Are you looking to create a website for your company?
Even if you own a small business, a website can help you grow your customer base and expand your reach. There are over 200 million active websites on Google, but not all are effectively used for growth. This is where a professional website developer comes in.
If you plan to create an online presence for your business, making a page with a web developer is your best option. But first, what does a web developer do? Read on to learn more about website development.
What Is a Website Development?
As time passes, more people gain access to the internet. It is now the primary method used in the world to educate, research, communicate, and entertain. With the internet user population growing, the web development industry continues to expand.
Website development is the creation of a site on the internet. It involves information gathering, structuring, designing, building, testing, and launching. Developers code for functionality and design for ease of navigation.
From plain texts to web-based apps, web development is broad in application. It includes server and network security configurations and content management systems. It covers necessary actions and updates to develop a well-functioning website.
Web developers ensure the site provides quality performance and user experience.
What Does a Web Developer Do?
One of the primary objectives of a web developer is to make a functional website or application. With knowledge and skills, they make information, products, and services accessible worldwide.
1. Develop a Website
The primary goal of web developers is to create a website. They use and integrate different programming techniques to produce quality results. To program technological platforms, a web developer writes codes for their functionality.
Development focuses on the site’s functionality, while the design is for visual appeal. Both functions are crucial in creating a high-performing website.
In addition, a web developer is in charge of programming, publishing, and managing the site’s database. They work on its performance and capacity. For the best user experience, they ensure the website performs fast with a high traffic volume.
There are different kinds of websites that web developers handle. It includes news, gaming, and e-Commerce sites. Each of them has specific requirements to meet.
2. Test the Site
Before launching the site or application, a web developer must test it first. Doing so allows them to identify bugs and fix them. How does a website developer check the platform for issues?
In web testing, developers inspect the site’s usability, functionality, compatibility, and security. The test can differ depending on the requirements. However, all involve a few steps in performing the process.
It begins with a functional test where the developer simulates the actual system. Usability testing follows, which involves navigation and site content checking. The third step focuses on the smooth interaction performance of the server.
The next half of the process deals with website compatibility, performance, and security.
For compatibility, the web developer checks if the page works across mediums. If you launched a mobile application, does it run well in different operating systems? This step entails browser, operating system, and mobile compatibility.
After ensuring compatibility, they test its performance with high traffic volume. It determines how a website behaves under stress. Doing so ensures every user navigating the platform enjoys a smooth experience.
Then, web testing ends with security testing. Web developers check if the site is safe from malicious software. It prevents the system from malfunctioning and getting exploited by outsiders.
3. Maintain the Website
Updates are crucial to ensure a website can keep up with technology. If the core software is an old version, your website can crash.
A slow, lagging site or application can cost your business a lot of money. It can decrease traffic, drop site ranking, and damage reputation.
Ensure your website meets customer demands with ease. They will update your system, if necessary, to maintain website functionality.
If there are bugs, they debug and optimize the code to boost performance. Regular testing and coding validation can keep your website or app operational. Moreover, web developers have security protocols in place to prevent issues.
4. Work With Designers
Aside from development, a web developer helps design a website.
A good design is another crucial part of creating a website. It instructs the user to navigate the platform and perform actions you want them to do. If customers navigate the site with ease, this leaves a positive impression on them.
A report claims that a good user experience and interface can raise your website’s conversion rate. However, you can’t simply slap on random colors and pictures to make your website more appealing. Website coding is a delicate process, and the design must work with internal code.
A web developer works with a web design professional to create an apt visual for a website. The designer decides on its branding and graphics. The developer codes the instructions to make the visual components work.
A web developer works with other professionals in creating a website, too. They collaborate with project managers, quality assurance engineers, and business analysts. These professionals interact with each other to ensure the implementation of key features.
5. Database and Data Management
With software manipulating a high volume of data, database management is crucial. It is one of the responsibilities of a web developer. Through database management, they use efficient methods to handle different data.
This also ensures smooth site performance as it does not impede the code.
The database stores user information and business logic. When your website experiences high traffic, it absorbs data from these activities. This creates increased workloads, causing the database to crash.
If it collapses, the functions of your website become inoperable and dysfunctional.
A web developer with database management knowledge can help with this problem. They can identify which system to use to handle flowing business data.
Data integration brings data from different systems into a centralized location. It can help you, your people, and your business to share valuable information. With this, you never have to ask people from other departments to send files that are not in your system.
6. Generate Content
Did you know that a web developer can generate content for a website? Aside from developing and designing, a web developer can make site content. In most cases, experts involved in this service specialized in content development.
In web development, content design is a marketing effort to increase site traffic. The web developer creates vital text and image-based materials for the website. It can include blog posts, infographics, and videos.
If you have no idea what content to put on your page, you can ask your web developer for help.
Types of Web Developer Roles
Web developers are responsible for creating websites, troubleshooting, and enhancing performance. However, their responsibilities can differ depending on their specialization and project. The following are the different roles they take in creating a well-functioning page.
1. Front-End Developer
Is your page responsive? Often confused with web design, front-end developers work on the visuals and design. The program website features that are visible and interactive to the user.
It includes buttons, pop-ups, and drop-down menus. A front-end developer checks if the page is mobile-responsive. If the user opens the website by phone, can they navigate it with ease?
They use the back-end data and make it into something comprehensible, functional, and appealing. For experts, this is client-side programming. Front-end developers must be proficient in industry-standard programming languages, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Some tasks involved are website structuring, developing a responsive design, and fixing bugs. For the design, a front-end developer works with a web design professional. They ensure the site can give an easy and best user experience.
2. Back-End Developer
If the front end works on what a user sees, a back-end developer work behind the scenes. They deal with the systems and structures, allowing the site to perform actions. When interacting with the page, these are working features not visible to users.
For instance, filling in an online form with information. As a user, you do this activity with the help of front-end features. However, back-end features are receiving, processing, and sending back content.
In website development, this involves server-side programming.
A back-end developer creates and maintains technology used to power front-end elements. It consists of the server, application, and database. They ensure the features developed by front-end experts are functional.
In back-end development, there are typical tasks involved. It includes building server-side software, API integration, and integrating databases. To complete tasks, some programming languages used are Python, SQL, and Ruby.
Problem-solving is a web developer skill for ensuring the functionality of back-end parts.
3. Full-Stack Developer
Developing a website involves complex processes. For front-end and back-end elements to conform, one must work across the technologies. Full-stack web developers are experts needed for the job.
Among web developers, they are the most efficient with every step of the process. They can generate strategies and identify the best practices to use on functions.
Full-stack developers are proficient in user experience and business logic. They can provide quality web services and interfaces.
Full-stack developers take part in all aspects of website development. They create servers and databases, design user interactions, and develop APIs. With the number of tasks handed to them, they receive good compensation.
What Skills Must a Web Developer Have?
Web developers have different strengths, but they all have a few key skills in common. Here’s what you need to look for in a website developer:
1. Technical Skills
Website development involves complex processes, which need excellent technical skills to achieve. When looking for a web developer, know if they’re proficient in the technical aspect of web development. Some skills they need to ace are responsive design, version control, and technical SEO.
A web developer must be excellent at responsive design. It refers to their ability to create a website compatible with different devices. It is crucial as some access the internet through their phones, tablets, or computers.
With version control, web developers can track and control source code. They do not need to start over every time they encounter a problem. If they need to fix a bug, they can do it with ease.
Many factors can influence the search engine ranking of a website. If your site ranks low, generating traffic and sales becomes challenging. To top the list, your web developer must be good with SEO.
2. Analytical Skills
Running into issues is inevitable when creating a website. Web developers can encounter dysfunctional web stacks or incorrect coding structures. To identify problems, they must have good analytical skills.
If they have this kind of ability, they can fix issues or prevent them from happening. Having analytical skills allows a web developer to create a functional website. Moreover, they can plan how to reduce the probability of technical issues happening.
3. Soft Skills
Soft skills are non-technical. It displays your communication style, work style, and work ethic. Like any other professional, a web developer must have these skills.
When working with web developers, they must show good communication skills. They must listen to your concerns and explain what they can do about them. It is an essential skill since they need to work with different stakeholders.
Another significant skill is attention to detail.
When coding instructions, website developers use letters and numbers. A tiny misspelling in the code can result in an error. To avoid issues, web developers must have a keen attention to detail.
They must reread the code several times to ensure there is no inefficiency. Having intense concentration and patience is crucial for every web developer.
The Day-to-Day of a Web Developer
So, what does a web developer do? As you can see, web development is more than coding a website to work. Web developers also work to ensure mobile responsiveness and accessibility and make a website more attractive.
If you have problems with your page, ask for help from our Synaptech team! From custom software applications to content design, we can help bring your vision to life. Contact Synaptech here.
