Every Company needs a Web Developer
( 6 min read )
Even if you got a website for free, and maintain it yourself, you have to admit…
You could use a web developer.
Someone to handle all the technical aspects of building, hosting, securing, designing, and maintaining your website for you or your company. A blend of SysAdmin, WebDev, WebDesigner, and Technical Support all rolled into one. If you’re a small company or start-up, that is. Large companies will obviously need more folks for each department, as their needs will be much greater. But I’ll focus on small companies and hobbyists who currently don’t have a dedicated web developer.
My father runs a small company. He repairs spas, pools, hot tubs, and more for a living. He started in 1991 and operated for 20 years without a website. After all, he does everything himself! His business saw an increase in customers calling him for help from all over Michigan, and other states, after he got his website at SpaTecService.com. It gave him immediate visibility online. His customer calls increased especially after 2008’s recession. My father was working 12 hour days just about everyday to fit every caller in his schedule. He told me, “I had no idea if this would work”. It helped him tremendously with getting his name out there. His business started getting online reviews too; further cementing his profile in Google’s search results.
Search Results Help Businesses
Why all the rage over a simple website? His business model hasn’t changed in years, so what gives?
Simply put, the market has shifted. People search online for answers more than ever. Wanna find a bike shop? Search online. Wanna find reviews on a restaurant? Search online. Wanna find tickets for a movie? Search online.
People don’t thumb through a copy of YellowPages anymore. Young adults (myself included!) especially don’t do this. We are quick to open a web browser and search the internet instead, for… well… anything!
So naturally, businesses have to follow suit. Businesses today need websites for their name to be noticed. Its the internet equivalent of a phone book. And its a new market shift that won’t be going away, anytime soon. Starting a new business in 2017? You should get a website (at least a domain name) right away.
Start Building a Website
“But building websites is hard though!”
Its actually gotten a lot easier. There are many companies built on the idea of building websites for other companies. As crazy as that sounds. (Wix, Wordpress, Squarespace for starters). My father used a service from BlueHost to buy his domain and build his website from a template. He could pick the colors, layout, and start typing content and immediately see the published results. He didn’t purchase a server, configure the network, route his domain to his IP, setup a firewall, install Apache on Unix, or code a single HTML document at all.
He didn’t need a web developer. Or sysadmin, or anyone for that matter.
He was the web developer.
With the service he used, he could create his website in minutes, and keep updating it for years. He didn’t need to hire anybody. He just needed a website for his business.
So, even if you already have a website. Or if you are in need of one for your hobby or business. I encourage you to explore your options by… of all things… searching online! There are dozens if not hundreds of services out there, ready to help build you a website. Seems most have a free plan to start with and they’re designed to grow as your company grows. Making it simple to start and expand later.
Learn the way of Web-Dev
And for those of us who are ready for a challenge; you can learn web development online, for free. The are many sites you can learn how to code from, such as w3schools, codeacademy, or udemy. You could learn HTML and CSS to make basic web pages, and host them on a site like GitHub Pages.
I wrote my personal site amdelamar.com in this way. I used a few CSS libraries (w3css, icomoon) and wrote a single page of HTML, and placed it all on GitHub. Then linked https://amdelamar.github.io/portfolio/ to http://amdelamar.com/ using a CNAME file. (GitHub has really outdone themselves here. Bravo for such a great service!)
Why not become your own Web Developer?
I mean seriously. You can do it! I just explained what my father did for his business and what I did for myself. You can follow along or carve your own path, and you can start today.
Stop reading this. Start with a free site, and start learning to code in HTML/CSS. Before you know it, you’ll have a second hobby in building websites and a new title: Web Developer.
Published: Mar 6, 2017
Category: workplace