As a beginner, you may find website development to be a confusing affair. And you are not entirely wrong. Website development is such a crowded space with several different options to choose from and many competitors to deal with. It is an ever-evolving field. And, companies prefer hiring an agency or a part time software developer for their projects. But if you have time and eagerness to learn about new technologies. All you need to navigate through the ‘spoilt for choice’ scenario is a structured approach plan.
Here are few basic steps to get started with website development:
First thing first, know how websites actually work. You obviously know how to browse websites, that’s a starting point towards building an understanding. Visit the sitemap page on websites you check regularly. Get to know how information is presented. Now, create an action plan including the website development timelines and marketing goals.
If you have the basic understanding of coding, the second step is to simply learn about HTML and other technologies. It may sound complicated, however learning HTML needs logic and a few syntaxes. The next step is to learn to interpret CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). These sheets are instrumental in designing your website. They provide the look and appearance to your website under which it stands out. Javascript, PHP, Python, etc. are the higher-level languages that make the website interactive & responsive.
The third step is to gain an understanding of website technologies. Which are the most relevant ones to your industry. These include developing an understanding of your website visitors’ web browsers to view your website, e.g., Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.
The fourth step is to learn web development frameworks like Angular (for dynamic web applications), Ruby on Rails (help with faster development of web apps), Javascript Apps, etc.
The fifth step is to learn about standard website protocols. They include HTTP, DDP, etc. Learning data formats is also important to present yourself as a highly functional website developer, i.e., XML, JSON, CSV.
Sixth and the penultimate step is to get a grip on server and database management. After all, whatever your website is about, its content is going to be King. Content-rich websites always get an edge over low content websites. No one will spend time on a website that does not serve quality, superior, engaging content.
As you get through each of these steps, the idea is not to feel overwhelmed with so many steps. Take one action at a time. Also, as you go about learning, remember to practice your learnings. Without putting your learnings to practice, you tend to forget and easily mix up things.
Some of the popular resources to get started on your learning journey are Udemy, treehouse, free code camp, and, of course, YouTube. There are misconceptions that you can simply learn the concepts by watching online videos. This may hold true for the time immediately to viewing these courseware. However, practice is the only way of retaining your knowledge and excelling in the field.
Globally the internet penetration has gone from 40.7% in 2014 to 53.7% in 2019 as per Statista. And this is the opportunity for you to tap the vast user base of 4.13 billion internet users. Building a perfect website involves persistent efforts. As you develop your skills, we hope this article helps figure out what is the best method for you to go about it. Now remote team management software is useful for tracking.
