One of your objectives as a freelance web developer is to be able to deliver projects with as short of turnaround time as possible. To do so will allow you take on multiple tasks which is required in order to keep client costs down while making a profit. So, you will need several types of software tools that automate some of the tedious and time consuming tasks related to this profession. What are some of the tools available on the market? Here are a few different types.
Jobs should be tracked with project management software. Project management software allows you to set milestone dates for the phases of the project. It also allows you to assign the resources (usually people) involved in the project plus keep track of the time expended on it. Project management software has a couple of key strengths. First, it allows you to report the status of a project to your client and second, it gives you a record of the average duration of a certain type of job. Project management software should be easy to use so that more productive time can be spent on the project itself. You can either download PC-based software or there are websites that provide the service to you for a fee or, in some cases, for free.
Image creation and manipulation software are a must. These software packages allow you to create or alter images into a variety of formats. A tool of this nature is required for making images that are optimized for display in a web browser. Plus, clients sometimes provide images that could be in any format and you might have to alter them for final presentation. The most famous of these is Photoshop however it can be an expensive initial expense. Adobe, Inc. (the makers of Photoshop) also has a Photoshop Express website where you can do some basic image editing for free. There are even free Photoshop alternatives that you can download for your computer. However, if you are serious about doing web design for small business you will have to get the full blown version of Photoshop. It will pay for itself in the first project.
Use software to keep track of open issues. This is also known as “bug” tracking. If a client calls and reports a bug found in the operation of a website you developed, you want to be able to record it along with the solution. While this may not seem too important at first, you’ll find this tool extremely useful when you have to fix a similar bug in the future. Don’t rely on your memory to remember how you went about finding the solution.
Other tools save you on coding time. There are software tools available where you can lay out a page framework and it will generate the HTML code plus the CSS file once you are ready. There is also a variety of CSS file, JavaScript, and Ajax file formatters and code generators.
Invoicing software that interfaces with your accounting software will be handy at tax time. It’s best to be able to update your accounting journals when you invoice the client. This keeps you from having to buy two separate software packages to do each function and also makes filing your annual taxes a quicker and more accurate process.
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