What is Web Development? An Easy-to-Understand Guide

Web development is essential to ensuring a successful business website that reaches potential customers.

As a business owner, you know that your company's success depends on staying competitive. About 70% of small businesses have a website — for a good reason!

Over 60% of today’s consumers won’t do business with a company they can’t find online.

Web development is essential to ensuring a successful business website that reaches potential customers — regardless of industry.

This article will explain the basics of web development — what you need to know about the process, how your business can benefit from web development, and what to look for in a quality web developer.

Web development is the process of building, creating, and maintaining websites for public and private use. It includes everything from designing a basic website to creating complex web applications that involve complex data management and user authentication systems. Web development teams use coding languages like HTML (hypertext markup language), CSS (cascading style sheets), JavaScript, PHP, Ruby on Rails, and Python to create the elements of a website. Web developers also focus on ensuring a website is compatible with different web browsers, mobile devices, and operating systems.

One of the most common questions about web development is how is it different from web design? While both are integral to building websites, they serve different purposes.

Web design ensures a website looks visually appealing and is easy to navigate. It’s more related to the surface of a website, meaning what users see on their computer screens and mobile devices. Web designers are concerned about colors, images, and typography.

Web development refers to the creating, building, and maintaining of a website. The below-surface stuff that makes your site tick. It covers everything from designing a basic framework to creating customized or complex web applications that involve databases and user authentication systems.

Front-end web development and back-end web development are two sides of the same coin when building a website. So what does a front-end developer do that a back-end developer doesn't?

Front-end development refers to the user experience — how a website, web page, or web application looks and feels to visitors.
A front-end developer works on visual aspects such as color palettes, fonts, page layouts, images, and custom coding in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Front-end developers are focused on creating responsive websites that look great on different devices, browsers, and platforms.

Back-end development focuses on how a website works.
This includes writing code to manage databases, servers, and web applications. This writing website code in a programming language like Java, PHP, SQL, Python, and Ruby to create behind-the-scenes functionality.
Back-end developers are responsible for designing and implementing the core features of a website, such as user authentication, payment processing, and order tracking.

Full stack development is the practice of developing both front-end and back-end components of a web application. Full-stack developers have a strong understanding of client-side and server-side technologies, allowing them to build complete applications from the ground up. They are knowledgeable in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, databases, and other related technologies.

An experienced full-stack developer will have a good understanding of user experience design and be able to implement best practices. Full-stack web developers are highly sought after because they can take an idea from conception to completion. They also often collaborate with other professionals, such as designers, project managers, and content creators to develop websites.

1. Planning
   The first step in web development is planning. This involves deciding which website type you want, your target audience, what content needs to be included, and how the website should be structured.
2. Design
   The second step is designing. This involves selecting the website’s layout, colors, fonts, and other visual elements. Creating a visually appealing site that users will enjoy browsing is essential.
3. Implementation
   The third step is implementing. This is the part where web developers actually create the website, using coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the desired functionality.
4. Testing and Deployment
   The fourth step is testing. Testing ensures your website performs perfectly on different platforms, browsers, and devices. It’s essential to ensure all links work, forms function, and images display correctly across all web pages.
5. Post-Deployment and Maintenance
   Finally, once everything has been tested and the website has been launched, there is an ongoing fifth step of maintaining websites. This involves making sure that all content is up-to-date, any security issues are addressed promptly, and any necessary updates are made to keep the website running smoothly.

Web development is essential for businesses to stand out in a competitive marketplace. By creating a website, customers can easily find information about your business’s products and services. Additionally, web development allows small companies to build an online presence that can be used for marketing purposes, such as launching new campaigns or engaging with customers on social media.

When hiring a web developer, look for a web development team with a wide range of technical skills. They should have experience working with different programming languages and understand the user experience design's importance.

Pro tip: make sure they have an effective communication process so you can stay updated throughout the project!

Finally, check their portfolio! Viewing past projects is the best way to get a sense of their skills and experience. You'll get an idea of the types of projects they have worked on and the results they’ve achieved for previous clients.

By investing in quality web design and development services from trusted professionals, you can rest assured that your business has a solid online foundation for success. If you need help getting started with web development for your business, contact LCMS Solutions today — we would love to help you take your company’s digital presence up a notch!