A Guide to Website Development

What is website development?

Creating a website consists of two main steps: website development and website design. But it can also entail website programming, website publishing, and database management.

Web development refers to the functionality of a website, while web design describes the look of a website. Both are equally important skills when it comes to building a website. You can have the best-looking website that is perfectly curated for your brand, but if it doesn’t function properly, it’s not going to be successful. And vice versa.

Additionally, web developers aren't always web designers. When it comes to designing a website, professionals traditionally work on how the website looks and the overall user experience, including elements like formatting and choosing the website's hero image. Meanwhile, web developers focus on the technical side of the website, such as writing code, and overall optimizing performance.

A web developer is a professional responsible for building and maintaining websites and web applications. They work on the technical aspects of creating web pages, ensuring they function correctly and provide a seamless user experience. Web developers use a programming language like hypertext markup language (HTML) or cascading style sheets (CSS), to bring a website to life.

Keep in mind that website development and web programming don't always mean the same thing. While web development encompasses the entire process of creating a website, including design, content creation, and functionality, web programming focuses specifically on the coding aspects of the web development project.

Types of website development

There are a few different types of web development, but the most common types are front-end development and back-end development. Front-end developers focus on the user interface and writing code with programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. On the other hand, back-end developers handle the behind-the-scenes functionality and work with server-side languages and databases.

Front-end development

Front-end development is what the user will see and interact with on the website. This typically involves website design and includes the website’s colors, layout, fonts, and images. If you’re a front-end developer, that means you're responsible for having a website look and feel a certain way.

Front-end development involves using tools like Photoshop and Illustrator to create the website design. A front-end developer will also need to understand various programming languages, or coding languages. Understanding these programming languages is crucial so that a user can actually interact with the website with buttons and navigation menus.

Back-end development

Back-end development is what the user doesn’t see with the website. Back-end development is focused more on how the website works, rather than how it looks. This can include user authentication, network and hosting configuration, database interaction, and anything else that goes on behind the scenes of a website.

A back-end developer is responsible for making sure everything is running smoothly within the website. For example, if people upload their information onto a website, a back-end developer is responsible for compiling and analyzing that data. A back-end developer needs to be familiar with server-side languages, like Ruby, .Net, and Python.

Another type of website development is full-stack development. Full-stack developers can do both front-end and back-end development. A full-stack developer must be knowledgeable of both programming languages and server-side languages and needs to be able to handle all aspects of website development.

Because hiring one person to the job is obviously much easier than hiring two people, many businesses prefer to hire full-stack developers. However, it’s a very in-demand job in the tech industry.

How to develop a website

To create a successful website, you need to consider your goals, target audience, user experience, and technical requirements. Let's take a look at the main steps involved in web development:

Planning your website

Planning your website is a necessary step in the web development process. It involves defining your goals, conducting research, and mapping out the content and features of your development project.

• Defining your goals: Determine the purpose of your website. Is it to showcase your products or services, educate, or engage with your audience?
• Conducting research and competitor analysis: Study your target audience and understand their preferences, behaviors, and expectations. This will help with personalization efforts that improve the overall user experience when designing and developing your website.
• Mapping out content and features: Based on your goals and research, outline the content and features your website will include. This may include text, images, videos, forms, and interactive elements.
• Choosing a domain name: Select a relevant domain name that aligns with your brand, its products, or its industry and is easy for users to find.
• Selecting a hosting provider: Choose a hosting provider that offers the online resources and support to keep your website up and running smoothly.

Designing your website

With a solid plan in place, it's time to focus on the visual and user experience aspects of your website. This includes:

• Creating wireframes and mockups: Develop a basic layout and structure for your website using wireframes and mockups.
• Thinking about user experience: Consider how users will navigate and interact with your website. Ensure that the design is easy to use and accessible across various screen sizes.
• Exploring branding and visual elements: Incorporate your brand's colors, typography, and imagery into the design to create a cohesive and visually appealing experience.

Building your website

With the design in place, it's time to start the actual development process. This involves:

• Choosing a development platform or CMS: Select a website building platform based on your website's requirements.
• Front-end web development: Web development teams consisting of front-end developers, back-end developers, and web designers collaborate to build the website using various programming languages and tools. This includes creating the layout, styling, and interactive elements.
• Back-end development: Build the server-side functionality of your website, such as databases, APIs, and server-side scripting. This ensures your website can handle data processing, user interactions, and other back-end tasks.
• Integrating key features: Implement essential features such as forms, payment gateways, and chatbots to enhance the functionality and user experience of your website. Additionally, consider search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to improve your website's visibility and ranking in search results.

Testing your website

Before you launch your new website, you should test it to make sure it works as intended. This includes:

• Performing functionality testing: Test all the features and functionality of your website to identify and fix any bugs or issues.
• Testing for performance: Evaluate your website's load times, responsiveness, and overall performance across different devices and network conditions.
• Ensuring mobile compatibility: Look at your website on different mobile devices to ensure it provides a seamless experience on smaller screens.
• Security testing: Assess your website's security measures to protect against potential vulnerabilities and threats.

Launching your website

Once your website has been thoroughly tested and is ready for launch, it's time to make it live. This involves:

• Preparing for launch: Finalize your website's content, meta tags, and SEO settings. Ensure that all necessary legal pages, such as privacy policy and terms of service, are in place.
• Setting up analytics tools: Implement tracking and analytics tools to monitor your website's performance and gather valuable insights.
• Promoting your website: Develop and execute a marketing strategy to promote your website and attract visitors. This may include search engine marketing, social media marketing, and email campaigns.
• Monitoring and improving: Regularly monitor your website's performance, user engagement, and feedback. Use this information to make ongoing improvements and optimize your website for better results.

Website development tips

So now that you know the different types of website development and what the website development process entails, we’ll provide you with some website development tips so you can really get the hang of it.

• Have a plan: Without a plan, there’s no way you can know where to start with your website. Having a plan will make building your website go much more smoothly so you can have an end result you're proud of.
• Stay mobile-friendly: Most people access the Internet through their phones, so it’s crucial that your website is mobile-friendly. Your website should look the exact same on a phone screen than it does on a laptop, just smaller.
• Know your audience: Understanding who will be using your website can help you create one that speaks to them on a deeper level. Conduct customer and audience research to figure out their preferences, pain points, and behaviors, and tailor your content and design accordingly.
• Use alt text: Alt text (alternative text) appears when an image fails to load or is accessed by screen readers. Including alt text for your images improves your website's accessibility and helps search engines understand the content of your images.
• Develop a clear taxonomy: A clear website taxonomy helps website users actually use your website and find the information they need more easily. Order your content in a logical way using categories and subcategories, and use clear, descriptive labels for your menus and navigation links.
• Enable HTTPS: Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) encrypts the data transmitted between a user's browser and your website, providing enhanced security. Enabling HTTPS helps protect sensitive information and improves your website's credibility and search engine rankings.
• Emphasize accessibility: Accessibility refers to designing and developing your website in a way that allows people with disabilities to use it effectively. Implement accessibility best practices, such as providing text alternatives for non-text content, using sufficient color contrast, and ensuring keyboard navigation is possible.
• Make the content easy to read: No one wants to spend more than a couple of minutes browsing a website, so you need your content to be straight to the point and easy to read. Don’t bother with the fluff, just focus on getting your point across with words.

Website development tools

The right tools can help streamline the web development process. These tools cover various aspects of website development, from design and coding to performance optimization and analytics.

Design tools

Design tools like Figma and Adobe XD allow teams to collaborate on wireframes, mockups, and prototypes in real-time. These tools often provide cloud-based platforms that make it easy for designers to share their work and gather feedback from stakeholders. They also offer a wide range of features for creating interactive prototypes, high-fidelity designs, and seamless integration with other design software.

Development tools

Development tools like GitHub provide version control and collaboration features for software development projects. These platforms allow developers to store, manage, and track changes to their codebase, making it easier to collaborate with team members and maintain an organized development workflow. They also offer features such as issue tracking, pull requests, and code review to streamline the development process.

Performance and SEO tools

Performance and SEO tools help developers analyze and optimize their websites.

These tools often provide website auditing features that identify technical SEO issues, as well as keyword research and competitive analysis capabilities to help optimize website content. They can also offer insights into website speed, mobile-friendliness, and other performance metrics.

Analytics and tracking tools

Analytics and tracking tools tell you about your website's performance. You can get information about website traffic, user behavior, and acquisition channels. These tools help developers and website owners make data-driven decisions. They often offer features such as real-time data tracking, custom reporting, and integration with other marketing and advertising platforms.

All-in-one solution

Mailchimp is a leading marketing platform that offers a comprehensive website development tool that eliminates the need for multiple separate tools. With Mailchimp, you can handle every aspect of your website development process from a single, user-friendly platform.

Use our website builder to find a range of customizable templates and a drag-and-drop interface to create stunning websites without any coding knowledge. We also have a built-in e-commerce functionality, allowing you to set up an online start and start selling products quickly.

We also provide marketing tools that integrate with your website. Manage your email campaigns, social media marketing efforts, and customer relationships all from the same platform.

Mailchimp's analytics and reporting features also give you valuable insights into your website's performance, visitor behavior, and marketing campaign effectiveness. Having all this data in one place can help you make decisions that grow your business.

Website development doesn't have to be complicated or expensive

Having a good website is crucial for any business, and thankfully at Mailchimp, we’re here to help you achieve just that. Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform where you can get help with everything from building a website to figuring out a product growth strategy for your business. We have countless tools to help business owners grow their business and reach new heights, such as an online content studio, where you can create and manage your digital marketing assets. Sign up for Mailchimp today.

---

Key Takeaways

• Website development involves both the design and functionality of a website, encompassing front-end and back-end development.
• Successful website development requires careful planning, research, design, testing, and ongoing monitoring and improvement.
• Utilizing the right tools for design, development, performance optimization, and analytics can streamline the website development process.
• All-in-one platforms like Mailchimp offer comprehensive solutions for website building, e-commerce, marketing, and analytics, simplifying the website development process.

---