Most businesses looking for a website or in need of rebuilding an existing website face this all-important dilemma. A custom-built website was very desirable until recently. However, the game changed when templates entered into the picture and made lives easier for people who did not have large budgets, time, or the capacity to build their website from scratch.

Just as custom websites are necessary for certain companies, website templates provide a great solution to certain companies. Several web development enterprises in the United States offer either or both of these services. For new entrants, startups, and small to mid-sized enterprises, analyzing the difference between a website made from scratch and one built with a template can be a challenging task. Let us look at both approaches to building a website, and look at the pros and cons to keep in mind before you make a decision.

Pros of ready-to-use website templates

1.Fast and furious

A dynamic template can be located, bought, and deployed within a matter of days, if not hours.

2. Saves money

Anyone can purchase a basic template for as little as a few hundred dollars. This means you do not have to spend anything over and above that cost of a template unless you want specific customizations and functionalities.

3. Pretty straight forward

Templates are not very complicated, and most of them are ready for you to drop your content into them. This means anyone – literally anyone – can create a website without needing the services of experienced designers or developers.

4. Inbound-friendly

Templates come ready for your inbound strategies, with well-placed areas for banners, calls to action, and a mobile-ready design.

Cons of readymade website templates

1.You cannot be too selective

Several template options are available on the internet. However, the possibility that you may choose the one that is not exactly compatible with what you need remains omnipresent. While the number of ecommerce website templates increase daily, most of them still have certain limitations.

2. You will have to be flexible with your branding

Instead of the website template adapting to your brand, it is generally the other way around. You can easily find yourself shuffling things around in order to ensure that your brand and the template go well together.

3. You will be paying extra for additional functionalities

In case you need additional features, functionalities, or customizations, you will have to pay extra for such modifications. 

Pros of building your website from scratch

1.Your dream website

The options are limitless when you get a custom-made website. Based on your specifications almost any feature or tool can be added.

2. One-of-a-kind design

Your custom website is the only website like itself. Nothing is copy-pasted. There is no fear of finding another website on the internet that looks exactly like yours.

3. Exclusive experience

You can develop a unique, branded experience with a custom website design. An expert developer can help create distinct functionalities and code your site exactly the way you want it to operate at every single touchpoint.

4. Safe and secure

Custom-built websites have a safety net, as they are tailor-made and not accessible for people to pick and use. You can also get additional layers of security built into them.

5. Scalable when needed

As opposed to template-based websites, you can add many features to your project whenever you want – as and when you want to scale up in the future. 

Cons of building your own custom site

1.The cost factor

Hiring the right company can cost quite a bit more than making your website on a template. That is because it needs an expert team to brainstorm and collaborate with you and then execute your custom website.

2.Time-consuming

When comparing a template website, which can be up and running within a few hours, custom websites take much longer to build. This is because experienced developers will create code and design every single aspect of your custom website manually.

3. Difficulty in communicating your vision

At times, we are unable to articulate our vision to the web development team, who are relying on you entirely to start creating

The Bottom Line

For firms with small budgets and timeline constraints, a template-based website is the way to go. Website templates have many restrictions on brand expression, functionality, and scalability. However, you can get your site up and running in no time, which can be a great advantage.

For companies that do not wish to compromise on the quality of their website and have a decent budget and time to spare, choosing to build a custom site is a no-brainer. A custom website is built specifically for your needs, tailored to your brand’s identity and positioning, and configured to grow with you.

Lucky for you, QualDev offers both services! We can help you build a business website from scratch or work with you to choose and customize a template. QualDev has built clean, clear, and customized websites to create lasting impressions visually and interactively for several leading brands in the United States.

Are you looking for an ecommerce website design company in the USA? Look no further – we have got you covered.

Our experienced team of designers and web developers has completed a staggering 750+ web development projects for startups and mid-sized businesses. If you are still confused about which way to go, set up a quick call with the QualDev team of specialists to find a solution that suits you best.

The post Website Development: The Pros and Cons of Using a Template Vs. Building from Scratch appeared first on QualDev.

This trend has picked up steam in the recent past for good reason. Not only is eCommerce a profitable way for business owners to sell merchandize, but also the preferred way for customers to buy what they need.

A Quick Checklist to Starting Your eCommerce Business

Here are a few important things to keep in mind while planning to make the switch to eccommerce to get your online business started.

Licenses

Different states have different laws that govern businesses. It is essential that you find out everything there is to know about these laws, rules and regulations before getting started. Depending on where you are and what the nature of your business is, you may require to acquire various certifications, permits and licenses. Consult your legal advisor about tax liabilities and business compliance requirements for your type of business. There may be laws regarding import, export, shipping, etc., so understand all the implications that may be relevant to your ecommerce business.

Platforms

Unlike the era gone by, it is fairly simple for anyone to set up an ecommerce business today. With numerous user-friendly tools and software available to business owners, it is no longer necessary for you to create your own ecommerce website from scratch. Instead, you can choose to use any of the following ecommerce platforms:

1. Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular all-in-one ecommerce platforms out there. With an easy setup and hundreds of ecommerce templates to choose from, Shopify offers a range of customization options. With excellent back-end support and secure payment integration, it is also amongst the most reliable platforms. Here are some of the key features and functionalities the platform allows you to explore:

• Select your own domain name
• Customize the look and feel of the template you choose
• Create a structured product catalogs
• Organize SKUs
• Track and manage orders
• Post and manage content easily
• Make smart decisions based on eCommerce analytics

2. Magento Commerce

Affordable, customizable and trusted by hundreds of B2B and B2C enterprises, Magento is ideal for businesses. With flexible and extensible ecommerce options, you can create a unique shopping experience using this platform. The salient features of Magento Commerce include:

• Cloud hosting and deployment
• Seamless third-party integrations
• Customer segmentation and personalization
• Content staging and preview
• Inventory and order management
• End-to-end support
• Business intelligence tools

3. eBay

Here is a great alternative to creating and maintaining a full-fledged website for your ecommerce operations. eBay Shop enables businesses to showcase their offerings in one place. The customization options, allow you to use eBay’s staggering customer reach (millions of buyers worldwide) to draw attention to your own merchandise. It is essentially a digital marketplace that charges a small fee for every new product you list. Some of eBay’s standout features for eCommerce businesses are:

• A customizable storefront
• Easy product listing options
• Branding and personalization options
• Assign and organize SKUs
• Content management and promotion

4. Etsy

Hey, whoever said Etsy was only meant for creative businesses and artists was not entirely correct. Etsy doubles up as an online marketplace that enables you to list your products alongside other sellers. With a massive customer base, it provides a phenomenal option for businesses who do not want to spend a fortune on marketing.

• Easy account and store setup
• Fully customizable storefront
• Streamlined product listing options
• Handy sales tools

Apart from the platforms mentioned above, you could also consider other similar options such as Yahoo Small Business, Yola, Volusion and BigCommerce. All these platforms offer ecommerce as a service at reasonable rates and are extremely user friendly. 

Some of the factors that small businesses must consider when choosing a platform to host their ecommerce operations are:

• Affordable starter packages
• Data security
• User friendliness 
• Scalability 
• Personalization 
• Conversion and marketing tools
• Order fulfillment options
• Shipping support 
• Easy third-party integration
• Customer relationship management support
• Accounting support

Marketing

While you may invest a lot of time and effort into streamlining your ecommerce business on the platform of your choice, it is also important that you bring qualified traffic to your online store. Make sure you do your research about what kind of marketing strategy is best suited for your business type. You can explore targeted online marketing options such as:

• Email marketing
• Paid marketing
• Social media marketing
• Pay-per-click ads (PPC)
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing
• Video marketing

Gone are the days when you would rely solely on a brick-and-mortar store to conduct business. eCommerce is the present and future of businesses. This business model allows you to reach a wider audience base, market your offerings easily and sell products and services to your customers in any corner of the world. 

Make sure you check off every pointer mentioned in the checklist above to work your way towards creating a successful ecommerce business. If you need a partner who can help you create and maintain your eCommerce store, check out our dedicated services.

QualDev is the frontrunner in ecommerce development solutions for businesses in the United States. Whether you want to set up a new ecommerce store or manage your existing one, we can help you. Get in touch with us today!

The post Go Online: How to Unleash the Potential of Your Business with eCommerce appeared first on QualDev.

Today, we are at a stage where eCommerce and mobile commerce has become the norm. Given the amount of time people spend online, the digital shopping ecosphere has become a highly competitive space. However, there is a long list of things that eCommerce businesses can do to sustain themselves and thrive.

Since your website is the single point of contact for your online shoppers, it is important that you ensure it delivers an exceptional user experience. Having worked extensively on eCommerce projects, we have put together this definitive checklist of best practices for your eCommerce website.

10 best practices for eCommerce website that you must follow

1. Design for mobiles

The mobile-first approach has been doing the rounds for over half a decade now and for good reason. Unsurprisingly, mobile commerce is expected to account for approximately 73% of eCommerce sales by 2021. It is essential that you prioritize the mobile user experience by designing your eCommerce website for mobile.

• Design important interactions in the thumb-friendly zone
• Create tap-friendly call-to-action (CTA) buttons
• Provide a hamburger menu for easy access to navigation elements

2. Don’t make your site too heavy

Waning patience levels and short attention spans are the new normal. Any delays in terms of page load time can have a direct and detrimental effect on your conversions. This can also have a long-term impact because it leaves customers with a bad taste and impression of your brand. Here are a few things you can do to optimize your eCommerce site so that pages on it load quickly:

• Monitor the site speed and server performance regularly
• Keep a tab on the image size
• Avoid including heavy videos
• Keep an eye out for unfriendly plugins

3. Keep your navigation clean

An overcrowded the navigation bar and homepage is a strict no-no. When you have a prospect on your website; you do not want them to be confused about where to go next. Ensure that your navigation is well structured and easy to follow. Ideally, only the most important links to resources on your eCommerce website should be a part of your navigation.

• Use standard, legible and recognizable fonts
• Ensure that the search bar is easily accessible to visitors
• Keep the design and layout as simple as possible

4. Don’t let your CTAs merge with the other content on a page

The last thing you want is for a qualified lead to abandon your website because they did not know what the next action to take is! It is important that your CTA buttons stand out in every section and on every page of your site. Here are some tips to make your CTAs loud and unambiguous:

• Place CTA buttons in such a way that they are easy to spot
• Use large, bold fonts for the text on your CTA button
• Make use of contrasting colors for your CTA buttons

5. Personalize the user experience

Ever noticed how successful supermarkets stock and arrange products and sections? Think of your eCommerce website as a superstore and drive your customers around based on their interests. The idea is to make life easier for the user by showing them what they are most likely to purchase.

• Use data and analytics to understand user behavior
• Upsell and cross-sell related products

6. Offer deals and discounts upfront

Allot a dedicated space on your homepage, and other key pages, to showcase promotions and special offers. After all, no one can resist the temptation to check out a super-saver deal, right?

• Display your sale and promotions loudly and clearly
• Feature a separate banner below your navigation

7. Don’t talk like a machine

The best eCommerce websites are those that speak to you as a human would. Imagine a friend, who knows a thing or two about a certain product, telling you about why it is so great. Now apply the same concept to your product pages.

• Focus on utility and benefits over technical specifications
• Provide multiple appealing images and demo videos of the product
• Make sure your product page is well structured
• Include customer reviews and ratings

8. “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!”

Let these iconic lyrics written by the Eagles’ be the mantra for your website. Make the checkout process on your website as quick and simple as you can. A majority of eCommerce website visitors abandon ongoing transactions because the process is either too lengthy or complex. Avoid cart abandonment by making sure that you:

• Offer guest checkout option, without the need to register for an account
• Provide multiple payment options and secure payment gateways
• Ensure that the checkout process has minimal steps

9. Offer free shipping

Admit it – nobody likes to pay extra for shipping. Imagine completing the entire buying process only to realize right at the end that there are additional charges for shipping! Unexpected cost additions contribute to cart abandonment. Your customers are already expected to pay taxes on top of the basic price for a product. Save them the agony of having to pay for shipping.

10. Don’t ignore website SEO

Almost half of the online shopping populace begins their journey via a search engine. If your eCommerce store is not visible for relevant search phrases or keywords in the top results, you are doomed. There is every chance that your potential customers will buy the same product from a competitor. Proper website SEO, and local SEO, is integral to your eCommerce strategy and should be a priority.

So, there you have it. This comprehensive list of dos and don’ts should hold you in good stead when you create your own eCommerce website. At QualDev, we offer a bouquet of eCommerce web development services that are customized to meet your needs.

Learn how you can take your eCommerce business to the next level with us. Drop us an email or call us at any time!

The post Do’s and Don’ts – 10 Best Practices for Your eCommerce Website appeared first on QualDev.

Given the extensive reach and visibility that websites and applications offer, having your own business website and a mobile app is a no-brainer today. However, simply creating one for the sake of having it does not suffice. If you consider building or revamping your own website, quality is of paramount importance.

So, who makes these websites and applications?

You would be surprised to know that a lot of entrepreneurs have tried their hand at designing and developing their own websites. The emergence of several DIY platforms has allowed individuals to explore this process firsthand. However, in most cases, the end result has been far from what they expected.

Most enterprises outsource the web development process to companies that specialize in providing these services. Full-service web development companies usually have a team of managers, software engineers, coders, web designers and marketing professionals who work closely with their clients to bring website and mobile app ideas to fruition.

What does a web development company typically do? 

The primary scope of work for a web development company includes ideating, designing, creating and maintaining websites and applications. Let us break this down further:

• Website development services

As is evident from the millions of business sites on the internet, websites come in a variety of styles and sizes. A website can be custom-built by a web development company to suit the unique needs and preferences that a business has. Unlike the websites developed during the last decade, these days websites are created taking a mobile-first approach. This means developing your website for smaller (handheld) devices and then adapting it for access on a laptop or PC. The approach a web development company takes to create your business site would depend on a range of factors that include the following:

• The type of business (B2C / B2B)
• The industry or domain that you operate within
• The geographies and audience demographics that you cater to 
• Your budget for the creation and maintenance of the website
• Your objectives and goals (both short term and long term)

• Mobile application development services

Business owners have realized the need to adopt a mobile-first approach. Trends and studies point towards the fact that audiences spend the majority of their time on their smartphones. Just like websites, applications are also created primarily for mobile usage. Here are a few factors that determine how the app development process will pan out:

• Platforms where you wish to make your business app available (iOS, Android, etc.) 
• Type of business and the industry you belong to
• Target group demographics 
• Purpose of the application 
• Your budget for building and maintaining the app

Typically, a web development company will help you build an app and/or website by engaging in the following activities:

1. Ideating and freezing the framework, architecture, and navigation
2. Choosing a coding language to build your site and app (HTML, PHP, JavaScript, ASP, etc.)
3. Coding and programming the back end
4. Integrating media elements like videos, images, and audio
5. Publishing content and optimizing it according to best practices
6. Working on designing the User Interface and User Experience at the front end
7. Testing the website and app before it goes live (beta testing)
8. Identifying problems and fixing bugs
9. Conducting speed and performance testing
10. Implementing codes and going live
11. Maintaining and updating this online real estate on a regular basis

The web development process involves several other steps, most of which are taken care of by your outsourcing partner along the way. Some companies also offer to design and build a site or app using an online Content Management System (CMS) like Joomla, WordPress, Magento, or any other from the host of existing platforms.

In essence, a web development company works with its client and design team to provide end-to-end website creation and app development services.

Web development project journey and process

Image source: https://www.qualdev.com/web-development/

The steps that the website development company follows after they receive a request to build a website or a mobile app include the following:

• Setting up meetings or calls to understand the scope of the project and to identify the needs of the client. Once the initial discussion takes place, the web development company sends a quote.
• Discussing the approach, scope of work and finalizing budgetary aspects. The development process begins after a formal contract or agreement is signed.
• Project planning involves setting a timeframe, outlining the project plan and beginning the work on wireframes.
• The tech assessment phase involves mutually agreeing upon the technologies, platforms, and techniques that will be used for the creation of the website.
• The web development company then creates and shares mockups or prototypes to give the client an idea of how their end product would look.
• Once approved, the next step is designing the look and feel of the website and application (UI and UX). This includes creating signage, graphics, icons, buttons, effects, transitions, color schemes, etc.
• This is followed by the programming and coding of the different aspects (back end development, as mentioned above).
• While quality control is an ongoing aspect of web design and development, this step basically ensures that thorough quality checks are done before deployment.
• Once the website or app is ready to go live, the web development company deploys it on the predefined platform.
• Client training comprises of explaining the functioning of the website and application in detail. This is an important step in the process since the client’s team needs to know how the site works and what aspects they can handle at their end.
• Once the app and website are live, the web development agency is responsible for providing ongoing support according to the terms mentioned in the contract. This involves weekly or monthly calls/meetings, backend support, troubleshooting, re-optimization, and data reporting.

Are you looking for a web development partner?

If you intend to partner with a web development company to build your website or app, make sure you look at aspects like their past work (project portfolio), experience, capabilities, process workflow, and pricing. If they tick all the right boxes and offer value addition in terms of creative inputs, 24×7 support, and quick turnaround, you have yourself a winner!

At QualDev, we offer end-to-end custom web development services and solutions to clients from a wide range of industries.

The post Web Development 101: What Does a Web Development Company Do? appeared first on QualDev.

ecommerce covers commercial transactions, including the transfer of data via the internet. This transfer takes place through different mediums – it could consist of a branded website, a marketplace like eBay or Amazon, mobile applications or even over a social media platform such as the Facebook Marketplace, Pinterest Buyable Pins, and the Shoppable Ads on Instagram. Although there are innumerable ways of selling product to consumers online, the benefit of selling online is the convenience of being able to sell products or services to any consumer at any time, irrespective of their location. 

Let us take a look at the key benefits of having an ecommerce store

1. Sell Quickly

In contrast to the conventional methods of retail, a basic ecommerce store can be set up in a few clicks. There are a lot of ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, Squarespace from where you can use some pre-made templates to design your own store. The platform looks after the hosting, maintenance, PCI compliance, etc. Other marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay need that you set up an account with them before you can begin to sell. A number of SaaS-based ecommerce platforms exist and have made the selling process quite realistic as well as simple for businesses.

2. Low Cost

Setting up an ecommerce business costs less than setting us a brick and mortar store. Most online marketplaces and ecommerce sites have a free sign-up. They normally take a small fee, charged as a percentage of the sale, for allowing you to sell products on their platform. You can make use of drop shipping to obtain inventory without investing a huge sum. Social media, Google AdWords or organic search provide cost-effective ways of marketing your online business. You can manage the business on your own thereby avoiding payroll expenses. You can build your business as and when your sales grow.

3. Shoppers begin the hunt Online

Prospective customers use digital channels a lot these days to locate products and services they need. Compared to 71% in the previous year, this year about 87% of shoppers started their search for a product online. Irrespective of whether they buy the product offline in a physical store, their search began online on a website like Amazon or eBay. Shoppers compare prices, brands, look into reviews, etc. when they search online for a product. Thus, it is important for a brand to have an online presence so as to reach their target customers.

4. Insight on Customer Data

Another benefit of selling online is that it is quite simple and easy to collect data, measure it and act on it. Selling online enables you to get your hands on first-hand data by way of tracking how customers interaction with your website. The data provides you with insights on how to improve customer experience and boost sales on your website. The availability to track customer interaction enables you to identify and perfect feedback loops of any actionable insights that will help you enhance your customer experience. All you need to do is ensure that you collect and act on this data in ethical ways and ensure that you protect it.

5. Reach Out To New Customers

As mentioned earlier, ecommerce selling has different formats. Every single channel has its own unique audience with whom sellers interact. An online site can assist a business to reach international shoppers as well. Social sites can help a business reach totally new demographics. Marketplaces such as Amazon give you a wider audience, and also help a business to identify niche markets. Marketplaces such as Etsy, Poshmark, Newegg, etc., catering to particular people who are on the lookout for specific products. The best part is that a business can use different online touchpoints to ensure that they interact with and engage many different audiences.

6. Strategy for Content Marketing

Having a presence online enables your business to offer a lot of data about the products and services you offer your customers. A branded website offers the sellers a place to provide their customers with key content. Key product content consists of some detailed product descriptions, comparisons of products, availability of inventory in-store, and pricing. This information assists customers in their purchase decisions both while they shop online or whether they choose to buy in-store. an ecommerce website can be used to provide customers with a lot of data regarding the business or how to make use of the products they sell. Blog posts, as well as videos, can be posted on a website to offer a lot of helpful content regarding the usage of products or services.

7. Serving the Niche Markets

ecommerce helps businesses to cater to the needs of niche markets in an easier way. For instance, a rare coin collector will find it quite tough to get a seller. However, the internet has made this quite simple and easy. In case you cater to a niche market, it might be easier to sell your products online.

8. Meet Customers at their location

Shoppers do not only turn to the internet to research about products they also make purchases online. ecommerce has made it quite easy for shoppers to purchase products anywhere and at any time. they can purchase products via Instagram Ads, or even mobile apps. ecommerce also provided a way for sellers to get rid of friction points and has made it easy for buyers to buy products they desire from any source, from anywhere.

Conclusion

In short, getting an ecommerce shop up and running is simpler, involves low-costs and low-risks, than setting up a physical store. As long as you have a perfect business plan and have products that cater to the needs of your customers, the internet is here to offer a passive income as well as a high ROI in the long run. If you are looking for professional help in your e-commerce store development, we are one of the leading ecommerce website development companies in USA and are here to help you walk the path to success.

The post The 8 Benefits of Having An E-commerce Website in Today’s Business Scenario appeared first on QualDev.

The need to create dynamic and more interactive web pages led to the designing of PHP. Since May 22, 2000, PHP has been the most widely used, open-source, general-purpose scripting language. It is possible to use PHP with almost every operating system including Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and RISC OS. Most hosting providers support multiple versions of PHP, including versions 5.x and 7.x.

So why would anyone need to upgrade something that already works?

When it comes to using the latest PHP versions, many businesses, developers, and hosting providers have fallen behind. Just as it is with any piece of software, PHP has a release life cycle that it adheres to in order to keep making improvements and pushing things forward. Each major release of PHP receives full support for two years after its release. During that time, on a regular basis, bugs and security issues are identified, fixed and patched. Most servers today run and support PHP 5.6 and 7.x. This is evident from the fact that about 57% of websites run on PHP 5.6 or lower. Some use PHP 7.0. However, As of December 3rd, 2018, PHP 7.0 has reached its end of life.

Support for PHP 5.6 ended on December 31st, 2018. This means that these versions of PHP will no longer receive support or updates and would remain exposed to unpatched security vulnerabilities if any were to arise. As of January 2019, a whopping 77.5% of users who currently use these PHP versions will no longer receive any form of support.

These statistics also highlight that a large portion of websites are not taking advantage of additional performance and security enhancements that are available when they upgrade to PHP 7.1 or later versions.

What are the benefits of upgrading to the latest version of PHP?

1. Security

Ensuring that your website runs on a PHP version that receives full support and patches is a step towards ensuring that your website remains secure and technologically up to date. Although some software vendors may still update older versions of PHP, PHP 5.4 has not received patches since 2015. PHP 5.5 has not received patches since 2016. PHP 7 and later versions have new security features built into them. These include stronger hashing and encrypting for storage of sensitive data, and better functionality for identifying content that is potentially dangerous, like malicious code injections, etc. Earlier versions of PHP allowed poor programming practices. However, PHP 7 and above, require a higher standard of coding from its developers. PHP versions 7.2 and later use modern cryptography in their standard library, a step that very few other programming languages have taken so far.

2. Performance

The release of PHP 7.2 and PHP 7.3 ushered in huge performance gains! These gains are so big that they do away with the need to make repeated optimizations to keep your website running optimally. PHP 7 itself, allowed systems to execute twice as many requests per second in comparison to PHP 5.6. The current version, PHP 7.3, executes almost three times as many transactions (requests) per second as compared to PHP 5.6.

3. Support

This is a big reason for using the latest and supported PHP versions. Many developers of plugins and themes can only extend support back for older versions so far. A lot of this is due not having enough time and scope to test the compatibility of the new codes they write with every system out there. Both developers and website owners need to accept that things will eventually break when you run on old versions.

4. New Features for Developers

Most website developers would prefer to work on newer versions of PHP whenever they can, simply because many new features have been added between PHP 5.2 and PHP 7.3. These changes go a long way towards making the latest version of PHP, faster and more secure while providing additional flexibility to build better solutions.

How do I check the PHP version my website uses?

Checking the PHP version your website uses is easy. You could follow any of the methods below

Check the administrator panel of your hosting

Log in to the administrator panel of the hosting the website you wish to check. In most administrator panels, the stats of your hosting account are displayed in the menu bar on the left of the page. Among other server information and stats, the PHP version installed on the server used to host your website will be displayed. If you do not find the details you need in the left menu, look for the PHP Info tab and visit the PHP Info section to check for this information.

Use the phpinfo.php file to determine PHP version

An easy way to determine the PHP version your website is running on is to create a phpinfo.php file and upload it to your web hosting using an FTP. You can use any text editor, like notepad, to create this file. After you open a new file, paste the codes provided below in the file and save it. The codes you need to paste in the file are –

Save the content to the file and upload it to your web hosting. After you have uploaded the file, visit your website, and add the name of the file after the domain name. The link in the address bar of your browser would look similar to ­– http://www.mywebsitesname.com/ phpinfo.php. The PHP version will show on the screen.

Use the ‘Developer Tools’ option in a web browser

This method could be a bit tricky. However, if you go a step at a time, you can determine the PHP version. Most popular web browsers provide developers with additional tools that they can use to diagnose issues that prevent information from loading properly on a web page. You could use this tool to determine the version of PHP that your website runs on. You would need to follow the steps outlined below to achieve this goal:

• Open a web browser. If you already have a web browser open, open a new tab in the same browser.
• Press F12 to access Developer Tools. You could also use the combination of the Ctrl + Shift + I to access these tools.
• Locate the ‘Network’ tab in the developer tools.
• Put your domain in the address bar of the browser and visit your website.
• In the Developer tools section, you will see certain details loading.
• At the top of the list in the ‘Network’ tab, you will see the domain name of your website; click on it.
• In the pop-out that opens, locate the entry for ‘X-Powered-By’. You will find this entry in the under ‘Response Headers’.
• The PHP version your website runs on will show in front of the ‘X-Powered-By’ entry.

Use an online tool to determine PHP version

You can look for and use a few tools available online to determine the PHP version your website runs on. Although many hosting servers prevent third-party tools from collecting information about the PHP version because hackers can use this information to compromise a website, you could still try it out. One such tool is https://sitecheck.sucuri.net. You can visit this link, put your domain name in the ‘scan website’ box, and click on the Scan Website button. If the information is retrievable, it will show on the scan results page.

Talk to the developer of your website

Your developer may know or can check your website and provide you with information about the PHP version your website runs on.

The PHP version my website runs on is old. Do I just update it? Will everything be good?

Good question, unfortunately, there is no simple “Yes” or “No” answer to this one. If your website is old, or if the PHP version that your website runs on is below PHP version 7.X you will need to test all the codes of your website and make the necessary changes required to ensure that they are compatible with the latest version of PHP. The developer of your website, or your own team of developers, will be able to provide you with an idea of the scope of work required to update your website. If your website uses an ecommerce platform or a CMS platform, updating it may involve checking each of the plugins used by the website, the theme and the version of the CMS platform itself, to ensure that all of them are compatible with the updated PHP version. Although some plugins or themes may not be compatible, there are many others available that you could use to replace out the incompatible components.

Conclusion

Using the latest PHP versions is important not only for security reasons but also for better performance and support. The path to unbridled ecommerce success is easy to travel on when you take all steps to ensure every component of your website is technologically up to date. Collaborating with a seasoned professional website developer like QualDev Inc. is the best way to ensure that your website performs properly and you experience the minimum of losses due to any form of website downtime.

Even the PHP Group themselves give some feedback about staying current in the PHP Manual: PHP, like any other large system, is under constant scrutiny and improvement. Each new version will often include both major and minor changes to enhance security and repair any flaws, configuration mishaps, and other issues that will affect the overall security and stability of your system.

Like other system-level scripting languages and programs, the best approach is to update often, and maintain awareness of the latest versions and their changes.

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