9 Habits of Highly Successful Website Developers

There is a fine line that separates being good from being excellent, or from getting one job done and making successful results – this applies to almost all set of skills or professions, especially when it comes to web development.

Web development is a huge factor in increasing a brand’s visibility on the internet. Its rapid development paved the way for the commercialization of the web.

So what sets apart successful web developers from others? Good working habits play a huge part in how a web developer achieves goals and both technical skills and soft skills should be considered to attain long-term success.

Let’s take a look at the 9 habits of highly successful website developers:

1.) Use required tools to speed up the process

To sum up the daily life of a web developer may mean looking into a fully-loaded mind, occupied by client requests, feedbacks, and bug reports. The use of bug trackers is highly advised in developing any project, may it be web, mobile, or software — this is the most efficient and practical way of checking or looking through thousands and millions of codes. Equipping themselves with the right development tools can significantly reduce the time it takes to resolve issues and speed up development time.

2.) Fix and Test

An efficient and responsible website developer always keeps in mind to test any project he does before launching it on the web. This will prevent missing out on important details or factors that will result in a total nightmare. Oftentimes, the smallest detail is the most important one! Being able to fix and test a project ensures that there won’t be any glitch on the website being developed.

3.) Keep an end goal in mind

As the saying goes: “Good things take time,” this goes the same with working on a website development project. Having an end goal is important, a developer who takes works slowly but surely can produce excellent work compared to those who work fast but reckless. A reckless website developer’s product would be difficult to maintain and buggy. A few more hours added working on a code may mean long-term benefits put into a project.

Oftentimes, the constant time pressure causes a good website developer to overlook certain issues on a project which may lead to serious problems.

4.) Always plan ahead — don’t just jump in head first

Always plan ahead, don’t just jump in on a project head first. If you’re working on a team, enumerate and prioritize what’s important and what’s not. According to potential, “teamwork is important and essential in order to accomplish the overall objectives and goals of an organization.”

Don’t leave all the stategic planning and execution all by yourself. Having a list of every step you need to take from the beginning to end of a project will help you finish successfully. Having a list makes you more efficient and productive.

5.) Always optimize

Technology continuously innovates, therefore, it is important that website developers always think of ways to optimize their projects, skills, and applications. Keep in mind to make it work, make it fast, and make it beautiful.

Website developers first need to focus on making a project work, improving its speed, and take into consideration the aesthethics. You can take website loading speed as an example! According to a report from Nielsen Norman Group, website visitors hate waiting for web pages to load and a 10-second delay often makes them leave.

Optimizing your website’s speed can make or break your overall website conversions! Take Google’s word for it when they say “speed equals revenue”.

6.) Refrain from multitasking

Yes, it can be true that multitasking is often seen as a sign of productivity and versatility. However, this is not applicable to all scenarios. Stanford communication Professor Clifford Nass found out that multitaskers are less productive because they are using their minds inefficiently and these multitaskers are most of the time out-performed by others who carry out a single task at a time.

7.) Having organizational skills is important

Being highly organized makes you function better because it’ll help keep things straight. Workload and schedule management would be easier. Having this skill as a website developer can better structure their priorities and increase productivity.

Alison Doyle of the balance careers listed down the types of organization skills employers seek and according to her, being organized helps workers increase their productivity.

8.) Practice empathy

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is a great practice to embrace when designing. This means focusing on other’s needs, feelings and experiences.

Empathy is necessary because it reduces bias and helps improve your website’s UX through observation of user’s behaviors.

How to empathize as a web developer

• Observe the problems the user faces.
• Take alternative solutions.
• Analyze how long a user takes to reach his desired goal on your website.
• Plan and execute

A successful web developer knows that it takes EQ and IQ combined to make an effective website!

9.) Never be afraid to shy to ask for questions or help

Always keep in mind that it is never wrong to be asking for questions or help. Rather than exhausting yourself about finding the solution to a coding problem, it would be better to ask for help. A piece of a good advice is to seek help from other website developers on the internet, ask away because there is always someone out there who has faced the same problem.

Ask questions when you’re not 100% sure of what you should do when you’ve encountered a detour.

These habits can be learned progressively and it would be impossible to acquire these overnight. Practice these habits when you’re about to take on a new project or already in the process of creating one. Take note of the difference these make and see how well you’ll improve as a website developer. Don’t be afraid to make a few mistakes because it’ll help hone your skills as a developer and never stop learning something new with the latest technology trends!