Web development basics for sellers

How websites, web apps and mobile apps work, what affects their cost and timeline, and how to read a technical proposal, explained for the people who sell them.

  • Beginner
  • 13 lessons
  • 4 hr 22 min
  • Taught by Skillhancer Labs team

What you'll learn

  • Explain domains, DNS, hosting and HTTPS to a client in plain language
  • Tell front end from back end, and a content-managed website from a web app
  • Explain native, cross-platform and web apps, and when each one fits
  • Describe APIs and integrations, and why they affect scope
  • Identify what drives a project's timeline and cost
  • Explain maintenance, security and ongoing costs honestly before a client signs
  • Read a technical proposal and explain each section to a client
  • Turn discovery call notes into a clear scope the developers can price

About this course

This course is for Skillhancer Labs interns, and anyone else who sells websites, apps and software without writing code. It explains how the web works, what our developers actually build, what makes a project take longer or cost more, and how to read a technical proposal so you can explain it to a client with confidence.

You won't learn to code. You will learn enough to ask better questions on discovery calls, understand what the developers tell you, spot when a request is bigger than it sounds, and avoid promising anything you can't stand behind.

Each lesson ends with an exercise. The final project has you scope a website project from discovery call notes, which our staff review. It pairs well with the course "Selling tech services: the 15-day intern training".

Course content

4 sections · 13 lessons · 4 hr 22 min in total

How the web works3 lessons · 52 min
  1. What happens when someone opens a websiteArticlePreview14 min
  2. Domains and DNSArticleEnroll to open19 min
  3. Hosting and HTTPSArticleEnroll to open19 min
What we build5 lessons · 1 hr 35 min
  1. Front end and back endArticleEnroll to open19 min
  2. Content management systemsArticleEnroll to open19 min
  3. Web apps: when a website becomes softwareArticleEnroll to open19 min
  4. Mobile apps: native, cross-platform or webArticleEnroll to open19 min
  5. APIs and integrationsArticleEnroll to open19 min
Time, cost and care2 lessons · 43 min
  1. What affects timelines and costArticleEnroll to open24 min
  2. Maintenance, updates and security basicsArticleEnroll to open19 min
Proposals and scoping3 lessons · 1 hr 12 min
  1. Reading a technical proposalArticleEnroll to open24 min
  2. From discovery call to scopeArticleEnroll to open34 min
  3. Words you'll hear from developersArticleEnroll to open14 min

Projects

Put the course into practice. A member of staff reviews every submission.

Beginner

Scope a website project from a discovery call

Turn a discovery call into a scope our developers could price without needing another call. You can work from a practice call, or from the written scenario below.…

6 deliverables

Your instructor

ST

Skillhancer Labs team

Written and maintained by the Skillhancer Labs team.

Web development basics for sellers · Skillhancer Labs