Web development basics (a beginner's guide)

Web development can be an intimidating concept to grasp, especially if you’re not familiar with the industry or aren’t sure what goes into it. What exactly is web development? How does it work? And how do you determine whether your project needs it, or what kind of web developer you need to hire? This guide will explain all of the basics of web development and will break down how and why web developers do their jobs.

1. What is web development?

Web development refers to the non-design aspects that go into constructing a website for the internet or an intranet. These tasks might include building a static landing page, building dynamic and interactive web pages, coding, content development, testing, and post-launch quality assurance. A developer is responsible for two major aspects: front-end and back-end development.?

Front-end developers deal with how things look, such as designs and interactions, while back-end developers focus on how things work by implementing databases, servers, or other server-side elements required to make things run smoothly.

In larger companies and enterprises, the web development process will be supported by graphic designers, client liaison services, server maintenance, cybersecurity professionals, and network engineers. Smaller businesses might have a two- or three-person in-house team or a single contracting developer.

2. Why is website development so important?

Websites have many moving parts. How they’re designed will greatly alter not just their content, but their behavior, ease of ongoing use, and stability. For these and a wealth of related reasons, good quality web development is extremely important.?

Security? Considerations

Websites reside in a virtual environment that is filled with malware infections and scammers. These and a host of other security and stability considerations need to be handled properly in order to ensure your website is safe.?

Performance Considerations

Your site will attract an instant negative reaction if page load times are slow or if website features are incomplete or unreliable. No moments of frustration should interrupt and derail a prospect’s journey through your digital content.?

3. Web development basics

For all those looking to understand more about web development, it’s key for you to understand a few key elements of how a website is built. Website and web application design is typically broken into two main parts; front-end and back-end.?

The front-end of your site (where users interact with a website) is called a client-side scripting language, typically HTML or CSS (the language used to make websites). A computer processor then takes these page designs and interprets them, in order to give you an internet experience when you browse these sites online.?

These coding languages allow users and developers alike to drag and drop elements of different pages so that they can create or edit the content on specific pages/locations they choose.

Let’s take a moment now to build some clarity around some technical terms, and lay down the foundations of how these concepts fit together.?

What is the web?

The Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via computer networks in a client–server architecture. The nature of web pages allows you to integrate and link information from several sources on web servers. Hypertext documents contain text, images, or links to other documents, typically identified by uniform resource locators (URLs). A web browser displays these documents on a computer screen and allows you to interact with them. Client-side scripting allows authors to create dynamic content that responds to user actions and interactions rather than relying on preset responses from server-side scripts.

What is an IP address?

For a letter to reach its intended recipient, the sender would need to have their street address. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses serve a similar function. A unique string of numbers expressed in dotted decimal format, an IP address allows computers on a network to accurately identify, and then access, the location of a website.

What does HTTP mean?

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a set of agreed-on rules that guide how data is accessed online. However, HTTP is concerned not with the location of data but how it’s formed. HTTP is an agreed-on language guiding how computers request website data and then respond to those requests. Every time you visit a website starting with the HTTP prefix, your browser, and the hosting server are exchanging HTTP language. The data is then “translated” by your browser into a readable format.?

What does front-end mean?

The front-end of a website is what you see. Think of what happens when you look up a page on Wikipedia. You type in the search term and you’re presented with a neat, easy-to-read overview of your topic, along with navigation elements around the content. Everything you are reading and interacting with on the page is the front-end.?

What does back-end mean?

The back-end of a website encompasses those digital components that make the website behave the way it does. To a regular computer user, the coding backend that makes up the page would appear as a largely indecipherable block of letters, numbers, and symbols.?

What is HTML?

HTML that stands for HyperText Markup Language is one of two programming languages that are used to build web pages. Web pages are built using HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). The two work together to define how text and pictures appear on your screen. Without HTML, browsers would not be able to display your website correctly. It’s like building a house without blueprints; it’s technically possible, but not advisable.

What is CSS?

Cascading Style Sheets are a language that works with HTML to make websites look good. They can be thought of as stylesheets because they contain CSS, which is essentially the style of your website. Every webpage needs CSS to work, but most people don't know how to write it. There are many ways to get CSS—you can buy themes and templates from other sites or you can hire someone else to create them for you—but one of the best ways is to learn how to do it yourself so you have total control over what your site looks like. And since learning basic CSS won't take more than an hour, there's no reason not to give it a try!

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is an open-source, multi-platform, scripting language that runs in a web browser. It’s what makes web pages interactive. Without it, you’d be browsing a very different Internet—one filled with boring text and links to other websites. Today’s world is one where businesses have to stand out from their competitors on every level. And with JavaScript at your disposal, you can build high-performing experiences that help you achieve that goal.

How do HTML, CSS and JavaScript work together?

HTML provides structure to a webpage, CSS provides styling, and JavaScript adds functionality. Each of these are essential parts of a successful website as they all work together. There will be times when you only need one or two, but other times you may require all three. For example, when you make a new HTML document in a text editor, it is saved as HTML with some additional metadata included that allows your browser to know where it should be displayed on your screen. Once you save that file as HTML and view it in your browser of choice, you will see nothing but code unless you tell your browser which elements should be emphasized or what colors they should have.

What is a CMS?

A content management system (CMS) is a collection of tools designed to make the process of building and maintaining a website easier. Instead of a website developer coding every page from scratch, they may use a set of CMS tools to accelerate and simplify the process of building website pages. For example, using a CMS a website developer might apply a uniform formatting template to every page on their site. Navigation elements, typography, and button behaviors would all be handled by the CMS so that the site builder didn’t have to repeat these tasks every time they started a new page.

What is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the process of keeping online data safe, along with the computer systems housing that data. Websites are vulnerable to cyberattack, so it's a priority to ensure that their data and structure remain secure. This protects both you as the website host and your website visitors.

4. What are the different types of web development?

Web development isn’t one process. While by no means an exhaustive list, here are the three main types of web development.?

Front-end development

This form of web development focuses on what the user (broadly speaking, your audience) sees and interacts with through your site. This includes the design of the visual components of your website, such as page layout, navigation menus, graphic design, and typography.?

It also incorporates the more intangible practice of building a compelling user experience. Front-end developers are therefore typically heavily invested in understanding their client’s corporate identity and commercial goals and using this information to build a website that effectively complements these characteristics.

Back-end development

The backend of a website refers to the many systems that users don’t see as they interact with your website. For example, your website’s backend might consist of a contacts database to help them identify staff contacts, an e-commerce solution to process payments, and a security software installation that protects users while they visit your site. Backend website development tends to be less focused on aesthetic refinements and more focused on building robust and reliable code that can readily be maintained and managed on a day-to-day basis.?

Full-stack development

Here the term “stack” refers to the layering of different technologies and systems needed to perform a function on your website. For example, think of a page that allows your customers to purchase your product. This digital resource will include the page itself, appropriately designed to reflect your corporate identity. Beneath that, an e-commerce cart software will handle purchases. Behind that, a security module monitors traffic and protects your site from malware. A full-stack web developer would be proficient in all these systems, and capable of developing them together so that they communicate seamlessly.

5. The website development process

In this section, we’ll look at how all these considerations come together to form a website development process. It’s a good idea to pursue each of these steps, in turn, only tackling a new stage when you’re satisfied you have a solid foundation to build on.?

Step 1. Assessing the situation, goals, and requirements

Developing a website is quite similar to building a business plan. Your building blocks consist of understanding your finances (or your budget), having a clear picture of your available resources and technologies, and a plan for how these will be deployed over time.?

Your goal is to produce a budgeted timeline, along with a concise analysis that describes what you want your site to achieve, and why. The following questions may help you focus your situation assessment:?

• What is your website’s primary goal?
• What is your target audience? Why will they be visiting your site?
• What will your content look like? How will it be organized?
• How much money do you have to spend?

Step 2. Creating a tech strategy

Before website development begins, you should take stock of your current technologies and how you use them. This strategy should include a detailed description of the kinds of data you collect and the digital services you employ to run your business. It should also accurately capture the regulatory requirements, policies, and workflows that guide how technology enhances your business.?

Step 3. Create a wireframe and sitemap

The next step is for your developer to build a wireframe and sitemap. A wireframe is a non-coded layout of what your site will look like and how it’ll behave. Your sitemap is a blueprint for how your content will be organized. At this point in the process, no code will have been written, so it’s a perfect time to think creatively. Larger creative changes become harder later in this process, so it pays not to rush this step.

Step 4. Writing your website code

Once consensus on your site’s broad design has been reached, your developer/s will get to work writing code. This will usually entail some degree of preliminary front-end and backend coding, but most focus at this early development stage will be on the broad design elements that will guide the user experience: navigation and page layout predominantly. A successive set of drafts will be submitted for your perusal and feedback throughout the website design process.

Step 5. Building the backend of your website

Writing the backend usually begins only when coders can be confident they’re working with a stable set of expectations. This is one of the more complicated and involved parts of the website development process, and it’s not uncommon for the process to “quieten down” a little at this stage as your backend developers work through the many coding requirements that will guide your site’s behavior.??

Step 6. Refining the front-end of your website

With the backend functioning properly, your website development team can now focus in more detail on the front-end, effectively placing a user interface “skin” on top of all the tools your site will employ. By now there should be a strong consensus on how your site looks and feels, so drafts you receive at this point will likely become more about fine-tuning than major changes.?

Step 7. Acquiring a domain name

You may already have several options parked or you may need to work with your developer to acquire new domain names. Either way, at this point your site will be migrated across to its permanent server, even if for the time being it is kept invisible to the public until ready for launch.

Step 8. Testing

You’re now in the final stages of website development. Depending on the size of your project, a dedicated testing engineer may come in at this point to rigorously test every aspect of your site. Alternatively, your development team and employees across your company may now begin carefully testing every page. This typically includes not just a test of every coding feature, but also a close copy edit to ensure your language is clean, compelling, and brand-consistent.?

Step 9. Launch (or go-live)

Closing in on the final days of development, much of the focus now shifts to your PR team (if you have one) or whoever manages your business’ public face. They’ll typically announce a launch date to your customer base and may even run a promotion to garner interest and attention on the day of the big reveal.?

The lead-up to launch is an intensive and exciting process. However, it’s important to note that websites require ongoing maintenance and upgrades. It’s smart to plan out these inputs with your developer, and budget for them accordingly.?

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve explored how website development works, the basic definitions that define the website development process, and the many different kinds of web developers, and how each of these specialists pursues their work. Using this as a foundation, we then touched on how to plan out your own website development process, starting with a broad concept and progressing through to a thoroughly tested and launch-ready product.