Website Development: The Complete Beginner's Guide

By Admin • 05 Nov 2025

As someone who‘s spent countless hours coding and experimenting with websites, I know that front-end and back-end website development can feel a bit overwhelming at the beginning. I don’t think these topics have to be scary, though.

Yes — you will need to get your hands a bit dirty with code. (If you don‘t want that, HubSpot’s drag-and-drop website builder might be a better solution for you.) But with the right guidance, that code doesn't have to be intimidating, and you can start building real websites in not very much time.

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In this post, I'll cover everything that I think beginners need to know about web development, including some roadmaps for getting started with back-end and front-end development. Feel free to leap around the guide using the chapter links to find what you are looking for, or read straight through to cover all of the information.

What is website development?

Website development broadly refers to the tasks and processes involved in creating and maintaining a website. This includes everything from markup and coding to scripting, network configuration, and CMS development.

If you want to get started with web development, a big part of that will be learning various programming languages. Depending on your focus, these could be front-end languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or back-end languages like Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, and so on.

However, I don't think learning programming languages is the only part of website development. You'll also need to learn how the web works at a basic level, especially if you want to go into back-end website development.

I'll talk about some of these areas when I take you through roadmaps for both front-end and back-end development.

Why is web development important?

Can you believe that we're part of a world where over 5.52 billion people are connected through the internet? That's more than half of our global population actively engaging in research, connection, education, and entertainment through this incredible digital universe.

Given the rapidly increasing number of internet users, it’s no surprise that web development is a rapidly expanding industry.

Between now and 2033, the employment of web developers is expected to grow by 8%, which is faster than most other technology careers. It‘s an exciting time to be in this field, and I’m thrilled to be part of this dynamic industry.

However, not every business needs a dedicated web developer. Many companies use content management systems and templates to design their sites. That’s especially true of small and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets. Content Hub can help these teams build an optimized website fast. WordPress and Wix are other popular options.

Web Development vs. Web Programming

Web development and web programming sound very similar — and they are. But, there’s one very important distinction.

Web development refers to the overall process of creating websites or web applications, including the project’s design, layout, coding, content creation, and functionality. It involves using a combination of programming languages, tools, and frameworks to bring a website or web application to life. Web development may also encompass project management activities, such as fielding development requests from stakeholders or freelance clients.

Web programming, on the other hand, specifically refers to the coding and scripting of a website, whether the front-end or back-end. It primarily involves writing code to handle data, process user inputs, and generate dynamic content. A web programmer will rarely, if ever, handle a large web development project from end to end. They may build a certain section of a site or troubleshoot bugs.

Understanding this difference has been crucial in my career, allowing me to appreciate the depth and breadth of skills required in the world of web creation. It's a reminder of the diverse talents and expertise that come together to make the digital world what it is today.