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Web Developer Services for Your Next Big Project in Boston, MA
Today, having a web presence is essential for any business in Boston. Web developers provide a vital service, creating a customer-facing presence for the business. That presence can be an online store, a customer support platform, an online business card, or a combination of all three. The important thing is that it looks good, performs well, and is secure. Those are the things that a skilled web developer can help with.
What Is a Web Developer?
Web developers create the code that makes websites work. They use a variety of programming and markup languages to create functional websites. Because modern web technologies are so complex, there are many different types of web developers; some are generalists, and some focus on specific areas, such as database development or user interface development.
Broadly, web developers fall into a few categories:
- Front-end web developers
- Back-end web developers
- Platform specialists (for example, WordPress or Magento developers)
- Full-stack web developers
Web Development Services
When you're planning a website project for your business in Boston, you should consider the type of project, how many visitors you expect the website to have, and what your budget for the project is. These factors will influence your choice of web development team.
Building a website from scratch
If you don't have a website right now but would like to launch one for your existing brick-and-mortar business, you should consider the type of website you want and look for a developer who has experience in implementing that sort of site. These are some possibilities:
- Online stores: Consider Magento, BigCommerce, or Shopify
- Member sites: Frequently powered by WordPress or Joomla
- Blogs or online magazines: Often made in WordPress, Typo, or Concrete5
- Online learning platforms: Typically designed using Moodle
- Simple static websites that are custom-coded
- A more complex, bespoke website
WordPress is currently the most popular content management system by far, and if you're not sure what you're looking for in terms of website platforms, it could be a good starting point. A skilled developer can take the basic platform and customize it to suit your needs.
It pays to have a wishlist of features in mind and take that to several developers for recommendations. There are multiple approaches to solving most problems online. A good developer can explain why they recommend a specific platform and the benefits of using that platform, as well as any potential overhead and maintenance requirements.
Updating an existing website
If you have an existing website that you would like to update, you should find a developer who has experience with the codebase in question. To help the web developer provide you with an accurate quote and an estimate of how long the job will take, give them information about how the website was designed, along with log-in details for the account.
Your previous developer should have provided you with the following information:
- Access details for a control panel (often called WHM, Plesk or CPanel)
- FTP, SSH, and database log-in details
- Log-in details for the website control panel if you use WordPress or a similar CMS
- The ability to manage the DNS details for your domain
Without access to that information, any new web developer may find it hard to do their job effectively. If your website is very old, and you can't get access to the server from your previous designer, it may be a good idea to have a new website built from scratch using the latest standards.
Indeed, if your existing website isn't compliant with W3C Standards, you may find that having a new site developed from the ground up could improve your search engine rankings. It could also make the site more appealing to visitors, especially those who are living with disabilities, and improve your conversion rate.
Accessible, clean, and functional design benefits everyone. Indeed, usability is so important that User Experience (UX) design is an entire field of study and innovation.
Web application development
Boston-based businesses that need more sophisticated web applications should look for a developer who has experience with writing secure, functional, internet-facing code. Web application development is a complex task that requires experienced developers.
Web applications have two sides: the code that runs on the server-side (that does most of the work) and the code that runs in the user's browser, also known as client-side. Collectively, the programming languages, databases, and scripting languages used to make web applications are known as a stack.
There are numerous stacks in modern web application development. Some of the most well-known are:
- LAMP - Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (plus JavaScript)
- LEMP - Linux, Nginx, MySQL, and PHP (plus JavaScript)
- MEAN - MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, Node.js (and JavaScript)
- Django Stack - Django, Python, MySQL (and JavaScript)
- Ruby on Rails - Ruby, SQLite, Rails, and JavaScript
These stacks can be deployed on a shared server or VPS, dedicated server, or in the cloud. Cloud services such as AWS or GCP require some additional knowledge to use efficiently.
Explaining the differences between each stack would be beyond the scope of this guide. There is no one right or wrong stack. Traditionally, LAMP was the most popular stack, in part because it's been around for a long time, and it's something that most developers have had some exposure to. Even now, Apache is the most popular web server.
Today, however, MEAN is becoming increasingly popular. It's well-known and reliable, and there are a lot of developers who have an understanding of the technologies that make up the stack.
If you're starting a complex project from scratch, ask each potential developer to explain why they chose the stack in question. Consider the developers who are available in your area, and make sure that it would be easy for you to find local developers who can work with that stack should you need to have more work done in the future.
Choosing a very old platform such as CoffeeScript or Adobe Flash to create a new web application would be unwise because of the likelihood of the platform losing all support in the next couple of years. It could also be difficult to find developers who know the language to do continuing updates.
In contrast, choosing a brand-new platform could also backfire if the languages, servers, or databases are receiving constant updates that may break the code running your application.
Security should be another concern. Data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first six months of 2019 alone. Choosing a mature stack and experienced developer can help protect your web application's security.
Front-end vs. back-end vs. full-stack web developer
Now that you have an idea of what your project is and what sort of development work may be needed, you're in a position to go looking for a developer. Developers will typically describe themselves as specialists in front-end, back-end, or full-stack web development.
Front-end web developer
Front-end web developers focus on the parts of the website that the user sees and interacts with. They typically work with JavaScript and related frameworks or libraries. Popular frameworks and JavaScript libraries include:
- Angular
- jQuery
- Vue
- React
- Ember
- Bootstrap
- Backbone.js
Front-end web developers can build standalone websites. However, if their studies and training are focused exclusively on the front end, they may not be able to create a sophisticated data-driven site from the ground up. Most large web design studios have front-end coders, back-end coders, and designers working alongside each other.
Many front-end developers focus on creating themes or layouts for popular content management systems, so if you have a WordPress site that's running well but doesn't quite look how you'd like, a front-end web developer can make the changes you need and tailor the site to your needs.
Back-end web developer
Back-end web developers work with databases and server-side code. Their focus is on handling large amounts of data, keeping that data secure, and dynamically generating pages as new content is added.
Back-end developers create the code that allows users to add pages to their blogs, write the systems to power online shopping carts, and create sophisticated systems capable of handling large numbers of visitors at the same time.
Because of the nature of web development, back-end developers have at least a passing familiarity with HTML, CSS, and other elements of displaying content on a web page. However, not all coders are good designers.
If you're planning a large or complex project, you may want to hire a team that includes a front-end coder, a back-end coder, and, potentially, a designer too.
Full-stack web developer
Full-stack web developers are individuals who have an understanding of all parts of the project. A full-stack developer knows the server technology a website is running on and can create front-end and back-end code.
Finding a good full-stack web developer can be a challenge because of the sheer breadth of skills that the position requires. A truly qualified full-stack developer is probably a senior developer who has experience in many different areas.
Working with a full-stack developer is a good thing in some ways because it means you have one person who understands the framework, platform, and code and can make changes quickly and efficiently.
There are, however, some risks with this approach. Having a single developer means a single point of failure. If you have a large project, being heavily reliant on one key staff member could be risky. Having a team of developers offers more stability and reduces risk.
Choosing a Web Developer
The world of web development is constantly evolving. If you're hiring a web developer for a single project, then your primary consideration should be whether they have the skills to complete that project. Look at their portfolio. Have they worked on similar projects before? Is their work polished?
If you have someone in-house with the technical skills to understand what they're looking at, look at the developer's GitHub profile. Is their code neat, well-commented, and technically sound? Do they have a track record of contributing to open-source projects? These are all good signs.
Hiring a developer for the longer term is a slightly different consideration. When bringing a junior developer into a team, you should consider their personality and work ethic first. A developer who fits in with your company's ethos can be trained on your stack. A developer who is a poor fit could cause problems in the long term.
Consider using technical tests to evaluate the competency of any potential new hires. It's all too easy for a developer to claim they have full-stack skills because they once followed a tutorial and know how to use apt-get install to set up Apache. Tests will help a less-technical interviewer identify whether the interviewee is exaggerating their skills.
Test projects for web developers
Some companies choose to evaluate the skills of web developers using real-world coding tests. If you're considering doing this, tread carefully. Some high-quality developers are understandably reluctant to work for free.
If you wish to test a developer in your working environment, consider paying them for their time or making the test a short one so they don't feel their skills are being exploited as a part of the interview process. Alternatively, make the test something that's easy to understand and useful but not directly applicable to your business, such as asking the interviewee to screen-scrape headlines from the Boston Globe or parse the results from the latest Red Sox game.