- The Bureau of Labor Statistics splits web work into developers, who build and maintain the site and its performance, and digital designers, who shape layout, functions and navigation.
- A hosted builder, WordPress and custom code each put the updates, the hosting and the exit door in different hands. Decide which before you compare prices.
- Under the Copyright Act, code written by an outside developer is a work made for hire only in narrow cases with a signed agreement. Ask for a written, signed assignment of the copyright.
- Google says it renders JavaScript in a queue and still calls server-side rendering or pre-rendering a great idea, so ask how your pages reach Google as plain HTML.
- EPB made gigabit internet available across its Chattanooga service area in 2010, which means a fast office connection is a poor test of how a site feels to a customer on a phone.
What a website developer does, and when you need one
The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes two kinds of web work. Web developers create and maintain websites and handle the technical side, such as how the site performs and how much traffic it can carry. Digital designers develop and test the layout, functions and navigation so the site is easy to use. Within development, the Bureau names back-end developers, who build the framework of the site and make sure it works as expected, front-end developers, who build the visual layout and fit in tools such as a checkout, and webmasters, who keep a site updated and check it for errors like broken links.
Plenty of small business sites need a designer more than a developer: five or six pages, a phone number and a contact form. A developer earns the fee when the site has to do work. Search for a website developer in Chattanooga when the project includes one of these:
- Booking or quoting that checks real availability or prices instead of sending an email.
- A store with inventory, shipping rules or tax settings.
- Logins for customers, members or staff.
- Data from your other software, such as a scheduling system, a spreadsheet or an accounting tool, shown on the site or sent from it.
- A rebuild of a slow or broken site where the problem is in the code, the hosting or the plugins.
Three ways to build a business website
Before you compare quotes, decide how the site will be built. Each route puts the hosting, the updates and the exit door in different hands, and a quote that looks cheap can mean you carry more of the upkeep.
| Route | Who keeps it running | Your exit door | Fits best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted website builder | The builder company hosts the site and updates its own software. | Depends on the builder; ask in writing what you can export if you leave. | A small brochure site you want to edit yourself. |
| WordPress | You or your developer, on hosting you choose. Core updates can run on their own; plugins and themes need someone to watch them. | Open source under the GPL, so the files can move to another host. | Content sites, blogs and stores that need many add-ons. |
| Custom code | Your developer, on hosting in your account. | As open as your contract makes it: get the source code and the copyright. | Booking, logins, data from other systems or anything a plugin cannot do well. |
WordPress publishes its license plainly. It is under the General Public License, version 2 or later, which gives four freedoms: to run the program for any purpose, to study and change it, to redistribute it and to share modified copies. For a business owner, that means no single company controls whether your site can move.
Updates are the part owners underestimate. WordPress documentation says minor core releases, the maintenance and security fixes, update on their own by default, and new installs since version 5.6 also take major core releases automatically. Plugins and themes update on their own only in special cases set by the WordPress security team, mainly to patch critical flaws. Someone still has to update the rest, which is why our guide to website maintenance in Chattanooga treats upkeep as part of the budget.
Who owns the code a developer writes for you
Many owners assume that paying for a website means owning it. Copyright law is narrower than that. The U.S. Copyright Office explains that a work is made for hire in two situations: when an employee creates it as part of regular duties, or when a specially ordered or commissioned work falls in one of nine categories and both sides sign a written agreement that says it is a work made for hire. The nine categories are a contribution to a collective work, part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation, an instructional text, a test, answer material for a test and an atlas.
The Copyright Office adds that if a commissioned work fails any of those requirements, it is not a work made for hire. A freelance developer or an outside firm is usually not your employee, and a custom booking system does not sit cleanly in that list. When the work is not made for hire, the person who wrote it is the author and first owner of the copyright.
The fix is a short clause. Section 204(a) of the Copyright Act says a transfer of copyright ownership is valid only if it is in writing and signed by the owner or an authorized agent. Ask your developer for a signed assignment of the copyright in everything written for your project, once you pay, and have your attorney read it. Open source parts, such as WordPress itself, stay under their own licenses; the assignment covers the code written for you.
Build choices that change how Google reads the site
A developer makes several choices you will never see that decide whether Google can read the site. Google describes three phases for JavaScript sites: crawling, rendering and indexing. Pages wait in a queue until Google's resources allow a headless Chromium browser to run the JavaScript, and Google then indexes the rendered HTML. Google still says server-side rendering or pre-rendering is a great idea, because it makes the site faster for people and for crawlers, and because not every bot can run JavaScript.
- Real links. Google can only find links that are HTML anchor elements with an href attribute. Menus built from buttons and scripts can hide whole pages.
- Honest status codes. Google uses them to spot problems: a 404 for a page that does not exist, a 401 for a page behind a login.
- HTTPS everywhere. Google announced HTTPS as a ranking signal on August 7, 2014, and called it very lightweight, touching fewer than 1% of global queries. Visitors and browsers expect it regardless.
- Redirects on a rebuild. When addresses change, Google recommends permanent server-side redirects such as 301 or 308, kept as long as possible and generally at least a year.
Ask how each of those is handled before you sign. The answers take a developer a minute to give, and they matter more to search than any promise about rankings. Our guide to SEO in Chattanooga covers the local search work that sits on top of a sound build.
Building for Chattanooga customers on fiber and on phones
Chattanooga has an unusual internet history, and it can fool you during a website review. EPB, the city's public power company, launched its fiber network in September 2010 and became the first provider in the United States to offer gigabit speeds across its whole community. On October 15, 2015 it made 10 gigabit service available to every home and business in a service area of about 600 square miles.
That is good for a business running software in the office. It also means a site that feels instant on the office line tells you little about a customer standing in a parking lot on a phone signal, or searching from outside the EPB area. Review every page on a phone, on cellular data, before you approve it.
What to put in writing before the build starts
Most disputes with developers come from things nobody wrote down. A one page scope settles them early. Make sure yours covers each of these:
- Pages and features, listed by name, including any booking, store, login or connection to other software.
- The platform, so you know whether it is a builder, WordPress or custom code.
- Accounts in your name: the domain, the hosting and any paid services the site depends on.
- The copyright assignment, signed, covering the code written for you.
- Source code access, so a future developer can pick up the work.
- Updates after launch: who applies them, how often and at what cost.
- Redirects, if the site replaces an old one, with a list of old and new addresses.
- Acceptance checks: the site works on a phone, forms deliver, links resolve and pages load over cellular data.
If you are still comparing designers as well as developers, our guide to website design near me covers the questions to ask on the first call, and website redesign cost in Chattanooga explains what moves the price.
How Nooga Tech builds websites in Chattanooga
Nooga Tech is a web design and engineering team based in Chattanooga. We pick the platform that fits the job, from a simple site to custom code, and pages reach Google as plain HTML. Before work starts you get a written scope and a fixed price, and the domain, code and hosting are in your name from day one.
Websites are part of our Web Design & Growth work. If the project is closer to an app or an internal tool, our custom software page covers that side, and our guide to the app developer in Chattanooga question explains when a web app beats a store app. Book the free consult and we will tell you how we would build it and what it costs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a web developer and a web designer?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says web developers create and maintain websites and handle technical matters such as performance and capacity, while digital designers develop and test the layout, functions and navigation for usability.
Do I need a website developer or will a designer do?
A designer is usually enough for a small site with a few pages and a contact form. A developer is worth it when the site needs booking, a store, logins or data from your other software.
Do I own the code if I pay a developer to build my website?
Not automatically. The U.S. Copyright Office says commissioned work is a work made for hire only in nine categories and with a signed written agreement. Ask for a signed written assignment of the copyright, which the Copyright Act requires for a transfer.
Is WordPress a good choice for a Chattanooga small business?
It fits sites that need many add-ons, and its GPL license means the files can move to another host. Core security releases update on their own, but plugins and themes mostly need someone to update them.
Can Google read a website built with JavaScript?
Google renders JavaScript pages in a queue with a headless Chromium browser, and it still recommends server-side rendering or pre-rendering because it is faster and not every bot runs JavaScript.
Does HTTPS help a website rank?
Google made HTTPS a ranking signal in 2014 and described it as very lightweight, affecting fewer than 1% of global queries. Every business site should use it anyway.
What should a developer do with old page addresses on a rebuild?
Google recommends permanent server-side redirects such as 301 or 308 from each old address to its new one, kept as long as possible and generally for at least a year.
Does Nooga Tech build websites in Chattanooga?
Yes. Nooga Tech is based in Chattanooga and builds websites, from simple sites to custom code, with a written scope, a fixed price and the domain, code and hosting in your name.