Top 12 Web Development Mistakes 

In today’s digital world, web development is among the most creative and dynamic fields. Demand for web services has increased significantly in recent years, attracting many people to this field.  

Web developers use different programming languages to build websites, mobile and web applications for their clients. They write codes these platforms need to function well and give users positive experiences. 

However, web development mistakes can affect the performance, quality, and security of the apps or websites that developers build. In most cases, these mistakes arise due to insufficient developer knowledge or experience. 

Why Should Businesses Care About Web Development Mistakes?

Businesses need websites to create brand awareness, attract customers, and grow sales revenue. 

With technology influencing the way buyers interact with brands, your company must give online visitors a positive browsing experience to remain competitive. But these experiences are not shaped by website or app content alone. They are also determined by how accessible and friendly these platforms are to your audience.

This is why you should pay attention to your website’s development and maintenance process. Web development entails construction and maintenance of websites and web applications. 

Although closely related to web design, web development focuses more on the functionality of a website or app. Web developers use their programming expertise to build websites based on client requirements. 

A single web development mistake can cause your website or app to malfunction, giving your visitors unpleasant browsing experiences. With 61% of people saying they would quit a brand after a single negative experience, web development mistakes could potentially mean loss of prospects and customers for your business. 

But you don’t have to experience such loss. Acquainting yourself with common web development mistakes can empower your business to fix website or app issues before they start affecting your visitors. Moreover, it will also hamper the brand development process.

In this article, we discuss 12 common web development mistakes your developer could be making and give you tips on how to avoid them.

Top 12 Web Development Mistakes Web Developers Make

The web development world has changed significantly in recent years. Today, there are numerous resources providing instructions on how to develop different web applications. Web developers work in smart environments designed to identify and fix numerous errors that entry-level developers struggle with regularly. 

But, even with these developments, web development processes are prone to mistakes. Below, we unpack the 12 common web development mistakes to look out for when you hire a web developer to build or maintain your website or app: 

Misunderstanding Client Requirements

When implementing web or mobile app development projects, web developers frequently misunderstand client requirements. This mistake arises due to poor planning and documentation. Before writing an app or website code, web developers must plan and document the web development process. 

Proper planning allows developers to understand the problem, analyze client requirements, and prepare a clear roadmap for a web development project. They also find it easier to make decisions, prioritize tasks, and identify potential problems when they work with a plan. 

Developers who invest time to plan and document capture and share important aspects of web development projects with their team members for fast and effective delivery. Such details include site or app architecture and functionality. 

Skipping or rushing the planning and documentation step can lead to inefficiencies and confusion. As you discuss your site or app with a web developer, ask for a visualized control and logical flow to gauge their understanding of your project. 

Neglecting Browser Compatibility  

Browser compatibility determines website accessibility. The lack of it is one of the most avoidable web dev mistakes developers make. With multiple browser options available to visitors, your website should display seamlessly across browsers.  

Cross-browser tests help in identifying and fixing user interface issues on multiple browsers. But web developers don’t always run these tests. When dealing with strict web development timelines, developers can overlook the browser compatibility of the websites they build. 

Others use browser-specific codes that make it impossible for websites to display well on other browsers. To ensure your website displays seamlessly across browsers, ask your developer to test any web application they develop for your business with cross-browser testing tools. 

Failing to Test Website Codes 

Another common web development mistake your web developer could be making is failing to test website or app codes properly. Testing and confirming codes allows you to check the functionality of a website before deployment. 

Websites that lack robust code error testing risk exposing end users to errors like:

• Incorrect outputs
• Extended loading times
• Broken links

Such errors not only affect user experience negatively but also provide valuable clues to potential hackers seeking vulnerabilities. 

Some websites don’t return errors after testing. The absence of error trapping may be construed to mean codes will work seamlessly once the website launches. But this isn’t always the case.

Discuss code testing with your web developer to avoid this mistake. This way, its functionalities can be tested across different factors, making it bug and error-free.  

Overlooking Technical SEO

Ignoring technical search engine optimization (SEO) is an error that features prominently on the list of web development mistakes. Some developers don’t integrate technical SEO into website development. They believe they have a solid understanding of SEO, a perception that makes them underrate its complexity.

In web development, integrating technical SEO allows developers to:

• Create a crawlable site architecture 
• Focus on technical aspects like hosting, plugins, file sizes, and codes needed to make pages load fast  
• Apply content hierarchy and inter-linking of pages to facilitate 
• Ensure proper URL structuring 

Overlooking technical SEO when building a site can mean rewriting the entire source code, yet it’s one of the easiest web development mistakes to avoid. When building a website or app, go for developers who have a technical SEO background and keep abreast of the dynamic site indexing rules applied by search engines.  

Disregarding Site or App Functionality

Developing websites and apps without paying attention to functionality is among the common web development mistakes developers make. Getting functionality right is the key to having an effective website or app. Effectiveness means the website or app:

• Loads fast 
• Works flawlessly on all devices
• Ranks high on search engines and nudges visitors to take desired actions
• Supports seamless data processing and functionality 
• Offers flexibility and ease of management after launching 

A website or app can’t do any of this with poor functionality. When executing web development tasks, developers should focus on the core functional aspects of a site to ensure their full and proper development. These aspects include:

• Information architecture 
• Content hierarchy 
• Site navigation 
• Platform integrations 

Discuss these aspects with your developer to fix the problem. Insist on AJAX techniques to boost page efficiency, speed, and interaction. Additionally, run functionality tests on the app or website to check its performance before you launch it. 

Ignoring Device Compatibility

Device incompatibility ranks highly on the list of web development mistakes developers make. 54% of online traffic comes from mobile devices. You can miss out on this traffic for lacking a responsive website. 

Visitors use mobile devices with varying screen resolutions, thanks to smartphone expansion. This has an impact on web development. Your website or app should be accessible on devices to allow users to access and navigate it seamlessly. 

Failure to identify and define breakpoints for a website or app at the beginning of the development process can lead to device incompatibility. Breakpoints vary from one website or app to another depending on client requirements. 

If a developer fails to decide on them at the onset, it’s impossible to strengthen mobile and desktop designs. Emphasize device compatibility when engaging a web developer. 

Alternatively, ask your developer to adhere to Bootstrap practices and patterns throughout the web development process. This way, you’re assured of getting a responsive site or app with zero trouble. 

Failing to Finalize Input Validations

This mistake is very common with entry-level web developers. It comes from the thought that Javascript and HTML validations are sufficient to validate user input, which isn’t the case. 

There are two critical input validations a web developer should complete before deploying a website or app:

• Client-end or front-end input validations
• Server-end or back-end input validations 

Users can make mistakes when inputting details such as email addresses and phone numbers. Client-end input validations help prevent such mistakes. Web developers can use the latest front-end frameworks for these validations, they make the process seamless. 

Server-end user validations enhance the security of a website or app. Failure to complete them can expose your platforms to security risks including hacking attacks like SQL Injection.  

Failing to Secure Sites or Apps 

When you have an app or a website, security and privacy become priorities. Stats show that in 2021, 1862 data breaches were recorded in the US alone. As they build your website, developers can leave loopholes that hackers can exploit. Such loopholes include failing to do proper API checks before sending authorized data. 

Poor security can land user data in the wrong hands, resulting in serious data privacy breaches. To keep this from happening, developers should secure sites or apps by:

• Using HTTPS
• Applying proper authorization and authentication on all end-points
• Defining client-end and server-end operations clearly 
• Checking library vulnerabilities regularly

Overlooking Portability Issues

Production environments vary. However, web developers tend to overlook these differences. 

They assume their local computer environment will match every other production environment. This assumption can result in problems with database connection strings, file paths, and the availability of libraries.

Developers can avoid portability issues by ensuring websites or apps run and scale on different server environments. Developing simple but clear configurations also helps in resolving portability issues.  

Non-Adherence to Code Standards

Poor coding practices are one of the web development mistakes entry-level developers make. Some developers don’t adhere to coding standards, a mistake that results in messy, outdated, or inconsistent codes. 

This web development mistake can create a myriad of issues that range from incompatibility and errors to bugs and security vulnerabilities. Outdated and inconsistent codes also complicate a website’s source code, making it difficult to read, debug, and maintain. 

Web developers can avoid this mistake by adhering to coding standards and adopting best practices for the programming language, tools, and frameworks in use. 

Coding standards provide guidelines for code structure, style, and format. They also guide naming conventions, documentation, indentation, and comments. Adhering to these standards ensures developers write clean, consistent, and clear codes in line with industry norms. 

Forgetting to Create Backups  

Web developers understand the importance of creating backups. But, forgetting to back their work up is among the leading web development mistakes they make. Hacking, site crashes, and deleting stuff by mistake amplify the need for backups.

Developers can avoid this mistake by installing backup plugins for websites or apps before they start the coding process. With these plugins, web information stays safe and can be restored easily in case of loss. 

Ignoring Site or App Bandwidth Usage

One of the common website development mistakes developers make is failing to optimize sites or bandwidth usage. Developers use high bandwidth in their local development environments. This makes it difficult for them to realize the bandwidth challenges users might experience as they try to download large images on their devices. 

Web developers can optimize websites and apps for bandwidth usage by: 

• Compressing media files and images to reduce size
• Leveraging content delivery networks
• Minimizing external stylesheets and scripts

Conclusion

Web development covers a range of activities that include creating complex mobile or web apps, web services, and building websites. Modern-day businesses leverage these activities to develop websites and apps that keep their audiences informed and engaged.

These digital platforms also give customers and prospects convenient access to marketing messages, services, and customer support. 
Web developers provide the technical skills needed to build and maintain websites and apps. In doing so, they can make costly website development mistakes that significantly affect the performance and accessibility of corporate websites or mobile apps.

Knowing the common web development mistakes your web developer is likely to make allows you to act early and minimize their effects on your business.