Once that is done, the remaining pages are produced according to the site hierarchy.
The best web frameworks are incorporated to ensure the server handles the installation process conveniently. All the static web page elements are designed during the mock-up. More features are added to the web design. Usually, the web development process is divided into two categories:
Frontend development
This is where the client-facing side of the website is developed. The initial web designs are converted into special effects and animations. Other functions are integrated based on the choice of web technologies and tools.
Backend development
The backend code is responsible for integrating business logic and setting up and managing the server-side database, depending on the purpose of the website. Your professional web developers have to be careful about the types of tools they use to build the website's foundation. They cannot falter here.
Website Development Frameworks:
There are several high-quality web development frameworks on the market today. Consider the following:
- Django
- Laravel
- Express.js
- Flask
- AngularJS
- ASP.NET Core
And much more
7. Begin testing and deployment
Before you make the website or the web app live, it is essential to test it rigorously. Your product must undergo a series of meticulous and granular-level tests to ensure there are no bugs or glitches to hamper the user experience.
Your QA analysts should check the website for compatibility, usability, performance, and functionality so that once it is launched, it runs smoothly without a glitch. Validate all the scripts and make sure the site loads in record time. Thoroughly check for all links and whether the site is responsive across all devices and browsers. Use a tool like Screaming Frog to do standard auditing checks.
If there are any significant improvements to make to the website, you can undertake them before being rolled out for public use. When QA analysts give their approval and the coast is clear, send the website to be deployed to a server.
The most popular website testing tools:
- Screaming Frog
- W3C Link Checker
You may also consider Selenium - Meet the AI-powered automated testing tool for web applications
8. Activate and launch the website
This is the last bit of the custom web development process. If you are happy with how the website has taken shape, launch it. However, please note that even after launch, some elements would need to be fixed. So do not get worked up.
Always remember, websites require constant maintenance if you want them to continue performing optimally. Therefore, keep running tests on new features and content. Track analytics and refine your product according to those results.
A Few More Highlights To Consider
Whether you avail of enterprise web development services or take help from your in-house development team, your aim is to get the maximum out of your web development project. At the end of the day, you want a website that stands the test of time and drives your conversions.
1. Always put your target audience first
Today’s internet users have short attention spans. If your website cannot capture their attention in under three seconds, you will be left with a tremendous bounce rate. Therefore, please make sure your menu structure and navigation elements are clearly defined.
Make use of breadcrumbs to show the visitor’s location in a website or web app. You cannot ignore the placement of the site information. Google Analytics can show you exactly where the platform is taking a hit. Make your site easy for your target audience.
2. Consider recent design trends
Web design trends come and go. But they form an integral part of the web development process. For instance, dynamic layouts are out, and fixed-width is in. Websites can now be viewed more easily across various screen sizes and devices.
Go for a minimalistic user interface, along with a simple and straightforward information architecture. Reduce distractions on the site, and keep visitors more focused on the copy and navigation. Similarly, use people in pictures but avoid stock photos.
Leverage social proof — showcase counts of social shares, testimonials, and media mentions within the web design to boost your site’s credibility.
3. Hire web developers
After putting in time, money, and effort, you do not want to end up with a poorly designed website with fragile code. This will make it very difficult for you to maintain the site and increase long-term costs for the business. Therefore, if you do not have the capability in-house, seek help outside. Work with a professional web development agency that can take over the entire project for you. When choosing one, make sure they understand your business goals, values, and target audience.
It will be great if they come from a similar background to yours. Thanks to experts, you can be assured that the advice you receive from them is spot on, and the quality of their deliverables is excellent. Please also check if they can train your staff in handling the site once it is launched. Hire professional web developers or seek help from web development companies
4. Familiarize yourself with WCAG 2.0
WCAG 2.0, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, may help list down a framework for making the web content accessible to those born with some physical disability or visual impairment. It aims to help businesses make their content accessible in different formats.
The more usable your site is, the higher it will rank on Google because accessibility is a significant factor that decides to rank. Plus, it also makes your site approachable by everyone, including those who are differently abled.
5. Apply the best web frameworks
To achieve the best design for your web application, make sure you focus on picking the right frameworks for the job. Since they can make the development process go a lot faster, you should not get overwhelmed with the volume of tools at your disposal.
Decide on the scope of your project and the main goal to take your pick! Moreover, keep abreast of new web technologies. Like web design, you also need to ensure your development team is aware of the latest techniques that could be applied to your web development.
In Conclusion:
As mentioned, knowing the right Website Development Fundamentals is essential for every webmaster. A great website development process makes use of coding languages such as HTML and JavaScript to create eye-catching, easy-to-use websites. When incorporating cross-browser support, it is a one-time process, following which the website can be used across devices.
The simplest and best sequence of actions to follow is to develop an idea, do your research, define your site's functionality, sketch its flow, wireframe/prototype the website, seek validation, and build your database.
That's it! We hope the above guidelines will help you in your next website development plan. But if you need more support, you can always Contact Us and let us know how we can help. Until the next one, don't forget to share this post with other readers who might also find it resourceful.