The latest survey conducted by Expert Market shows that a staggering 98% of small businesses have a website. There has been a drastic increase from 2021 when the percentage was 71%. This is hardly surprising, considering the rapid digitization we underwent as a result of the pandemic.
With increased revenue, more loyal customers, and increased brand recognition, having a website has become almost like a requirement among businesses. This has prompted the question, “What is web development?”
That’s just what we’re going to tackle today. This article will talk about what web development is, what common terminologies are used in the industry, and how important it is to have an exceptional website.
Table of Contents
What Is Web Development?
Simply put, web development means creating and maintaining websites on the internet. Web developers in established IT servicing companies are the people behind the scenes making sure that a website looks great, works fast, and provides a seamless user experience.
What is web development when it comes to its application? Well, it ranges from creating a webpage from a Wix template or developing a complex website with thousands of webpages from scratch. Technically, both of these fit in the web dev meaning.
Web developers build websites using a multitude of coding languages, including Java and Python. The languages they use depend on the tasks they’re performing and what platforms they’re working on. In the US, the mean hourly wage of a web developer is $39.09.
Your web developers can either be in-house or outsourced. Having your website development done in-house gives you full control of the project, but it can be pretty costly and time-consuming. On the other hand, outsourcing your web design and development project is cost and time-efficient, provides a fresh perspective, and allows access to a global talent pool.
How Does Web Development Differ from Web Design?
In a nutshell, website development involves programming that makes a website run smoothly, while web design refers to the work required to make a website look visually appealing and user-friendly. For example, a web designer may create the buttons you see on a website, but it’s the web developer’s job to ensure that clicking those buttons will have the intended outcome.
Web developers work on a website's front or backend. The frontend is the visual part, which is what the users see, and the backend is the functional part, which ensures that the website is running smoothly.
Meanwhile, it’s the job of a web designer to create a positive user experience by ensuring that a website looks clear and easy to use. This is crucial because 38% of people will leave a website if it’s not well-designed.
Common Website Development Terminologies
Like any other professional, website development comes with industry-specific terminologies. If you’re starting a web development project, you should at least know what some of these common terminologies mean, so as not to create a disconnect between you and the website development company you’re transacting with.
Website
This is already a pretty common term, but we thought we’d cover it anyway. A website is a location on the internet. It’s not to be interchanged with the term ‘web pages.’ To put it simply, a website is a collection of web pages.
Web Page
A web page is a simple hypertext document that exists on the World Wide Web and is displayable by a web browser. A web page can contain numerous types of web resources, such as scripts, media, and style information.
Web Browser
A web browser is software designed to read web pages and allows you to see various forms of content from around the world. Popular browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. Most web browsers are free.
URL
A website’s URL, or uniform resource locator, is the address that specifies the location of a website or web page on the internet.
IP Address
Every device that connects to the internet needs a unique identifying number called the Internet Protocol address or IP address. This string of numbers essentially identifies a host’s network interface and provides its location in the network, which establishes a path to that host. An example of an IP address is 192.158.1.38.
Domain Name
This is the name that internet users type into a browser to reach a specific website. However, this should not be interchanged with the URL, which also includes the path to a specific webpage. For example, the domain name for DesignRush is ‘designrush.com’, and the URL to the Agent Directory is ‘designrush.com/agency’.
HTML
HTML, or hypertext markup language, is a markup language used in creating websites. It’s not a programming language, but it’s definitely a building block of the web. HTML describes how a document is displayed by a browser. It consists of elements, tags, and attributes.
HTTP
What is web development without acronyms? Here’s yet another one. HTTP, or hypertext transfer protocol, is used by the World Wide Web to define how data is transmitted. It sends data from a web server to a web browser.
HTTPS
This stands for hypertext transfer protocol over SSL or hypertext transfer protocol secure. This is simply a more secure and encrypted version of the HTTP.
CSS
CSS, or cascading style sheets, is a markup language that makes up the visual components of a website. While HTML determines the content and structure of a webpage, HTML is used to style it. It’s used in applying colors, font, font size, and text alignment, among other things.
SSL Certificate
SSL stands for secure sockets layer. What an SSL certificate does is provide secure communications between an internet browser and a website. Many web hosting companies take an annual fee for SSL certificates, but there are some who offer it for free.
DNS
The domain name system or DNS is similar to a phonebook. When we access a website, web browsers need the IP address of that website in order to display it.
DNS makes the user’s life easier by translating the domain name into IP addresses that browsers use to load internet resources, so you don’t have to memorize IP addresses. You can simply input the domain name of the site you want to visit.
Website Hosting
Simply put, web hosting is where all the files for your site are stored. Data, such as CSS files, media content, and HTML are stored in physical servers and made accessible online by anyone with an internet connection.
Debugging
Web development means dealing with bugs, which are errors that prevent a website or app from functioning as it should. Debugging is the process of identifying bugs and fixing them. The process ends with testing to see if the bug has been resolved, and if not, implement further fixes.
Cache
This is where files for a website are temporarily stored so that when you return to that website in the future, the web pages can load more quickly.
Sitemap
A sitemap is exactly what it is—a map of your website that outlines all of its pages. There are three types of sitemaps: one used by web designers during website planning, hierarchical listings intended for the human user, and structured listings for search engines that crawl and index the site’s content.
The Importance of Web Development and Having an Outstanding Website
If you want to run a successful digital marketing campaign, web development is not something you should scrimp on. Your website is the center of your campaign; your paid ads, email marketing campaigns, and social media ultimately lead back to it. That said, here are some noteworthy benefits of having an outstanding and user-friendly website:
Improve SEO
As of 2021, there are roughly 1.88 billion websites existing on the web. This number has been increasing at a rapid rate. The competition to get to the top spot in search engine results pages has become quite stiff.
You can get into one of the top spots by improving your website to fit the numerous criteria required to get a high ranking. This includes testing your website performance and making adjustments accordingly, ensuring that your website has a fast loading time, and making sure it’s mobile-friendly.
Extend Your Reach
Having a well-built website can help increase your business’s online presence, which ultimately allows you to reach a broader audience. A website can help promote your brand and make it accessible. So, for example, a local small business can cater to customers from all around the country.
Attract Loyal Customers
Employing proper web optimization strategies can help you attract loyal customers. You can showcase testimonials from satisfied customers, and if you offer a service, you can show any large brands you’ve worked with. This increases your trust rating and puts your brand in a positive light.
Increase Revenue
The benefits listed above result in increased revenue for a business. When you can reach more people and have more loyal customers, your revenue is bound to increase. This is particularly true in today’s digital era where the number of online shoppers worldwide has reached 2.14 billion, and this is increasing at a rapid rate year by year.
Web Dev Meaning: Final Words
So, there you have it! The answer to the question, “What is web development?” and more. With the importance of websites to increase a brand’s online presence and attract more customers and leads, having a reliable web development company team is of utmost importance.
