Beginner’s guide to website development

What is website development?

Website development which can be called web development is a process of creating, building and maintaining websites and web applications.

It involves a mix of tasks and skills to build and make sure your site works well. Think of it like putting together a puzzle where each piece has to fit just right to make a complete picture.

It includes variety of tasks and components from which a website is created or developed that is:

Planning and Research:

Before you start building a website, you need to know what you want. The very initial step of web development or any other SEO researches is planning which can be further elaborate as:

• Defining Goals: What do you want your website to achieve? Is it for a business, a personal blog, or something else?
• Identifying the Target Audience: Who will visit your site? Understanding your audience helps shape the content and design

Designing the layout:

Once the goal is set, then we design a website. Visual aesthetic of the website includes layout, color schemes and typography.

There are some other components as well which helps in improving the designs for example:

• Coding: This is a basic component as using a programming language to create a website could be very beneficial in designing a website.
• Content creation: Without content creation any website can not be developed. Formatting content for readability, writing headlines are some basic tools for creation.
• Project management: Project management is critical in coordinating all the moving parts involved in a website redesign. It manages requests for projects from clients or stakeholders. It ensures tasks are completed on time and resources are optimally allocated so that projects should stay within the agreed scope and budget.
• Database management: Database management is actually a software that allows base developers to interact with databases to create, read, update and delete data.

Once the site is complete with the above features then comes two main modules of website development which includes:

• Wireframes: Wireframes are simple sketches showing where different elements will go on page like headers, images and text.
• Mockups: This is a detailed visual design showing what a final site will look like, including colors and fonts.

Building a website

This is a point when magic happens. It involves two main parts which are following:

Front-end development:

This is what the user sees and interacts with. It includes:

• HTML (HYPER TEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE): This is a basic structure of your website like heading paragraphs and links. It is the foundation of the web and is used in conjunction with CSS and JAVA SCRIPT to create websites.
• CSS (CASCADING STYLE SHEETS): This is a computer language that controls how webpages are structured and displayed. CSS is used for describing how elements are rendered on a page including color, fonts and spacing.
• Java Script: It is actually a programming language in simple words that developers use to add interactivity to web pages. It is used in many things like displaying animations, creating interactive maps, refreshing social media feeds etc.
• Version control: Front-end developers use version control tools like Git to track changes to the codebase and collaborate with other developers.

Back-end development:

This is what happens behind the scenes. It includes the factors like:

• Server -side languages: These are the programming languages that run on a web server to perform tasks such as delivering dynamic content to web pages. Some of its examples are PHP, Python or Ruby which handle data processing and server tasks.
• Databases: The function of databases is to actually store and manage information like user accounts or blog posts. Some of the common examples of some databases are MySQL and MongoDB.
• APIs: Back-end developers use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to connect the server-side of the web application to other systems or services, such as payment gateways or social media platforms.

Testing a website:

Before launching you need to test your website whether it is working properly or not.

Some things that should be emphasize before update is:

• Checking compatibility: checking this can ensure you that your site looks good on different devices and browsers like chrome and safari etc.
• Fixing bugs: It is helpful to find and fix errors that are troubling your site and can affect it badly.

Launching the website:

Once everything is tested and ready on site then it’s time to go live.

Two main things are useful in launching the development of website which are following:

• Choosing a domain name: This is a web address where people can find your site like (www.example.com).
• Finding a web host: This is a service that stores your website files and makes it accessible on the internet

Maintaining and updating:

When the website is launched the most important step is to maintain and update its software regularly.

Web development and maintenance could be overwhelming so some of the lists of common terminologies are following which can be useful in maintaining it

• Cache: a component that stores data to make future requests from repeat visitors faster.
• CMS (content management system): this is a program that creates and maintains site content.
• Site map: a file that contains all pages and information of a website.
• UI (user interface): refers to anything a user interacts on a website.
• UX (user experience): it refers to the user ‘s overall experience while visiting a website.

Web development vs web design:

Web development and web design are related but differ in creating a website. Web development includes technical aspects of building a website such as programming, server configuration and database management. Whereas, web design focuses on visual and aesthetic aspects of websites such as color schemes and layout etc.

In summary Web development and web design both are essential for creating a successful website that is visually appealing, user-friendly and functional.

Start investing in web development:

Web Development is everywhere, in the form of your favorite social media channels and apps you use on your phone. Therefore, it would be in your favor to take the time to understand programming and learn web development to create the best possible website for you and your customers.

If you do not invest today, then you can never have a return of your skills.

Don’t wait to start learning, build a healthy future