The world of web development is still very much misunderstood. We’ve even heard people call it a “dark art”. So when you need help turning your ideas and designs into a high-quality website or web application, how do you know who you can trust to get this done? The purpose of this post is to provide some key points on what makes a good web development company and will help you understand the kind of questions you should be asking development companies.
This is going to be a very opinionated post and we make no apologies for it. If you disagree with anything we are certainly open to discussing it further.
Below are the key areas we are going to be looking at, and what you should be looking for in a website development company.
- Able to do both front-end and back-end development
- Don’t specialize in one back-end technology
- Should follow best practices
- Understanding of marketing strategies surrounding the projects
- Invests time in research and development
- Has a rigorous testing process, including automated tests
- Flexible to change
- Use source control
Able To Do Both Front-end and Back-end Development
We don’t subscribe to the idea of frontend developer and backend developer. That’s the equivalent of having a plumber who only fits pipes and leaves the fitting of the baths, showers, sinks and toilets to someone else.
We agree there is a separation between web developers and web designers, there’s a completely different thought process going on there, but the separation between front-end and back-end is just wrong. To be a good web developer you need to understand the full development cycle and to be able to get involved in the project from start to finish. There is also much to be learnt from working with the varying technologies, but we’ll come on to that.
Don’t Specialize in One Back-end Technology
There are a number of good back-end technologies that are appropriate for web development including Ruby on Rails, ASP.Net and PHP (and others). They all have their strengths and weaknesses and not one is perfect. A custom web application development should be flexible in which technologies they use so that they use the most appropriate ones for their clients’ needs.
The key reason we have spent time learning a number of technologies is to able to pick and choose the bits we like. Over the years the developers involved in The League have been able to take the good parts of each technology formulate a number of best practices and use them across all platforms.
Should Follow Best Practices
The key to being a good web developer is not the technologies that you use, but the best practices that you follow. As technologies come and go in our very fast-moving industry those best practices will remain, or at least evolve. As a developer, if you have a good grounding then you can move with the times and technologies fairly easily.
So what are these best practices that we are talking about? Below are some of the key ones we follow.
- Writing semantic HTML
- Follow web standards for all front-end coding
- Automated testing of both front-end and back-end code
- Use of a MVC framework
Read Also: Web Development & Design Skills, You Need To Develop A Site
Understanding of Marketing Strategies Surrounding the Projects
We’ve heard this complaint many times that web developers don’t think about the marketing strategy of a project. This is generally because developers don’t care. Well, they should. How can they advise clients and think about helping clients produce the right solution, if they aren’t thinking about the “bigger picture” (sorry, we know it’s a horrid phrase, we’ll go wash our mouths out now). If a developer blindly does the work, they are not offering the client a service, they are just being a meat puppet.
The most important question a developer can ask is “Why?”. Take time to understand the client’s requirements fully, and advise them, after all, if the client doesn’t understand the ins and outs of web development, you do. Make the development cycle a two-way conversation.
Invests Time in Research and Development
As everyone knows the web industry is a very fast-moving industry. Things come and go in the blink of an eye. A good web development company gives its developers allocated time each week to look at new trends and technologies. Admittedly some of these trends and technologies are dead ends, but you won’t know unless you look into them.
If you want to know if a web Development Company knows their stuff, simply ask them what their developers have been looking into recently. You don’t have to understand everything you are told, note them down though and look them up on the internet to understand if the company are looking at new trends or not.
R&D is probably the most important time each week for a developer. If developers don’t evolve, the solutions they build will stagnate and be dated very quickly. As a client do you want an out-of-date solution before you even start?
Has a Rigorous Testing Process, Including Automated Tests
Too often we have seen the client as the tester for a project. If this is happening, then, to put it bluntly, the development company don’t understand your project well enough, they are just “banging out” code.
A good web development company should be writing automated tests (integration tests, unit tests etc.) for all their code, both front-end and back-end. On a simple level, tests help developers to concentrate on the code they are writing at that given time, they also help developers to write more concise code. More concise code means the code base is easier to understand and cheaper to maintain.
The major benefit of a test suite to a client is that when changes are made to the code in the project there can be a lot more confidence in the fact that the change, or new code, hasn’t broken anything else.
We are not saying automated testing is the silver bullet of web development services, and tests are only effective if they are written well, but they certainly should be part of any web developer’s tool set.
Automated tests aren’t the only important aspect of testing. The web development company should also have a level of human testing as well, and this is certainly something clients should be involved in. User stories are key to this process. As part of the development process, clients should work with the web development company to put together User stories, so that all parties involved understand how users will interact with the site or application and the results of those interactions.
Flexible to Change
We’ve all heard developers complaining about how their clients change the requirements of a project midway through a project. Developers need to stop complaining about this, it happens to us all and it’s never going to change. A good web development company should have processes in place to cope with change. If you are a client, ask how change requests will be handled.
Web developers should work to short release cycles, preferably 1 – 2 weeks. The worst thing that can happen to a project is that the developers get the brief, start the work and then 2 months later they announce it’s finished, only for the client to say “This isn’t what I asked for!”. By working to short release cycles, clients can be involved at all stages. At the end of each release, the client should review the project so far and submit any change requests.
Use Source Control
Our final recommendation is a pretty obvious and simple one, to most people, but we still speak to developers who don’t use any form of source control. This seems more prevalent with freelancers as they don’t see the need as they are the only ones working on the code. If that’s how they see it, then they are missing the point.
There are lots of reasons why all code should be source-controlled. We’re only going to mention a couple of key points here. Firstly it’s a great way of keeping a log of changes made to code. Secondly and most importantly it allows developers to change code without the fear of losing already work already done. This is especially useful when trying out other possible coding solutions to a problem.
Read Also: Why Custom Web Applications Are Key to Business Success
Benefits of Web Development For Your Business
Here are some key benefits of web development for your business:
1. Boost Brand Visibility
When a business builds a website, it can reach worldwide internet users without any physical limitation to server customers. Now, the whole world can be their customers, which makes it easier to scale their business. Plus, running a website means your business is running 24/7 every year.
2. Increase Sales and ROI
Having a website doesn’t just increase your business reach but also allows you to serve customers globally. Which means you can drive more sales and revenue for your business. Because websites allow customers to visit your store anytime and anywhere.
3. Cost-Effective
Website development is also more cost-effective than starting a physical store business. There’s no need for extra expenses like employee salaries, electricity, rental, or other expenses. Setting up a website is more cost-friendly and streamlines most traditional operations digitally for lower operational costs and high profitability. For example, running a TV ad is more expensive than running a social marketing ad and driving customers to your website.
4. Measurable Marketing Results
One of the key benefits of having a website is measurable marketing results. It means you can set up advanced analytical tools on your website, which will keep giving you insights about your marketing campaign performance and how well they’re going so that you can make data-driven decisions and ensure measurable results are achieved. These valuable insights can help businesses understand their target customers, refine marketing strategies, and optimize websites for better conversions.
5. Competitive Advantage
When you build a website, you gain a competitive advantage over those relying on physical stores to get customers. Now, you have both an online presence to cater to worldwide customers and an offline store. So, there’s an extra advantage that stands out in your business.
Why Consider DreamSoft4u For Web Development?
DreamSoft4u is a leading custom web development company known for its tailored solutions and dedicated team support. We have a team of experienced developers who understand client’s requirements and ensure the delivery of tailored solutions that satisfy their client’s needs within budget and timeline. Connect with our experts to get a consultation today!
Conclusion
Choosing a reliable web development company can help you build a strong online presence, scale globally, and gain a competitive advantage. We hope this guide helps you understand what makes a reliable web development company and how to find the best one for your business. Now, it’s your turn to find a reliable web development company and let the professionals build your feature-rich website within budget and on a timeline.
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FAQs
1. How do you choose a web development company that understands your industry?
To choose a web development company that understands your industry, you need to look for a company with previous experience building websites in your business domain. You can check their portfolio, and if you find some projects related to your industry, then you can find a reliable web development company.
2. What are the benefits of working with top web development agencies?
Some of the biggest benefits of working with a top web development agency like DreamSoft4U are getting a highly professional developers team, high-end technologies access, and projects delivered under budget and timeline.
3. What are the top 5 things to consider when choosing a web development agency?
When you’re looking for a web development agency, then these are some key factors to consider:
- Expertise and expertise
- Relevant Portfolio
- Client reviews and testimonials
- Clear communication with the team
- Under budget
4. What are the features of a good website?
Some of the key features that every good website must have are:
- User-friendly interface
- High-quality content
- Fast loading speed
- Robust security
- Effective Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
5. Which company is best for web development?
DreamSoft4U is a leading web development company known for its successful project deliveries, highly efficient team of developers, and cost-effective solutions.
