Technology and web development trends change all the time. If you’re a business looking to form a relationship with an agency partner to support your web development and digital marketing needs, you will want to make sure they have the skills to support you in 2020. These skills include HTML, CSS, CSS reprocessing, testing and de-bugging, responsive web development, JavaScript, version control and programming.
Having a web partner with up to date skills will ensure that they provide you with the guidance and finished products you need to succeed in today’s digital world. Here are the top web developer skills to look for when choosing a digital marketing partner:
You will want an agency partner with strong HTML and CSS skills. Without these skills, it is impossible to design and build a website properly. Even taking a theme and modifying it to fit a business is hard to do well without this foundation.
Your agency partner should use a version control tool to keep track of and store the code they are creating. Version control also allows developers to easily collaborate with others. Git and GitHub are among the most popular version control tools available right now.
Responsive web design is what allows a website to easily adapt for use on different sized screens. With just over 50 percent of internet use happening on mobile devices, responsive web development is a critical skill. These days, Google actually penalizes websites that aren’t responsive.
CSS is what is used to specify the style of a web page. Advanced CSS skills are needed to create modern and attractive web pages that will draw users into your site and toward your call to action.
On its own, CSS skills aren’t always enough. For large projects where the project grows in scope and code base, a CSS preprocessor like Sass, LESS, or Stylus defines variables and functions, and performs arithmetic operations that allow a designer to save time from writing repetitive code to make changes.
JavaScript skills are needed to step up web development skills. You will want your agency partner to have JavaScript skills so they can help you make your site dynamic and interactive through features like interactive maps.
Programming skills allow web designers to create and organize the back end of websites and apps. Many programmers these days are learning to program in Python. Others are learning a language like Ruby to give them the skills they need to develop apps. Depending on your needs, you may want to look for a partner who has these skills.
Pretty much no website is built without a few hiccups along the way. You will want an agency partner who knows how to test your code for bugs and de-bug your website so that issues can be resolved in a timely manner.
Softwired provides digital solutions for our partner agencies. We’ve got you covered for web design, blogs, landing pages, SEO, local online presence and optimization, digital marketing, digital sales, and digital advertising. We build websites with WordPress themes and have been using the HubSpot platform to build blogs and landing pages since 2012. Over the years we’ve worked with lots of agencies who need help with web engineering tasks and don’t have the staff to do it. Finding freelancers can be a nightmare and cause a lot of problems when promising delivery of service. Whether you’re interested in a silent partnership or a referral program, web design only or more; we’re ready to help you get started!