Digital attention is reaching new lows. Businesses today compete with each other to grab customer’s attention as quickly as possible. Gone are those days when websites were enough to make a stunning online presence. From the places where customers access the online information to the way they consume the information, there has been a paradigm shift in recent years.

Technology has immensely transformed the way businesses used to reach out to customers. With increasing competition and decreasing digital attention, it is very essential that you strengthen your online presence with best-in-industry practices and trends. Apart from providing your customers with traditional website experiences, you also need to invest in mobile applications and web applications.

In this article, we will analyze the ins and outs of web application development, its challenges, and the best practices. Web applications provide an amazing way to reach out to your customers directly with a great deal of accessibility and ease of use. 

→ What is web application development?

→ What are the challenges in web application development?

→ What are the best practices in web application development?

What is web application development?

It refers to the process of creating applications that can be accessed through a network. Without having to download the app, users can instantly access the web applications on the go. These application programs reside on the remote serves, and they are directly delivered to the customers’ devices through an Internet connection. They are not limited to any particular operating systems like mobile apps and they can be accessed on any browser. They don’t take up the hard drive or device space. Popular web applications are mostly available as mobile apps too. There are different types of web applications that range from productivity-enhancing apps, fun and gaming apps, networking apps, financial apps, etc. 

What are the challenges in web application development?

1) Choosing the right tech stack

2) User experience challenges

3) User interface and design

4) Performance and speed

5) Scalability and flexibility

6) Threats in security 

#1 Choosing the right tech stack

Web application development begins with the first step of choosing the right tech stack based on your business requirements. Right tech stack refers to the frameworks, programming languages, software, servers, and other tools involved in web application development. The tech stack you choose should be competent enough to resolve the problems you want to solve through the web application. 

#2 User experience challenges

UX is the key to unlock customer satisfaction. Websites with the right user experience easily attract people and they are remembered forever. Your web applications need to be one step ahead of the websites when it comes to delivering a great user experience. The UX should translate your brand vision and entice your customers to engage more on your web application. 

#3 User interface and design

If you want to impress your customers in the first go, you need to invest in creating a great design for your app. The core elements of a great design are ease of use, accessibility, fast goal accomplishment, and navigation features. Your design and content should go hand in hand and it should be customized to the needs of your target audience and industry. 

#4 Performance and speed

The performance of the web application depends on various factors. Speedy page loads and smooth transitions are crucial factors that determine the overall performance. The graphical icons, videos, heavy fonts, high-quality images, and other elements that usually consume more time and bandwidth to load need to be optimized for better performance.

#5 Scalability and flexibility

The tech stack that you choose should allow you to customize your app the way you want it. Your web app should be modular enough to accommodate new changes and upgrades in the future. As your business expands you need a more flexible, scalable, and robust platform that lets you handle the increase in traffic and deliver rich customer experiences.  

#6 Threats in security

Choosing the right development infrastructure with everything that you need to secure your web application is not a mean feat. Adopt robust security measures like multi-factor authentication and powerful password criteria. Customers feel secured on SSL-certified websites that guarantee safe financial transactions and encrypted communication.   

What are the best practices in web application development?

Here is a list of the best practices in web application development that help you to overcome these challenges and resolve the complexities. 

1) Building responsive websites

2) Progressive web apps (PWAs)

3) Powerful CMS tools

4) Compelling typography

5) Personalized chatbots 

6) Impactful web animations

7) Cloud-based web development tools

8) Leverage artificial intelligence

9) Adhering to SEO guidelines

10) Security features 

#1 Building responsive websites

The role of responsive user experience is integral to the success of a web application. Since different customers use different devices that have varied sizes and specifications, it’s important that your web application should deliver the same and seamless experience on all of these devices. Responsive designing is a one-stop solution that fits all the sizes of different devices. 

#2 Progressive web apps (PWAs)

Progressive web apps help you combine the best of both web and mobile experiences. They load instantly and are accessible even in environments with low internet connectivity. Moreover, with SEO-proof features and faster page loads, it’s easy to index these progressive web apps on Google and other search engines. PWAs have the features of native apps with hardware integration capabilities too. 

#3 Powerful CMS tools

As your business grows you need to keep your websites and web applications updated with more content and information. This requires powerful content management systems (CMS) that should allow you to quickly edit, update, modify, add, or delete contents and elements. With a good CMS tool, you can enhance your overall efficiency and performance effortlessly.  

#4 Compelling typography

Typography not only contributes to the user experience, but it also speaks volume about your brand. Typography plays an important role in making your brand distinct and easily identifiable. Therefore spend a lot of time and resources in defining your style guide that covers the color palettes, font styles, font colors, etc.  

#5 Personalized chatbots 

Chatbots are nothing but AI-powered customer service solutions that do all the talking on behalf of you. They are like free and 24/7 customer service executives for you. You need to preprogram your chatbots with engaging sets of questions and interesting choices of answers that entice the customers to engage more on your web applications and accomplish their goals.

#6 Impactful web animations

Content is always not words and sentences. Images, content, and everything in between together constitutes your brand story. To make your brand story engaging and compelling, you need to add interesting web animations, videos, and interactive modules to your web application. Leverage augmented reality and virtual reality to give a real-like experience to the visitors.    

#7 Cloud-based web development tools

If you want to develop custom web applications rapidly, you need to leverage cloud-based web development tools that allow you to test, develop, and deploy web applications without depending on on-premise infrastructure and frameworks. Switching from desktop-based development tools to cloud-based development tools helps you stay ahead in the competitive curve.  

#8 Leverage artificial intelligence

Modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML). natural language processing (NLP) have transformed the way businesses run and operate. Subsequently, web applications have also witnessed a massive changeover powered by these technologies. If you are not investing in these technologies, you will be left behind. 

#9 Adhering to SEO guidelines

Web applications with content originality, mobile-responsive pages, speedy page loads rank higher and upfront on the top pages of search engines like Google and Bing. If you want to be seen first, make sure your web application stands out in the huge crowd of competition by adhering to the search engine guidelines recommended by Google and Bing.

#10 Security features 

Security and privacy issues are the topmost concerns faced by a web application development company. You need to secure both customer data and corporate data with encrypted and foolproof servers. This helps you prevent your web applications from vulnerabilities and security attacks.  

Final Thoughts

Since there are many factors that decide the success of your web application development company, it is important that you stay in the know of the latest trends and keep pace with them. If you find this article resourceful follow this space for more insightful topics. With our years of expertise in technology and solutions, we have empowered hundreds of clients to excel and succeed.

As a top-rated web application development company, at Siam computing, we have a team of web application development experts who specialize in creating adept and delightful solutions customized for your business requirements. If you need a free consultation on how to make your web application development project successful, get in touch with us. We would love to be of help to you. Get A Free Consultation Now.