The days of being able to run a successful business through word-of-mouth and offline sales alone are now gone. The modern business cannot succeed without a well-built, professional-looking website.
That's because a website allows companies to attract leads, show up in Google and other search engine results, proudly display their work and competence, and give clients an easy way to share the business's services with others.
Small business owners interested in building their first website should read through this article and ensure that they have a solid understanding of web development before hiring a programmer or selecting an outsourcing partner. This guide will help those owners in selecting the right engineer for their needs, whether that be a JavaScript, Java, Python, or PHP developer -- or a combination of them.
The 3 Pillars of Web Development
The vast majority of modern complex websites is built using a combination of JavaScript, hypertext markup language (HTML), and cascading style sheets (CSS). These 3 tools, when combined, allow developers to build highly-interactive, functional websites that work on any device, browser, and operating system.
HTML is the key to basic website structure and content. The language is used to integrate text, graphics, and other stationary objects into the website. On the other hand, CSS controls the look of a page. Developers can use CSS to change the font, colors, and placement of items on the webpage.
The final pillar of modern web development is JavaScript. The powerful programming language is used for web development, in addition to desktop software and mobile applications. Engineers use JavaScript to build interactive websites that include features like moving graphics, autoplay videos, animated slideshows, and even autocomplete text suggestions.
Front-End Development
Front-end development is a term used to describe all of the aspects of a website that the end-user interacts with. Developers who specialize in the front-end will focus on building content, creating excellent user design, integrating images and interactive elements into the webpage, and creating a website that end users love and can easily navigate.
Companies interested in front-end website development should select one of the following popular programming languages before looking for web developers for hire or working with an outsourcing partner.
JavaScript
JavaScript is by far the most popular programming used for front-end web development. An estimated 95% of modern websites use the language in some form, making it the go-to choice for small business owners.
As a client-side scripting language, JavaScript can reduce server load by compressing the JavaScript file itself with utilities and by optimizing placement in the HTML file.
In addition, popular JavaScript frameworks like React and Angular come with a range of tools that simplify the web development process. This includes React's high data fetching speed and Angular's innovative CLI that helps developers reduce the number of errors in their code.
Python
Python is another high-level programming language that has become popular among web developers. Major companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify have used the language to build their web applications.
One of the reasons why Python is so well suited for front-end development is its collection of frameworks. The full-stack option Django is an excellent choice for complex web applications, while the minimalist framework Pyramid is frequently used for rapid, basic web development.
Python has other applications beyond web development that make it an attractive option for small businesses. One of its biggest strengths is in data science. Python is the go-to language for business analytics and experienced developers can build data mining and analysis features into the website using the language.
Back-End Development
Back-end development is used to refer to the parts of the website that users don't see, such as server communication, database management, and cybersecurity protections. While this role is largely unseen, it is vital for successful website development.
Small business owners interested in building their first website should ensure that they are familiar with the 3 most popular back-end languages. This will help them understand the larger process and communicate with their employees or contractors effectively.
PHP
PHP is one of the oldest programming languages in use today, having first been released to the public in 1995. Despite its age PHP is still one of the most important languages for back-end website development.
Programmers can use the scripting language to embed PHP code into the HTML code or execute it in the command line.
PHP is different from other back-end development languages because of the way that it executes code. Unlike JavaScript and other server-side languages, PHP executes code on the server and then sends HTML to the client.
One major drawback associated with PHP is the fact that it is only useful as a back-end language. This means that PHP developers on-staff will not be able to contribute to other projects unless they are fluent in another language.
Java
Java is the second-most popular overall programming language and the most popular language for server-side development.
Back-end engineers love Java because it can be used for more than just web development -- it is also well-suited to desktop software and Android app development as well.
In addition, Java is platform-independent. This means that code written in Java will work no matter what device or operating system the website is accessed from. Java is also easy-to-learn and uses basic syntax that is close to natural human speech.
Unfortunately, Java is not a good fit for front-end development. This is largely because of its use of applets, which have several security flaws that make a website vulnerable to hackers.
JavaScript
The popular JavaScript framework Node.js has recently become a popular option for back-end development as well. While it is relatively young at just 10 years old, the powerful framework has already become one of the most popular tools for server-side engineering.
Many companies choose Node.js for their back-end development needs because it is a JavaScript framework, meaning that a business can use the same language for all aspects of web development, in addition to mobile and desktop projects.
Besides, developers love the fact that Node.js requires much less code than competing languages like Java and PHP. Research has found that programmers using Node need to write 33% less code than their Java-using counterparts.
However, the main disadvantage associated with Node is its limited number of libraries and integrated development environments (IDEs) compared to the competition. These IDEs and libraries are useful time-saving tools and the Node community will need to develop several more over the next few years to match Java's back-end capabilities.
Quality Assurance Testing
Every software and web development project should culminate with a thorough QA testing stage, which will look for broken links and pathways, security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and poor user design choices.
Small business owners should use a combination of the following strategies in order to ensure that their website performs well, is free of cybersecurity issues, and works intuitively for users.
Automated
Automated QA testing has recently overtaken manual testing as the most popular form of software and website testing. It involves hiring or contracting a software developer engineer in test, an ultra-specialized programmer that is capable of writing programs that will automatically look for coding errors and bugs.
These experts are invaluable allies in web development. They save precious time and money since companies no longer have to hire huge teams of manual testers. In addition, their programs are capable of finding errors that manual testers can't locate.
Finally, automated testers are extremely useful for multilingual development projects, where different programming languages are used on the front-end and back-end. They can write code that can test QA across multiple languages--making the entire process simpler.
Manual
While manual testing has fallen out of favor recently, it still remains a key part of the QA testing process. Companies should bring in novice manual testers, such as end-users, nontechnical employees, and other laymen, to test the website from the customer's perspective.
Manual testing helps businesses identify broken links and other frustrating problems that automated testing often overlooks.
This step in the process should not be overlooked. It ensures that the website works as designed and is easy-to-navigate, a crucial advantage in today's ultra-competitive marketplace.
Security
The final, but certainly not least important, QA testing step is to conduct security testing. This involves bringing in specialized data privacy experts for short periods of time. This can be accomplished by working with local consultants or a specialized QA outsourcing firm.
In particular, these testers should look for spoofing, SQL injection, and fishing weaknesses in the website, since these are the most common forms of cybersecurity attacks.
Finally, it is important to create a data privacy plan for the future, so that the developers in-charge of website maintenance have a plan for responding to new threats.
In Summary
Though some people might deem them unnecessary, websites are as essential as they have ever been. The modern business must have a well-developed website that appeals to customers in order to succeed in today's hypercompetitive marketplace.
Small business owners intent on building their first website have the option of building a development team in-house or working with an outsourcing firm to handle most aspects of the process autonomously. Regardless of which option they choose, business owners will want to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of the web development process in order to increase their odds of success.
This includes learning about the difference between front-end development and understanding the basics of the most popular front- and back-end languages. This will help them communicate with their team and determine which language is best for each part of the website building process.
