As clients are consistently demanding that their websites be finished and ready to go live in smaller and smaller time frames, it is becoming increasingly important to save both time and money in the web development industry. Use these tips to speed up the process, thereby saving a considerable amount of time and money:
- Have website mock-ups – The bane of many a web developer’s existence is the client who doesn’t know what they want. In order to prevent you investing time in the web development process that goes to waste, you should always create (or get your designer to come up with) a website mock-up that the client can then approve and make changes to. It is much easier to make changes to a website in this format then it is once the development process has already started.
- Don’t always start from scratch – Whilst it is sometimes necessary for a web developer to build a website from scratch, if the client is after a simple site or adding functionality to an existing site, it is possible to use existing code. The website may have some code that you can reuse and customize to fit the new design, or you may come across a free code ‘snippet’ on the internet that you can utilize in your current project.
- Write flexible code – Most websites will need to be redesigned or involve updates in the future, so to save time when it comes to this, it is always a good idea for a web developer to write code with these potential changes in mind. What this means is that all of the code (from the CSS to the HTML) should be able to be easily modified at a later date. Not only does this save you time on your current project (as the use of complex code and tables is reduced to a minimum), it will save a substantial amount of time for future changes.
- Choose a suitable web host – It is occasionally the case that a client has already employed a domain name and a web hosting company. It is, however, important for the web developer to make sure that this web host is suitable for the type of website that they will be creating. By looking at aspects, such as the platform and resource allotments, that the host provides, you can save a lot of time in the future when you realize that your site is just not compatible.
When it comes to lowering cost and time in the web development industry, it involves more than just thinking about the present – saving time and money in the future should also be a priority. Use the above practices in your current and future projects and you will start to see a distinctive difference.
