Building a fully-functional web app through a web development company is a little more complicated than creating one through WordPress or Joomla since developers need to complete a number of steps before your web app can go live. In return though, you can be sure that your web app will be visually appealing, fully optimized and user-friendly. What steps do developers need to take to build a fully-functional website?
Information gathering: First, developers must gather all the information they will need for the project. So during this stage they will analyze the client’s needs, define the web apps’ main goals, and learn more about the target audience. Also, the designers should become familiar with the future content types as that will help them decide on the main layout for the web app.
Planning: Based on the information gathered in phase one, developers will create a detailed action plan and design a site map describing all major sections of the web app. A well-described and detailed plan based on this pre-development data can protect you from spending extra resources on solving unexpected issues such as design changing or adding important features that weren’t initially planned.
Design: During the design phase, your web app begins to take shape as the entire visual content, such as images, photos, and videos is created. The team will also draw one or more prototypes for the website in the form of a static image that will describe how the final website will look like and clarify the basic functionality of the web app.
Development: With the prep-work done, the developers can start creating the web app itself using the graphics designed during the previous stage. The main page is typically created first, then all sub-pages are added, according to the web app hierarchy. Finally, features and interactive elements are added.
Testing: Testing is probably the most routine but also one of the most important parts of web app development. Developers will check every link to ensure there aren’t any broken ones among them, and they will make sure that all scripts and features run correctly. They will also check the code with code validators to make sure it follows current web standards.
Launch: Once you are given final approval from the client, it is time for the web app to go live. But before that, the site should be a run-through for the last time to confirm that all files have been uploaded correctly, and the site is fully functional.
Maintenance: Once the web app goes live, e.g. full-stack development team needs to keep an eye on it to make sure no new bugs appear and to perform server maintenance once in a while.
How long does it take to get your new development projects up and running? It’s difficult to say, as building a web app from scratch requires time, even for the simple ones. And if you are thinking about creating a customized web app with specific features, then you might be looking at a timeline of several months even.
The benefits of hiring a professional web developer
Although modern content management systems like WordPress allow almost anyone to create their digital products easily, they are usually quite limited in terms of features or customization options. That is why most companies choose either to work on the web apps themselves or hire a web development team to design and maintain their company web apps.
Creating the web app itself has the advantage that the company will have full control over the development process and be able to monitor its progress. However, doing it in-house might quickly become a burden to their team if they don’t have the necessary skills or time to work on designing and testing the website.
Especially for more complex web apps, it may make more sense to speak with a full-stack web development company. What are some of the advantages of getting help from a professional?
- By hiring a web development team, you can focus on running your business as usual while the development team will set up the web app for you.
- You can employ a web developer either to assist you in designing your web app or to do it for you and deliver the finished product.
- Web development companies have the skills and knowledge to get your web app up and running quickly, within your budget, and with a fantastic user experience. Plus, they also know what to do if something doesn’t work out as planned, so you don’t have to worry about your business.
- They know how to enhance your web app’s speed, performance, and security with various plugins, so you can be sure it all is fully optimized.
- Besides setting up your web app, they can help you with all the technical aspects of your site, such as cloud hosting, security, maintenance, and SEO.
- Their knowledge of the latest technologies and industry trends will help you create a more appealing, functional, and up-to-date web app.
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