Web development is the term used to cover a whole range of activities including web content development, web server configuration, server side coding, client side coding and web designing for putting up on the Intranet.

1. Fundamentals of Web Development
Web development is the term used to cover a whole range of activities including
web content development, web server configuration, server side coding, client
side coding and web designing for putting up on the Intranet. Please know this
article is confined to discussing the fundamentals of web development and
does not constitute a step-by-step tutorial for creating and/or developing a
website.
The first step is to obtain a domain name that you wish to provide for your
website. A domain name will entail paying an annual registration fee.
Next, you will have to select a web host and sign up for an account. A web
host may be described as a company that has several computers connected
to the Internet. When you eventually position your web pages on their
computers, all Internet users throughout the world will be able to view the
pages.
The third step is the crucial task of designing the web pages. One
uncomplicated way to design a website is to use a WYSIWYG (What You
See Is What You Get) web editor. Such editors will enable you to design
your site visually, without having to needlessly bother about the technical
details. There are also several other web design software available. But if
you really need a professional looking website, you can hire a qualified
web designer for this purpose. When designing a website, you must
identify your target audience, create relevant content, provide easy
navigation, incorporate graphics etc.

2. Your job does not end with creating the website but you will have test your
web pages in some major browsers ( all of them come free) like different
versions of Internet Explorer, the latest versions of Firefox, Opera, Safari
and Chrome. One way to make your website work in future versions of the
web browsers is to ensure your web pages' code validate as correct. There
are enough details available on the Internet about HTML and CSS
validation.
If you plan selling products/services, you will have to provide detailed
information to facilitate accepting credit cards and add an Order Form
along with ‘Buy Now’ button using PayPal or any other payment gateway.
If you need advertisers for your website, you can find a list of advertisers
on Affiliate Programs: Free Sponsors and Advertisers. These companies
are on the constant lookout for new web publishers to display their
advertisements.
Creating and developing a website is pointless unless you are able to draw
traffic to your site. For this, you will have to create SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) content and try to get top search engine rankings.
Generally speaking, if your site is already linked to by other websites, you
may not even be required to submit it to these search engines. They will
probably find it themselves by following the links on those websites. Apart
from submitting your site to the search engines, you can also consider
promoting your site in other ways.
Web development could range from the design and development of a simple web
page that only has plain text to the most advanced and complex electronic
businesses, web-based applications or social networking services.
Web design and development is a vast area that covers Web design (graphic
design, XHTML, CSS, usability and semantics), programming, server
administration, content management, marketing, testing and deployment and
possibly server administration.
Professional Web developers possess the required skills and adequate knowledge
in web and graphic designing, copywriting, search engine optimization,
information architecture and other IT development factors.
Source: web designing UAE