Having a digital platform and service is essential for brands to reach more customers. Web design, in particular, is a deciding factor for consumers to trust a business.
Statistically, 94% of users’ first impressions rely on the website design. So, creating a dynamic website with easy-to-use features, a responsive interface, and robust functionality is essential for every business owner.
Drupal 8 is a reliable and powerful CMS platform with multiple tools and configurations for producing robust websites. Statistically, 89% of consumers switch to another competitor’s website if they have a terrible user experience. Thus, brands should hire Drupal experts to handle the web design and development process and ensure a high-quality service.
In this article, you would learn how the developers use and optimize the Drupal 8 features. It would be best to keep in mind how to implement them and choose the right development team.
1. Task & Time Management
During Drupal web development, developers have to go through multiple tasks in different aspects of web designing. Brands have a specified deadline to meet; so, developers must quickly and efficiently complete all of the development tasks.
Plus, multiple stages of the production process occur simultaneously, like programming, developing or testing. The development team should multitask and they must assign suitable duties to different team members, coordinating each step carefully. While choosing an agency for Drupal development services, consider how they prioritize and compartmentalize their development process steps.
1. Programming Knowledge
PHP is the key language that is necessary for the Drupal 8 web development projects. Thus, the developers must have a foundation-level understanding of the language to code on Drupal properly.
Notably, the base of Drupal 8 covers the Symfony PHP web application framework. Developers get access to multiple reusable PHP libraries and components. Consequently, they can make modifications without excessive coding on Drupal. Therefore, select a developer who has a good understanding of PHP frameworks.
2. Version System & Git
Developers should have experience and expertise in GIT before beginning Drupal-based website development. With Git software knowledge, developers can run and create source codes collaboratively and track tags and branches.
Brands would experience a 7% higher conversion rate if their page load speed increases. This is possible if the developers know and use the correct Drupal modules and themes during web development.
3. Team Player
Website development includes multiple actions that the entire development team cumulatively handles. In most projects, each team member is responsible for different parts of the process. Here, all developers must coordinate well between departments and communicate new solutions for each issue. Without proper teamwork, businesses would see mediocre performance in the project outcome.
4. Drupal Modules
Drupal 8 contains multiple types of modules necessary for different aspects of a website’s functionality. Indeed, developers can add them to a business website for optimizing the performance of the website. Since there are multiple modules available and each has specific maintenance requirements, hiring developers with proper knowledge of Drupal modules is essential.
5. Security
Brands should hire Drupal experts who have high-grade skills in cybersecurity and firewall protection. Overall, these developers would focus on safeguarding the website against attacks. Also, they are responsible for ensuring high-quality updates and taking care of the website maintenance.
Statistically, security breaches have resulted in 25.6% of brands losing their reputation, 26.4% of businesses losing customer confidence, and 27% of brands losing revenue. Thus, as a business owner with a website, you should consider the security factor while choosing a developer.
6. Twin-templating Engine
As mentioned previously, Drupal 8 works with the Symfony framework. So, developers need to understand Twig engine configurations and features for website templates.
7. Core Functionality
The Drupal CMS platform has different core factors than other CMS platforms like WordPress. The workflow of this platform has different routes and tools. Thus, brands need developers who can navigate them properly.
Indeed, hiring a highly skilled IT developer is not effective. It would help if you focused on particular Drupal developers who are specifically trained with this open-source platform.
8. Debugging
During the web development process, developers have to perform multiple fixes and code breaks. Bugs and vulnerabilities in a website are common during development. Without proper testing, the issues remain and affect the overall performance of the website. Thus, hiring developers who have good debugging skills is necessary.
9. Configuration System Management
With a configuration system, the development workflow aligns in a seamless sequence. All members of the development team can use the configuration system to test and upgrade any configurations locally.
Here, consider how the entire team manages the configuration system and how they contribute individually to the process. Certainly, a website is more likely to have high-quality optimization if all the participants know and work the system efficiently.
10. Dedicated Custom Module Spot
Brands can expect custom modules in their website development project from the development team. It is important to note that the custom modules that developers create for Drupal 8 would not work with other versions.
With a dedicated environment for the custom modules, brand owners and developers can integrate them quickly without affecting the other modules. Overall, brand owners should consider the organizational skill and foresight of developers before hiring a reliable choice.
11. Module Management
As mentioned earlier, the Drupal 8 CMS platform includes many modules that developers can utilize for website development.
However, brands that want an enterprise-level website require numerous complex steps of development. Here, adding a lot of modules is detrimental to the quality of the website. This is because an enterprise-level website would include rich content; multiple modules can lag the performance overall.
Essentially, you should hire a Drupal developer who can choose which modules are necessary for your business., so they would reprogram the modules instead of using multiple built-in modules.
Additionally, custom modules would require extra modifications and maintenance work in the future for brands. Instead, developers can issue their modules on GitHub. This way, they can reconfigure the reusable codes when necessary for Drupal website optimization.
Conclusion
All in all, hiring developers with high skills, experience, and training in Drupal 8 is vital for brands during website development. They are aware of the Drupal 8 features, themes, and modules and can integrate them accurately. Therefore, verify their credentials and reviews from previous projects to make your decision.