Innovations have been made since the beginning of time. But as time passes, things come and go except for the internet. Since the 1990s, there is nothing that speaks, ‘I am here to stay!’ as the World Wide Web. So, when it comes to marketing, nothing can compete with internet marketing at present.

For both small scale and large-scale companies, the internet is the best platform to market their business and reach out to their potential customers. Therefore, it is necessary for you to set up an online profile for your business on the internet in the form of a website.

Your website is similar to your physical store. It provides the customers with the information that they need and often is integrated with an e-commerce store to cater to the needs of worldwide customers enjoying the benefits of online shopping.

The big sharks in the industry are well aware of the workings of website marketing, but beginners and startups often find it hard to understand what website development is, how it works and why businesses need a website development for online marketing purposes.

In this guide, we are going to discuss website development in detail to take away all your confusion and provide you with a clear understanding of website development.

What is Web Development?

Web development refers to services provided related to the development of websites both for the internet and the intranet. The term covers a wide range of services, including codding, web design, content development, client-server scripting, configurations, firewalls, and network security-related tasks.

Mainly, the term is used to describe the development of websites altogether. A web developer can provide you with almost all services linked with the development process. With the advancement in technology and an increase in knowledge, today, you can develop websites ranging from simple text pages to complex web-based applications for various operating systems.

The Basics of Website Development

When acquiring the services of a web developer, you must understand the basic terms of the tech world to get a better understanding of the entire process. Learning about the common jargons will allow you to communicate better with the developer and provide clear-cut instructions as to how you wish to develop your website.

1.Website

A website is similar to a file stored on your laptop. Instead of your hard drive, the data related to a website is stored on the servers, which are together linked to a central network called the internet. The browsers that you use to access the internet are computer software, and your computer is the client when seen from the internet’s perspective. When connected to the internet, you can use your browser to access any website on the World Wide Web.

2.IP Address

Since there are millions of websites on the internet and billion devices are connected to the internet at a time thus, to keep track of everything, each website and device is allotted an IP address, which helps distinguish one from the other.

When developing your website, your website will have its IP address consisting of numbers and special characters that can be used to search the website on the browser. But since it is often hard to learn the IP address, thus most users use the domain name (a unique name linked to your IP address) to search the website.

3.HyperText Transfer Protocol

You might be aware that a special type of language called HTML is used for the development of websites or anything on the internet. When you search for anything on the browser, you are mostly using English or your mother language, whereas the internet doesn’t speak the same language as yours; therefore, there is a need for a translator.

HyperText Transfer Protocol is the translator that translates requests and responses from both your end and the servers end to form an understandable connection between the two. It appears as ‘Http’ before website URLs every time you search for a website on your browsers.

4.Coding

Coding is the term that refers to the process of using various specialized languages that help form the connection between the servers and the clients. It is made up of a combination of numbers, letters, symbols, abbreviations, commands, and punctuations that allow the servers to communicate with the computers and vice versa. There are multiple types of coding language which fall into two major categories;

5.Back-End

As the name suggests, the back-end is the side of the website which you don’t see or interact with directly. It is made up of a combination of numbers, symbols, and letters. To you, it would appear as random numbers, but for a developer, it is the actual codding language that forms the connection between your browser and the servers.

  • Front-End

As the name suggests, front-end refers to the side of a website that an internet user interacts with to obtain data or information. The front-end coding translates the data transferred from the server to your browser and allows you to interact with it without having to continually communicate with the servers. Have you ever noticed that your websites remain open on the browser even when not connected to the internet? That is what the front-end coding is about.

5.Content Management System

CMS, short for Content Management System, is an entire series of programs that design a web application to allow you to manage your web content. CMS is different from codding. Instead of specialized language, they are made up of plugins and add-ons that allow you to set the layout, design, and structure of the entire website.

Types of Website Development Services

As said earlier, the term website development covers several sub-categories. Web developers specialize in a different field, and some often overlap with one another so one can master multiple web development fields and provide you with the following services;

  1. Front-end – It pertains to the user-facing side of the websites, thus covers tasks like visual aspects, graphics, layout, design, aesthetics, and navigation of the website.
  2. Back-end – It pertains to the server-facing side of the website and covers tasks such as operating systems, security firewalls, content management, structure, database, API, etc.
  3. Full-Stack & Website – It pertains to the development of an entire website from start to finish, including all back-end, front-end, and inter-linking needs of a website.
  4. Desktop & Mobile – It pertains to the development of special and unique applications designed based on your business requirements for your customers and clients.
  5. Security – It pertains to the development of various security procedures set in place to keep the hackers out. Such developers are commonly known as ethical hackers and build software and firewalls to eradicate security risks.

Importance of Website Development For Businesses

Not sure whether your business needs a website or not? Well, if you think not, then you are missing out on a lot of potential customers. Gone are the days when one could acquire new customers and clients through print media.

This is the age of digital marketing. Without a professional online presence for your business, you will miss out on many things that will affect your business goals one way or the other. Here is how getting your website developed professionally can help your business;

  • Helps you reach out to potential customers
  • Creates an online presence for your business
  • Track movements of your competitors at all times
  • A 24/7 service available to your customers worldwide
  • Acts as the central connecting point for all your social media profiles
  • Allows you to communicate accurate information to your customers and clients
  • It allows you to set up an e-commerce store to attract customers from beyond your geographical reach.

The Process of Website Development

The process of developing a website might be complicated to understand for a non-developer. So if you hire us to develop your website or mobile application, here is how the process will go. We take pride in openly communicating with our clients at every step of the way, so in case you ever have questions, simply ask right away.

  1. Creating a Sitemap
  2. Writing the codes
  3. Building the back-end
  4. Building the front-end
  5. CMS
  6. Acquiring a domain

Need more information or wish to get in touch with us? Contact us using the information provided on our website, and our team of professionals will get in touch with you right away.