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Having a web app or a website is a necessity in today’s digital world for any business, regardless of size or industry. But it’s no longer as easy as just putting up a web app with some information your visitors might need and calling it a day. In fact, it takes roughly 0.05 seconds for users to create an opinion about your web app. A well-designed and easy-to-use web app will encourage visitors to stay on it for longer and maybe even consider reaching out to you. If your webs app is slow to load or doesn’t exactly look good on mobile devices, though, the visitors won’t think twice about clicking the X button. How can you create a web app that will appeal to them? Unless you have an in-house team with the required experience and enough time to work on it themselves, it makes more sense to outsource the work. No matter what size or industry you are in, web developers can do wonders to help you grow your business if you pick the right person for the job. So in this blog post, we’ll tell you why you should hire a web developer and give you some tips on web development services and how to choose the best person for your design services, custom solution, or other online presence forms.
What are web development services?
Web development services involve everything related to building a web-based solution – whether it is a simple text page or a complex web application. Many people think of “web development” as just using a variety of programming languages to create the web app code and put everything together.
But web developers can help with many other tasks, from web design, content creation, scripting language, and SEO to web app maintenance, troubleshooting, and security measures. All to make sure the web app or another development project works exactly as it should.
Why do you need web development services?
We as humans like things that are convenient – and nothing is more convenient than gaining access to all kinds of information by pressing a button. When it comes to booking a service or reserving a place online, the first thing most people do is check out the recommended places on the net as well.
If they can’t find your product or service while they do their research, you are effectively out of their sight, and you don’t exist for them, even if you do offer what they want. This is where having a web app becomes extremely important. Through it, you can reach millions of internet users and convince them that your product is relevant to their needs or even necessary for them to own.
Having just a “good” web app won’t help you break through the clutter and convert users into loyal customers, though. What you really need is an outstanding web app. Outstanding meaning:
- Visually appealing, polished, and professional
- Intuitive to use
- Optimized for mobile devices and search engines
- With easily accessible contact information
- Matching the current trends
- Regularly checked for any broken links or not working scripts
Building a web app of this kind is not an easy task though, even with all the templates available online. If you want a web app that will be personalized to your business goals and have all the required features, then you should contact a web app development company. Why?
You’ll work with developers who are not only good at creating web apps that last but also know a lot about business strategy, usability, user experience, responsive design, and design strategy. Using that knowledge, they can plan, design, and build a web apps based on what you want to achieve and what your users need. By working with a web development company, you will also be able to apply original design trends for your new web app that will set your business apart from the competition.
But there’s one more important benefit. When hiring a web developer, you know you won’t be left alone after the project is completed. Almost all companies that offer website development services also provide regular maintenance and troubleshooting services for their clients, so you can be sure they will keep your site current and running smoothly.
How do you choose a web developer?
You could start looking for web developers right away, but with the countless companies, you might become overwhelmed. And you could have even more options to pick from if you consider hiring someone from a different country or continent. So how to not get lost in all of this?
To choose wisely, you should first understand what exactly do you need rather than attempting to read through and sort all offers you find. Here are a few tips on how you can make the right decision.
- Specify what you want to do – Are you looking to build a basic webpage with your contact information? Or do you want to make something with certain functionality? This step is crucial since it determines which skills your developers should have and what technology they will use.
- Note down your ideas for design – How would you like your website or custom web applications to look and feel? The more specific your design requirements and design trends, the easier it would be for the developers to give you what you want. To start, you could draw something to show (even the simplest) direction you would like the design to go or make a list of web apps which design you like.
- Define your budget – There is no industry standard pricing for how much a web app should cost, so it is essential to know your upper limit. You might be tempted to choose the cheapest option, but then, you could end up paying twice as much later to fix a buggy or non-functional web app.
- Look at hiring sites or review sites to look for web development companies – Sites like Clutch or Upwork are excellent places to start your research. Besides detailed information about a developer or company, you can learn more about their skills and services and read client testimonials.
- Check the developers or agency portfolio – Taking a look at a company’s portfolio will give you a lot of insight into how they work. You’ll be able to see if they have experience in your industry and if they do, examples of websites or custom web applications they’ve developed for companies like yours. But even if they don’t have much experience with your industry, through a portfolio, you can see if you like their design style enough to reach out to them.
- Read client testimonials – You can determine whether a company will provide quality services based on their client testimonials and reviews, as businesses with many testimonials tend to offer high-quality services.
- Reach out to chosen companies with a web app brief to ask for a project estimate – Handing them a list of your requirements will help a web development company understand the functionality of your web app and your expectations about post-launch support. Additionally, they will be able to roughly estimate the time and cost of the entire project, as they will know what exactly you expect from them.
What are the types of web development services?
Web development companies typically offer a vast array of services, so each client could find the one that best suits their needs. Depending on the project’s requirements, a development team can create a fully custom website, help with regular maintenance, develop a web app or optimize your existing one. Here are a few of the most common web development services available today.
Web design
The web design process involves creating a site’s architecture, designing its layout and user interface, and coding it to work correctly. To give you a sense of how the web app will look after it’s finished, web designers create wireframes and mockups, which then can be modified based on your wishes and code development. Their job is also to design optimized versions of web apps and pages both for desktop and mobile viewing, as well adding any interactive elements.
Web development support and maintenance
Besides their main website development services, web development companies also offer support and maintenance for your web app after they have completed your project. Those include everything from checking your web app for broken links and scripts to updating your web app’s content or adding new features, so your web app would be up-to-date.
The web developer can also help with SEO to make sure that your site ranks well in search results or help whenever a problem on your web app arises.
Web hosting
Web hosting involves storing your web app’s files on a server that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Most web development companies will provide you with dedicated server space for your web app as part of their service. They are also responsible for server management, backup services, software maintenance, security, and technical support.
Web programming
Web application development, or web programming, involves building dynamic web applications rather than just web apps. Through using languages like PHP, Ruby on Rails, or Java, web programmers can help you with everything from backend coding to front-end design and even help you build APIs that other companies can use to integrate your app into their own product.
Web optimization
Web optimization is the process of making web apps more user-friendly and visible to search engines. The developers will first check how your page ranks when it comes to SEO, speed, backlinks, load times, and mobile experience and then give their alternative solutions and suggestions on how your web app’s rank can be improved.
Software development services pricing and what it includes.
Now, the question that probably interests you the most – how much does it cost to build your own web app? There are three main ways to build a product, each coming with a different price range – using an online template, building with WordPress or a similar app, or hiring a web designer. Which method of those three you choose will have a significant impact on how much your web app costs.
Website builders and templates are usually the cheapest way to build a web app. Templates can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to as much as $10,000. On the other hand, WordPress is technically free to use, but you will have to pay for hosting, themes, and plugins. Furthermore, the level of customization features included and the ease of updating the theme all vary widely from template to template.
The real cost here though, is the time, effort, and hassle you or your team will have to spend on creating the website or web app. The less money you spend, the more time and effort you’ll have to put into the site to get it to look how you want it – and it probably won’t be exactly matching your vision.
Alternatively, you can hire a web development team to handle your web app design. These companies have seasoned experts who understand your business vision and can design the perfect web app for it. This option is more expensive, however.
The price of a simple web app can range anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, while web apps with a large page count, custom functionality, and unique design can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $75,000 and more. Although the prices seem staggering compared to just purchasing a template, you get much more than just a web app from partnering with a professional web development company.
Their attention is equally divided between web app design, content, user experience, and search engine optimization, as well as everything else that you might need to make your site a valuable asset to your company. Unfortunately, this means that it takes them longer to develop your new web app – as they have to plan it, choose the right technology, create a unique design, and translate everything into a fully-functional web app.
As a result, though, you get a custom-designed web app that looks exactly like you imagined it and is fully optimized to work on various devices and meet all your business objectives. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about finding a hosting company, setting a domain name, maintaining the web app yourself, or fixing bugs – the web app development company will handle everything.
So if your budget allows it, reaching out to a web development companies would be the best option out of the three as you get a “full packet” for the price.
Over to you
Some people might say that having a web app isn’t as important nowadays – not when we have social media. But this couldn’t be further from the truth – your new web app can be exactly the thing you should have to let your customers learn everything they need to know about your brand while also showing yourself as a professional.
But if you don’t have enough time or skills to create a functional site yourself, then reaching out to a company offering web development services is your best bet. Businesses of all sizes rely on web development professionals to create beautiful, highly functional, and search engine-friendly sites. And if you choose the right partner, you can make your site a success – so don’t be afraid to ask for web development team help with your project.
