The Different Types of Web Development Services You Can Use
Over the past several years, there has been a significant rise in the number of websites launched. Earlier, only a few companies had a website. But nowadays every business, big and small, has a website or plans to have one.
For anyone looking to hire someone to build or maintain a website, it’s an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the different types of web development services that are available in the market.
Many website development services are available today, and you can even get easy to use, DIY, drag-and-drop website-building options available free or for low costs.
However, to make the most of your web development outsourcing and choose the right web development service providers for your website, you need to know more about the different types of web development services that are commonly offered.
In this post, we will discuss the different web development services you should be aware of that you can use, and why you might prefer one or more of those services to the other.
But first let’s get the basics of web development out of the way, and also highlight what makes the job of a web developer different from a web designer.
Let’s begin…
What is Web Development?
Web development is the process of bringing a website idea to reality. It involves all the steps from ideation to making the website live, such as conceptualization, designing the website, coding, testing, registering domain names, hosting servers, email hosting, and building a security layer to protect customers’ confidential information from cyber theft.
Web Developer vs. Web Designer?
Both web developers and designers are integral to the web development process. However, their roles significantly differ.
Web designers are responsible for designing a website and are involved in activities like wireframing, color schemes, typography, UI/UX design, and so on. Their goal is to make the website visually appealing and immersive.
On the other hand, web developers are responsible for building a website’s features and functionalities. They write code using languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and create the website’s underlying architecture – such as the backend systems and databases.
In short, a web designer is responsible for creating the look and feel of a website. On the other hand, a web developer is responsible for technically implementing it. Both have to work in tandem to create a genuinely immersive website experience.
Top Web Development Services You Should Know
Building a successful website is not just about hiring a great team, but also about choosing a team that fits your project requirements perfectly. This is possible only if you know about the services a web development service provider or agency can offer.
Here are some of the more common web development solutions agencies offer these days:
1. Frontend Web Development
In front-end development services, you hire a team to design and develop a website or web application’s user interface. The team handles the layout, color scheme, typography, and other website visual elements. Also, it uses HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other front-end technologies to create interactive, responsive, and visually-appealing websites.
Here’s why some businesses prefer outsourcing frontend web development services separately than doing it themselves in-house:
- Outsourcing front-end web development is typically more cost-effective than hiring an in-house team. It can save money on overhead costs and salaries and get the same level of quality from an outsourced team.
- With frontend web development outsourcing, companies can access a wider talent pool with specialized skills and expertise.
- Frontend web development outsourcing can save companies time as they don’t have to hire and train talent.
- By focusing on front-end web development outsourcing, companies can save time and effort by focusing on core competencies.
2. Backend Web Development
In backend web development services, web development agencies involve a team of backend developers to build the server side of a website or web application.
Their role typically involves working on the backend using programming languages like PHP, Python, and Ruby to design the web application’s backend. They also work with frameworks like Laravel, Django, and Ruby on Rails to build complex web applications and APIs.
Here’s why most companies prefer outsourcing backend web development services:
- With backend web development outsourcing, companies can access a wider pool of talent having specialized skills, expertise, and an in-depth understanding of programming languages, databases, and server infrastructure.
- Backend web development outsourcing is more cost-effective as you only have to hire specialized talent.
- With backend web app development, companies can scale their resources up or down as needed without worrying about hiring and training resources.
However, the downside of backend web app development outsourcing is that your team needs in-depth technical knowledge and expertise to ascertain website safety guarantees after the job is completed. Otherwise, it can expose your app to issues and security loopholes.
3. Full-stack Web Development
In full-stack development, web development agencies involve developers who can work well on both the client and server sides. It is cost-effective as you don’t need to hire backend and frontend developers separately.
However, the downside of full-stack development is that developers who master both the frontend languages and backend technologies are rare.
Full-stack developers need proficiency in frontend and backend development and an in-depth understanding of related technologies like version control, web servers, and networking. They must also be proficient in programming languages like PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, and JavaScript. Not all developers may have this level of expertise.
Besides that, there are other considerations you should keep in mind here as well:
- Full-stack web development is a time-consuming process requiring significant time and resources.
- Since the web development industry continuously evolves, keeping track of new developments can be challenging in full-stack web development.
- Maintenance and debugging can be challenging as developers must care for the front and backend.
4. E-commerce Web Development
E-commerce is a rapidly evolving sector that is projected will be worth $7.4 trillion by 2025. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that e-commerce website development has great scope.
Here’s why offering e-commerce website development services can be a wise business strategy:
- There’s a high demand for professional e-commerce website development services as many stores digitize and build their online presence.
- E-commerce is a high-paying industry with the potential for significant profit margins, meaning you can get clients who pay you nicely for your web development services.
Generally, you can provide services like Magento development or responsive shopping web app development to e-commerce brands who want to dabble in the e-commerce world.
You can also be hired as an e-commerce website development service provider to enhance their website and upgrade it cater to the latest technology developments.
5. Customized Web App Development
Customers are savvy these days. Traditional off-shelf software will get you nowhere because they offer the same experience for all businesses and industries. Clients these days want a customized website or web app that can address the challenges and workflows of a particular company or industry. Hence, customized web app development is getting increasingly popular.
Some of the advantages customized web apps offer over traditional off-the-shelf software include:
- Customized web apps are more personalized and efficient as they’re tailored to the requirements and workflows of a business.
- Businesses can quickly scale customized web applications to handle massive volumes of data and user requests without facing performance issues.
- Since customized web apps are designed keeping the requirements of a business in mind, they can significantly increase efficiency and productivity.
- Businesses opting for customized web apps experience significant advantages as they get features competitors using traditional off-the-shelf software don’t get.
- Businesses can seamlessly integrate customized web apps with other systems, offering seamless experiences for users.
Because of these significant advantages, big, multi-national companies like Facebook, Netflix, and Google have built customized web apps to engage their users. As a result, they’ve witnessed tremendous growth, higher user interaction, and lesser churn rate.
6. CMS Website Development
These days, businesses don’t just want to churn out content on their website, but also manage it seamlessly across different channels. Hence, there’s a significant rise in websites built on content management systems (CMS).
CMS allow even the less tech savvy users out there to seamlessly manage and publish digital content such as text, images, and videos across all channels.
Some of the benefits of offering CMS web app development services to businesses include:
- Most businesses want the process of content creation, management, and publishing so easy that even their non-technical members can handle it. Hence, there’s a demand for websites that let them manage and publish content from CMS like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
- Businesses want to save time and effort by automating content management. Websites built on WordPress and Joomla can do the same.
- With a CMS website, a business can manage content and customize it how it best suits their business interests.
The best thing about building a CMS website is that businesses can easily own and operate it after its life. They can easily create, edit, or publish content and optimize it for SEO to maximize its performance.
7. Static Website Development
Despite the massive demand for dynamic and immersive websites, they’re not applicable everywhere. In fact, they are expensive, difficult to maintain, and not effective if you only want to use them to display information and announcements.
That’s why some businesses require static websites where the content is delivered as designed without any dynamic or interactive elements.
Other reasons why some businesses prefer static websites include:
- You can develop static websites faster as they don’t need server-side processing or complex coding.
- Since static websites are less expensive than dynamic websites, they’re the best choice for SMBs and individuals.
- You can easily host and deploy static websites on any web hosting platform that supports HTML and CSS.
- Since static websites don’t need server-side processing, there are fewer chances of a data breach or cyber-security threats.
There you have it! A list of the most common web development services that you should be aware of. Now, go and assess which service best caters to your particular project from a position of knowledge and choose the right web development service for you. Good luck!