The Backend of a Custom Website Is More Complex than You Think

At this point, we’ve all seen the ads for Squarespace and Wix, companies that promise you a beautiful, personalised website that requires little effort and no knowledge on your part. Yes, these and other website builders can help you create a good basic website, and they can streamline the domain name purchasing process.

If you want an actual custom website that is perfectly tailored to you and your businesses’ needs, however, there is no quick solution. The backend of a custom website isn’t just drag and drop code, it’s actually far more complex than you would think.

This article is going to look at some of the factors that go into to creating a custom website and explain just why it is so complex.

Languages

Choosing what programming language your website’s backend is going to be written in is an important step that can impact how it functions and how easy it is to alter, update and improve further on down the line. The most popular programming languages currently are Java, JavaScript, C++ and Python. However, with new programming languages that are more effective and more efficient continuously being developed, this can become very complex.

HTML5 is another backend component that you need to be familiar with to create a custom website backend. It’s what has replaced Adobe Flash Player. HTML5 isn’t a programming language exactly, it’s actually a markup language. It’s essentially the delivery system for the content you see on a website.

Any backend web https://elcarwash.com/ developer is going to need to be able to work in at least two programming languages and HTML5 in order to cope with the range of projects they face. This shows just how complex the entire system is when you’re building a custom website.

Optimisation

You can have the coolest looking website in the world with the best graphics and animations and an intuitive interface that makes users want to buy your product, but it the website doesn’t work well then none of that matters. Aesthetics and usability are great ways to draw people in, but if they can’t actually use your website to do what they need to do, then they won’t stay. They also won’t stay if the website is too slow or too glitchy.

Optimisation is making sure every page and feature on your website works and works well. There are many different backend optimisation practices and not every developer agrees on which ones are the most important and effective.

Among the most important steps towards optimising your website are solving N+1 Query issues, normalising your database and creating database indexes, using server and browser caching and utilising a content delivery network. Most of these steps involve making data easier for your server to understand and respond to, the others have to do with decreasing loading speeds so that users can access your site quickly and reliably no matter where they are based.

Unique Challenges

Depending on what industry your website is for, there may be some unique issues that need to be addressed. The needs of an e-tailer and of a mobile game developer are obviously going to be quite different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.

Let’s take a look at a specific industry as an example. In iGaming, which has exploded in popularity over the last five years, there are plenty of industry-specific requirements and challenges. These include things like being able to direct message and respond to certain players based on the actions they’ve taken.

Programs that can not only catalogue and process data but also act on that data are very difficult to implement with the proper support. Companies such as Gaming Innovation Group exist to help businesses manage all these complex tasks and programs. Follow this link for more detailed information about Gaming Innovation Group and how they work to manage the custom websites that their clients require.

If you’re starting a blog or just need a basic site to use as a portfolio, then a building block website from a company such as Squarespace, Wix or WordPress is perfect. As your site becomes more complex and there is increased functionality that you need to have working perfectly, then a custom website is more likely to be appropriate. There is so much work that goes into creating the complicated backend that results in an easy to use and intuitive front end that it is a sensible investment for any business.