The right web development technologies are the ones that fit what your site has to do, what you can spend over its whole life, and who will look after it. Start from the job: a content-led marketing site, an online shop and a customer portal need very different foundations. Then check each option against security, hosting and how easy it will be to find developers who know it in five years’ time.
What is a technology stack?
A technology stack is the set of tools a website or application is built from. A simple example is the LAMP stack: Linux (the operating system), Apache (the web server), MySQL (the database) and PHP (the programming language). WordPress runs on that kind of stack.
Every stack has two halves:
- The front end, or client side, is everything the visitor sees and uses in their browser: layout, buttons, forms and menus. It’s built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, sometimes with a framework such as React or Vue for more interactive interfaces.
- The back end, or server side, is the part they never see. It stores data, runs the business logic and talks to other systems, such as saving a contact form to your CRM or taking a payment and sending a receipt. PHP, Python (often with Django), and JavaScript on Node.js are common choices.
How do you choose the right tech stack for a website?
Say you’re a growing training company. You want a new website with course pages and a blog, and next year you’d like learners to log in, book sessions and download certificates.
Work through it in this order:
- The job, now and in two years. Course pages and a blog point to a CMS like WordPress. Logins, bookings and certificates start to look like an application, which might mean a framework such as Django or Laravel, or a WordPress site connected to a separate booking system.
- Who will edit it. If your marketing team publishes weekly, editing has to be easy for them.
- Integrations. List every system the site must talk to: CRM, payments, email, a learning platform. Check each has a reliable way to connect.
- Security and maintenance. Every technology needs updates. Ask who will apply them, how often, and what that costs a year.
- Hosting. Some stacks need specialist hosting. Know where it will live before you build.
- Skills. A popular, well-documented technology is easier and cheaper to support than a niche one, even if the niche one is slightly better on paper.
The cheapest stack to build on is rarely the cheapest one to own. Price the next five years before you choose.
If you’re torn between a CMS and a framework, our comparison of Django CMS and WordPress walks through that decision.
How we help clients choose
We start with what the site has to do and who will run it, then recommend the stack, and we’ll say so when a simpler option will do the job. Our in-house team builds on WordPress for content-led sites and custom frameworks when the project calls for an application. You can read more about our software and web development work.
FAQs
What is the best technology for web development?
There isn’t one best technology. WordPress suits most content-led business sites, frameworks such as Django or Laravel suit custom applications, and JavaScript frameworks suit highly interactive interfaces. The right choice depends on what the site must do and who will maintain it.
What is the difference between front-end and back-end development?
Front-end development builds what visitors see and interact with in the browser. Back-end development builds the server, database and logic behind it, such as storing form submissions or processing payments. Most websites need both.
Can I change my tech stack later?
Yes, but it usually means rebuilding parts of the site, which takes time and budget. Planning for the features you expect to need in the next couple of years makes a later change less likely.
