Jan
20

Online Tools For Web Developers

01/20/2021 12:00 AM

Everybody has a website these days. Whether it is a freelancer or a small start-up, everybody needs an online presence to be able to succeed in the market. While anybody can set up a website, developing it is a whole different ball-game.

Website development refers to the building and maintenance of a site. Web developers not only create full-fledged working sites but also maintain them so that they never stop looking great. After all, without a website that is easy to use, great to look at, and fast, no customer will return.

Any good website developer has a range of tools and tricks to help them achieve their goal. The choice of online tools for web developers can determine the quality and ease of working for the developer. There are different categories of tools ranging from those that help with design to the name of the website.

 

1.    Website Developing Tools

Before a website can be developed and optimized, there needs to be a website. Part of what a web developer does is build a website. To build a great website, one now can’t really purely on manual coding any longer. Even so, there are a few main tools that any web developer requires.

Coding Tools

Coding is the core of web development. To create a website, a web developer requires tools such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Used in combination, a web developer can build a website.

HTML is the most basic programming language. It is used to create a basic structure for the site. Words, titles, and paragraphs are all created using HTML. It consists of tags that then show up as readable text on a screen.

CSS builds on HTML coding. It is used to style the website and put the elements into their place. You can use CSS to control how the information is presented, the formatting, colors, backgrounds, and define the properties of the website.

JavaScript controls the behavior of the website. Javascript is the most popular programming language currently being used. It is used to make the website interactive. When you scroll, click on buttons, display photos in a carousel, you can be assured that there is JavaScript coding in the background.

Technology Stacks

Technology stacks are a combination of whatever is required to make your website. All of the software, programming, and other tools make up a technology stack. Every website that is created will have a unique technology stack depending on the requirements.

Frameworks

Another important tool for any web developer is frameworks. Technically, it is possible to create a website without the use of frameworks. However, it is time-consuming. Frameworks are structures of pre-written code used to determine how programs interact.

There are frontend and backend frameworks that use different programming languages to create. Using these pre-written frameworks makes the process of website creation a lot faster and convenient. There is also a guarantee that the code is effective since it has been tested.

Libraries

Much like frameworks, you don’t technically need libraries. Libraries are a collection of specific tools and features that can be added to a website for better functionality. They are used to implement different behaviors and actions.

 

2.    Website Optimization Tools

Just creating a website is not enough. With the host of content available on the internet today, not optimizing your website means it will just get lost on the internet. No search engine is going to pick it up.

Website optimization tools are required for search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization. While the tools aren’t technically mandatory, attempting to manually optimize a website these days is much like having to hunt for your meals without any tools.

While it has become necessary to use a website optimization tool, there are a lot of tools that are available for free. Any of these tools come under two main types.

Page Speed Tools

Optimization of a website involves making sure that a website is loading fast. Whether it is on mobile or not, a website that is taking too long to load has some issues. A page speed tool helps identify the issues that are affecting page loading and speed issues. There are many free tools such as Google Pagespeed Insights and GT Metrix that are free!

SEO Tools

Search engine optimization (SEO) has become vital to the long-term success of a website. The right SEO tactics and tools can help a website climb to the top of the Google search page. SEO tools aren’t exclusive to SEO as some platforms cover analytics, UX, and CRO. Choosing a tool such as Google Search Console helps cover a wide variety of areas at once, for free!

 

3.    Web Design Tools

Web design involves planning, conceptualizing, and arranging the content of a website. It goes beyond the aesthetics and involves the functionality of the site itself. When it comes to web design, it isn’t just the official website, but the web apps, mobile apps, and user interface.

Good web design is crucial not only for the consumer but for the performance of a site on search engines as well! Utilizing the right tools can make a big difference for this crucial step in web development.

As a web developer, you will be required to choose the web design tools based on the team size, budget, and type of site. There are two different kinds of apps you can use when it comes to tools.

Desktop Apps

These are tools such as Photoshop and Sketch that allow a designer to focus on the overall design. A designer would create a design using these tools and then send it over to the development team to convert to code.

Desktop apps are better for websites that are much larger and more complex. This way, a designer can focus purely on design and the overall feel while leaving the technical part to the development team. Most large companies that have the budget and resources use this technique.

However, this can be time-consuming and expensive. There are multiple resources and professionals with different skill sets required to execute such a project.

Website Builders

If you don’t have the resources or the time, website builders are a better option. Some of the most well-known website builders include Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress. Not every website builder will offer the same design abilities, options, prices, and features. Some research is required to find the website builder best suited to your needs.

With a website builder, you can have two different types of sites. You can create an adaptive or responsive website. Both of these websites offer different experiences and fit different requirements.

Make sure you understand the goals of your website properly before choosing the tools you use for web design. The overall result has a significant effect on search rankings and user experience.

 

4.    Domain Tools

Picking the right domain name is no walk in the park. It makes a significant difference in the overall success of your website. Any domain name needs to be strong enough to stick in a consumer’s mind.

The right domain name can do a lot for your business. It adds credibility and makes your business look professional, and sets you apart in the industry. On the same note, your business will be seen as tech-savvy and solidify your reputation.

Any catchy name, whether of a brand or a book, catches attention and draws a customer. It provides greater visibility and makes sure your customers recognize your brand when you show up on a search results page.

More importantly, your domain name sticks to you. Whether you move physically or to a different web hosting service, a domain name sticks. It allows you to build your brand without having to start each time afresh.

Picking a domain name isn’t easy. There is a lot of pressure associated with a domain name as it is going to be the ‘face’ of your brand. This what customers will use to recognize you, regardless of a change in marketing technique.

There is an added level of difficulty when picking a domain name because many of the top-level domain names have already been taken up. This leaves far and few to choose from. Finding the right domain name is definitely a challenge, and using a tool to help makes it much easier.

To pick the perfect domain name, you can use a domain tool. There are multiple, credible, and sometimes free domain tools that can be used to find the perfect domain name for your website.

A domain tool would ideally allow you to explore thousands of domain names with different extensions easily. It will show you the top-level domains, generic domains, using the keyword as well as combinations with different nouns. The right tool will help you easily filter out domains and keep track of your favorites.

 

5.    Converter Tools

Driving traffic to your website is a big step, but it doesn’t end there. To benefit from the traffic to your site, you’ll need to convert the traffic into actions with value. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a necessity for marketers and, therefore, web developers to make the best use of the traffic generated.

The data received from the use of converter tools inspires extreme changes such as to the landing page and email design. The information provides an in-depth insight into the consumer’s mindset.

There are several different kinds of tools you can use to optimize conversion rates. Having these tools is necessary to be able to gather information. There are different tools for every purpose.

Lead Capture Tools

Lead capture tools help you capture more leads to improve your CRO. An additional tool helps greatly to boost the leads that convert. The built-in forms are useful, but a lot more can be achieved with external tools such as HubSpot and Sumo. A lot of these apps also do a lot more than lead capture as well!

 

Research Tools

Creating content for your website cannot be done based on whatever comes to mind at the moment. It requires significant amounts of research and planning. Research tools can help inspire and show you what has succeeded for other marketers in the same field. Using the information from apps like BuzzSumo, you can easily map out content.

 

Analytics Tools

Once the content is created, there needs to be data about how the content performs with the target audience. Analytics tools like the popular Google Analytics can provide this information so that future content can be revised.

 

Mouse Tracking and Heat Maps

Mouse tracking and heat maps are especially useful when combined with analytics. It shows how consumers scroll and click to understand how people are interacting with the content already on the website. There are free versions of mouse tracking apps and heatmaps such as Hotjar and Clicktale. For better features and more data, you can pay a basic price.

 

Feedback tools

Everyone loves voicing their opinions. Providing easy to see and use feedback tools allows you to engage your audience while receiving feedback at the same time. A feedback tool can be anything, surveys, polls, messages, or user testing programs. Some well-known tools are SurveyMonkey and Intercom.

The feedback that you receive from these surveys, polls and more can be applied or used as a way to gather data for your email list!

 

Experiment Tools

Experiments and tests are necessary to fully understand what can be done with a website and what ideas can be implemented. Experiment tools are used to manage and plan A/B and multivariate tests. Once planned and structured, the same tools will help you run the experiments on the actual site.

You’ll be able to see your ideas turn into experiments, and depending on the tools, you can create variations as well. Some popular experiment tools include Optimizely and Effective experiments.

 

Final Thoughts

Web developers have a host of different tools to help them build and maintain a website. Depending on the requirements of the website, team size, budget, and more, there are a host of different tools available for use. With the kind of hosts available for use, there’s nothing stopping a web developer from going all out for every website!