Key steps for developing a great web application

Whether you’re a determined start-up looking to carve your own niche or an established business that wants to revamp its digital presence a web application is one tactic that you can look into. But in order to take full advantage you need to be dialled in to some of the best practices in the industry. In this post we’re going to be looking at what the key steps are for developing a great web application.

Web applications versus websites

Before we go into detail it’s important to understand the difference between websites and web apps. A web application behaves similarly to applications on your mobile but they can be accessed via your web browser. Websites are usually designed to inform or showcase services or products. But web apps are created to interact with the user.

Some common examples of web apps are your go to social media websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Or other services you might be using such as Mailerlite, Canva, Figma, HubSpot, Salesforce etc. The list can go on and on.

So now that we got this covered, let’s look at some of the key steps for developing a web application.

Choosing the right tech stack

Every great web application begins with the technology stack. A tech stack refers to the programming languages, web frameworks, servers and libraries you choose to develop your app. There are a lot options out there, each one with its advantages and disadvantages so it’s important to go over them with your software development team.

And if you need a bit of inspiration about what other web apps are using you can get some info here.

A great UX

We’ve written about UX on our blog before. Because it is very important. People want to find what they need in an easy and user-friendly manner. If they have to spend a lot of time looking for features and navigating a lot of menus and interfaces, they won’t be spending too much time on your web application. A happy user is a loyal user.

Speed and performance

According to Google, the probability of a bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds. If the load time goes from one to five seconds the bounce rate increases by 90% and if it takes up to 10 seconds to load, then the chance of a bounce increases to 123%. That means people come to your web app and they don’t bother going any further. That is a potential user or buyer that just went away.

The tech stack, website architecture, content and dynamic elements play a huge role in determining the speed and performance of your web application. So, cover all these topics with the team building your solution.

And even after you launch make sure that you are constantly optimizing for speed and performance — like reducing picture size or paying attention to any addons you might use such as CRMs.

Security

This is a topic that should not be taken lightly. Given the fact that most web applications require and use quite a lot of personal data you need to make sure that you reduce the risk of cyber threats. Once you lose the trust of your users with regard to your ability to protect their data, it’s very hard to get it back.

Encrypt your system and implement authentication for everybody who is accessing it. Implement HTTPS and make sure you have a strong password enforcement strategy. Look at your password recovery mechanisms and also implement multi-factor authentication. If you have a web application which handles sensitive data you can even look into implementing re-authentication for users when accessing these more sensitive areas.

How can we help

Whether you want to upgrade your current web application or develop something custom from scratch, QTeam Solutions is what you need. Don’t believe us? Check out what our other clients had to say. Plus, you get a free 60-minute consulting session to start things off.

Whatever your idea is, we can help you turn it into software https://qteam.solutions/#contact