When you visit a website, it’s a visual experience. Hopefully the site’s homepage will consist of an attractive, easy-to-navigate layout of content and images that will encourage you to explore further details on the website. Most people understandably don’t comprehend and aren’t really interested in the technical details that go together to make that website work. But if you’re the owner of the website, you should be interested in those details since it can have a large bearing on the performance of the site.
Essentially, a website can be built via one of the following options:
Both options have pros and cons and both have a role in the marketplace. In this article we’d like to talk about why we only build coded websites and the advantages this offers for our clients.
Website coding is computer programming that provides information for a website browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge et cetera) on how a web page should display and function. There are a number of different coding languages and frameworks (tools that support the efficient writing of code) that are involved with web development.
Unless you’re selling products online, most small-to-medium business websites will be based on the following front-end languages. Online stores also use a back-end language that communicates with a database storing product and customer data.
HTML is the standard language for describing website content. The content is written as a series of elements that define the structure of a webpage. For example, HTML will tell the browser which text are headings and are therefore important and which text is contained in a paragraph. It will also define things like links to other web pages and where images are to be sourced from.
CSS is the language that underpins the appearance of website – aspects such as the layout on the page, the colour scheme, the size and type of fonts used and many other features. CSS has evolved significantly over time, and now offers developers greater efficiency with coding and provides more and more features. Some of these features used to previously only be possible using JavaScript (see below).
JavaScript allows a developer to add dynamic functionality such as image sliders and animations and more. You can still build beautiful websites without using JavaScript – you can incorporate features like drop-down navigation and scroll animation using pure CSS – but JS can open the door to another range of possible features.
By writing code directly from a blank canvas, a developer has maximum control over the look-and-feel, the functionality and performance of a website. Your website will be:
Due to the level of control that a developer has when writing code, website content can be easily optimised for search engines to understand, and factors such as a minimal amount of code and the absence of external dependencies further enhance SEO. This can give a coded website an advantage in terms of being discovered in internet searches.
Because of their complexity and the need to understand website languages, coded websites are perceived as:
From a client perspective, all of these disadvantages can be easily managed by choosing the right service provider from what is a highly-competitive market.
In simple terms, there are three types of clients in the website market:
WebSofa operates in the second domain. We provide professionally coded websites for small-to-medium businesses looking for an edge on their competitors. We enjoy writing code but we get an even bigger buzz seeing our clients’ websites thrive in internet search rankings.
As a small business ourselves, we’re mindful of constraints with our clients’ time and budget which is why we’ve addressed these key issues that can be regarded as a relative disadvantage with coded websites.
When you work regularly with any technology you naturally become proficient. Although writing code is difficult, it’s second nature to a professional website developer. You are able to create smarter and more efficient systems for writing. And as languages such as CSS continue to evolve, it gives you the advantage of needing less code to produce the same functionality, which is another time saver.
For a typical small business website, we aim for approximately a two to three week turnaround. We find that many clients need this type of timeframe for them to prepare and review their website content.
WebSofa operates on a low profit margin basis. We benchmark our services against local competitors operating in the same market space. In order to manage costs, we incorporate simple build processes that streamline the time needed for each project. We also operate with low overheads.
If you seek a quote for a new website, it won’t normally be based on an hourly rate. So comparisons should be easy to make, provided that you’re being quoted on similar quality products. That’s why it’s important as a client to have some knowledge on the different ways a website can be built and the potential ramifications on website quality.
Every website needs to be maintained over its lifetime, both from the perspective of reflecting changes in your business and to also ensure fresh content. Search engines such as Google favour websites that have updated content and they include this as a factor when ranking a website’s search results.
Clean code that is well written and easily understood means simpler maintenance. In addition, there are no software updates required with a coded website, making the need for less maintenance in the long run. WebSofa offer maintenance packages at a reduced hourly rate as an option for our clients. These packages also include routine monitoring to ensure the website’s continued high performance.
By addressing these three points, WebSofa is essentially offering websites with all the performance advantages of hard coding for the cost of a site put together using website building software.
If you'd like further information, WebSofa offers a free, one-hour consultation to discuss your project and provide objective advice on the best way forward for your business.
