Practical Tips How to Build a Small Business Website
Infrastructure
07.04.2022
9 min read
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For a small business, your website is your primary point of contact with customers. Even if you have a physical location, your website will still be the place you see the majority of your traffic. Last year, 87% of UK customers regularly shopped online.
The trend is similar across the world. Online shopping has seen unprecedented growth in the past 2 years. Even though some of this was due to exceptional circumstances. Customer trust in online retail has grown. That means that online retail continues to grow post-pandemic.
This gives small businesses a great opportunity to establish themselves in the ecommerce market. The same statistics we quoted above showed a 36% overall growth in the UK's online retail market in 2020.
Why Getting Your Website Right Matters For Small Businesses
Without a huge marketing budget to rely on, a small business has to take care to optimize its website for discoverability. Organic searches and word-of-mouth will be the key to your small business’s growth.
This means that it’s important to work on both the presentation of your website (What your customers see.) As well as the backend optimization (What a search engine algorithm looks for.)
A quality user experience will help you get word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers. A website that performs well technically and ranks well for SEO values will get you that all-important organic search traffic.
In a crowded market, having a well-optimized website can help your small business stand out. According to research by Google, bounce rates increase exponentially as load times increase. Up 32% going from 1-3 seconds and up a staggering 90% when going from 1-5 seconds.
You can see how important a functional website or app is to close a sale. As a new business, you might not know where to start with website building. We’ve compiled this guide to tell you everything you need to know, from the basics to more advanced tips for success.
Where To Start With Website Building
If you’re building a website from the ground up, you need to start by setting out your objectives. Your business will have its own specific needs, so focus on what you want your website to achieve.
Then, you need to consider the basics. Start with what platform you’re going to develop your website on.
Platform
When you’re choosing a platform to develop on, you have one key decision to make first. Do you want to be in full control of your website, using a solution like WordPress.org? Or do you want a third-party hosted option with help from experienced website builders?
It’s an important choice. One option is not superior to the other. If you have talented web developers in your business, then you might want more control and customization. If you just want to get a website off the ground quickly, then outsourcing some tasks makes sense.
Budget Planning
Much of your decision-making as a small business will be limited by your budget. Make sure you know your budget and forecast your website development spend. It can be more costly to build a website from scratch initially. But you’ll save ongoing costs in the long-term.
All-in-one platforms offer more convenience for businesses that are less familiar with ecommerce. If you don’t know your stackflow from your development tools then this is the option for you. They come with management fees or subscription plans that enable long-term support for your website.
If you choose to build from scratch, you will still need to consider a domain or server host. There are also ongoing costs associated, so plan accordingly. You can expect basic benefits like SSL certificates, a free domain name, and built-in security as standard.
You should also consider what tools will integrate with your platform when planning budgets. Can it interact with your remote work software? Will it integrate with the best tools for affiliate marketing? Keep questions like these in mind.
Content Strategy
Just having a website isn’t enough to drive traffic to your business. You need to offer content that appeals to your core demographics. Depending on your business this could be blog content, youtube tutorials, viral TikTok content, or whatever your audience wants.
If you don’t know where to start with a content strategy then look for the best-in-class examples in your market. If you want your content to stand out, look at the examples from the best personalization websites.
8 Practical Tips For New Website Builders
So you know how to get started with web development. But now you’re off the ground, how do you optimize your website for success? Here are eight of the best tips for new websites to focus on.
Domain Names & Discoverability
What’s in a name? For an ecommerce business, a lot. Having a simple and easily searchable domain name can make a big difference to your site's discoverability. There are several online options for domain name generators, like GoDaddy, BNG, and InstantDomainSearch.
Aim for something simple but unique. Registrations of shorter domain names increased 26% in 1 month in October 2021. The same statistics show that descriptive domain names (like “mybusiness.myarea”) are on the rise, too.
Think of it this way, a clothing retailer in Hampshire might choose a domain like “hampshire.clothes” or “clothing.hampshire”. It’s simple, descriptive and targeted at your local audience.
SEO Optimization
This is one of the most important factors for a new website to get right. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means how easily your content can be understood by search engine algorithms.
This is how search engines like Google rank the content you see when you put something into the search bar. If you’re not already aware, the majority of all organic search traffic on the internet comes via Google. This means it’s vital for an SME to understand SEO.
There are several tools you can use, both paid and free, to get started with SEO optimization. Google Analytics will let you keep track of your site’s ranking and your market’s keywords. Tools like Clearscope will let you analyze the SEO optimization of your written content.
Simple Yet Eye-Catching Design
The next two things you need to account for will make up your users' first impressions of your site. The first is the visual design. It needs to be appealing, clean, and easy to navigate. Having a clear call to action on each page is a good start.
There are thousands of WordPress blogs out there and even more ecommerce sites. Avoid overly generic designs and let the personality of your brand show on each page. This means maintaining consistent visuals, tones and fonts, among other things.
Performance
The second aspect that makes up a user’s first impression is performance. If your site is slow to load, you’ll lose a lot of business. Interactive elements and visually vibrant ads are great sales tools, but not if they come at the cost of your site’s performance.
You might remember earlier, when we mentioned that slow load times increase bounce rates. It’s hard to overstate just how important this factor is. Any load time over 1-2 seconds is likely to cost you business. At 10 seconds, bounce probability is increased 123%.
Functionality
Remember that your customers will view your website through different channels. Even if you have a separate mobile app, some customers will still use your website on mobile, tablet and desktop.
There are several third-party mobile testing services you can use to make sure your app or website is ready for every market. Performance and Functionality are also factors that search engine algorithms use to rank your pages
Internal Links & Calls to Action
Avoid content dead-ends on your website. You don’t want to stuff your content with links, but you do need to make sure users can easily navigate around your site with a few clicks. Backlink to relevant content and always have a way for users to get back to your homepage instantly.
Having a strong call to action in relevant content can help convert browsing users to customers as well. It’s a win-win for SMEs as you can make this a part of your content strategy.
If you post relevant content in your blog or on your channel, you direct interested users to your site. They see the relevant call to action for your service and it’s already something they’re aware of or interested in. This leads to higher conversion rates than blanket marketing.
Enable Social Sharing
Here’s a free marketing tip that some small businesses are still missing out on. Enable social sharing on all of your content. If users enjoy your videos or your blog posts, give them a one-click way to share them on Twitter, Facebook or whatever social channels they use.
Testing & Implementation
Before you launch your website into the wild, you’ll want to test it. In fact, with development, it’s often a good idea to implement a testing-in-production strategy. This way, you can keep track of any issues as you finalize your designs and speed up the release of your final build.
Once you’ve published your website, released your ecommerce app, or both, you’ll need to keep testing. Refine your designs and your marketing as you go, for the best results.
Crowd testing methods like beta tests and early access builds can be a good way to source user feedback. These give you useful insight into your users’ needs as well as to help identify bugs that could occur in a live environment.
Conclusion
You have a lot of decisions to make when you’re building an online business. Both big and small choices matter. The specific details of your website can be a make or break factor for your success.
Don’t let the small details pass you by as you focus on big-picture questions like “Should I choose cloud hosting or physical servers?” Make sure your website is optimized and your sales portal is accessible, or all your marketing efforts won’t achieve much.
Author: Matthew Cooper - Marketing Automation & Operations Manager, Global App Testing
Matthew Cooper is the Marketing Automation & Operations Manager at Global App Testing, a best-in-class mobile usability testing software company that has helped top apps such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Craigslist deliver high-quality software at speed all over the world. Matthew has over 14 years of experience in the I.T Networking, Software & Services Industries. He is highly skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, Social Media Management, WordPress, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation, CRM, and People Management. You can find him on LinkedIn. He has also written content for Affise and BigCommerce.
Infrastructure
07.04.2022
9 min read
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Infrastructure
PostgreSQL vs MySQL: Which Database Is Right for Your Business?
PostgreSQL and MySQL are among the most popular relational databases. In this article, we will examine the functional differences between them and compare their performance so that you can choose the database that is suitable for your business.
PostgreSQL vs MySQL
Despite the increasing similarity in features between PostgreSQL and MySQL, important differences remain. For example, PostgreSQL is better suited for managing large and complex databases, while MySQL is optimal for website and online-application databases because it is oriented toward speed. This follows from the internal structure of these relational database systems, which we will examine.
Data Storage in PostgreSQL and MySQL
Like any other relational databases, these systems store data in tables. However, MySQL uses several storage engines for this, while PostgreSQL uses only a single storage engine. On one hand, this makes PostgreSQL more convenient, because MySQL’s engines read and write data to disk differently. On the other hand, MySQL offers greater flexibility in choosing a data engine.
However, PostgreSQL has an advantage: its storage engine implements table inheritance, where tables are represented as objects. As a result, operations are performed using object-oriented functions.
Support
The SQL standard is over 35 years old, and only the developers of PostgreSQL aim to bring their product into full compliance with the standard. The developers of MySQL use a different approach: if a certain feature simplifies working with the system, it will be implemented even if it does not fully conform to the standard. This makes MySQL more user-friendly compared to PostgreSQL.
In terms of community support, the number of MySQL developers still exceeds those working with PostgreSQL, but you can receive qualified help in both communities. In addition, many free guides and even books have been written about PostgreSQL, containing answers to most questions. It is also worth noting that both platforms are free, but MySQL has several commercial editions, which can sometimes lead to additional expenses.
Programming Languages
Both systems support a wide range of programming languages. Among the popular ones are C++, Java, Python, lua, and PHP. Therefore, a company’s development team will not face difficulties implementing features in either system.
Operating Systems
MySQL is a more universal system that runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and several other operating systems. PostgreSQL was originally designed for Linux, but with the REST API interface, it becomes an equally universal solution that operates on any OS.
Data Processing
PostgreSQL provides more capabilities for data processing. For example, a cursor is used for moving through table data, and responses are written to the memory of the database server rather than the client, as in MySQL. PostgreSQL also allows building indexes simultaneously for several columns. It supports different index types, allowing work with multiple data types. This database also supports regular expressions in queries. However, new fields in PostgreSQL can only be added at the end of a table.
Parallel data processing is better organized in PostgreSQL because the platform has a built-in implementation of MVCC (multiversion concurrency control). MVCC can also be supported in MySQL, but only if InnoDB is used. Concerning replication, PostgreSQL supports logical, streaming, and bidirectional replication, while MySQL supports circular replication as well as master-master and master-standby. Replication refers to copying data between databases located on different servers.
PostgreSQL and MySQL: Performance Comparison
Testing is fair only when comparing two clean, “out-of-the-box” systems. Indexed testing provides the following results:
Insertion: PostgreSQL is more than 2.7× faster, processing a 400,000-record database in 5.5 seconds versus 15 seconds for MySQL.
Inner join: PostgreSQL processes 400,000 records in 1.1 seconds, MySQL in 2.8 seconds: a gain of more than 2.5×.
Indexed sorting: PostgreSQL processes the same number of records in 0.9 seconds, MySQL in 1.5 seconds.
Grouping: For the same 400,000-record database, PostgreSQL achieves 0.35 seconds, MySQL 0.52 seconds.
Indexed selection: PostgreSQL is 2× faster: 0.6 seconds vs. 1.2 seconds.
When it comes to updating data, PostgreSQL’s update time increases gradually as the number of records grows, while MySQL processes them in roughly the same time, starting from 100,000 records. This is due to different data-storage implementations. Nevertheless, PostgreSQL holds a significant advantage over MySQL even with large data volumes: 3.5 seconds versus 9.5 seconds for 400,000 records—more than 2.7× faster.
Without indexes, PostgreSQL also shows surprisingly high performance, processing a 400,000-record database in 1.3, 0.7, and 2.2 seconds for inner join, selection, and update operations, respectively.
Thus, PostgreSQL delivers an average performance advantage of about 2× (2.06). Although MySQL was originally positioned as a high-performance platform, constant optimization by the PostgreSQL development team has resulted in greater efficiency.
Advantages for Developers
Here we consider only the unique features characteristic of each platform. Therefore, we will not discuss support for MVCC or ACID, as these features are present in both systems.
From a developer’s perspective, MySQL is advantageous because it:
Provides increased flexibility and is easily scalable, with more than ten storage engines based on different data-storage algorithms.
Handles small read-oriented databases more efficiently (i.e., without frequent writes).
Is easier to manage and maintain, because it requires less configuration and fewer preparatory steps before starting work.
From a developer’s perspective, PostgreSQL is advantageous because it:
Offers an object-oriented approach to data, enabling inheritance and allowing the creation of more complex table structures that do not fit the traditional relational model.
Handles write-oriented databases better, including validation of written data.
Supports object-oriented programming features, enabling work with NoSQL-style data, including XML and JSON formats.
Can support databases without limitations on data volume. Some companies use PostgreSQL to run databases as large as several petabytes.
PostgreSQL and MySQL Comparison
For clarity, the main features of both systems can be presented in a table:
PostgreSQL
MySQL
Supported OS
Solaris, Windows, Linux, OS X, Unix, HP-UX
Solaris, Windows, Linux, OS X, FreeBSD
Use cases
Large databases with complex queries (e.g., Big Data)
Lighter databases (e.g., websites and applications)
Data types
Supports advanced data types, including arrays and hstore
Supports standard SQL data types
Table inheritance
Yes
No
Triggers
Supports triggers for a wide range of commands
Limited trigger support
Storage engines
Single (Storage Engine)
Multiple
As we can see, several features are implemented only in PostgreSQL. Both systems support ODBC, JDBC, CTE (common table expressions), declarative partitioning, GIS, SRS, window functions, and many other features.
Conclusion
Each system has its strengths. MySQL handles horizontal scaling well and is easier to configure and manage. However, if you expect database expansion or plan to work with different data types, it is better to consider implementing PostgreSQL in advance. Moreover, PostgreSQL is a fully free solution, so companies with limited budgets can use it without fear of unnecessary costs.
24 November 2025 · 6 min to read
Infrastructure
How to Speed Up Development with Cloud Technologies
From the point of view of a software-development company, the computing infrastructure needed for developing and supporting software can be of two types:
Servers owned by the development company
The application developer physically hosts the server equipment directly in their office or data center, maintains it themselves, and ensures data security.
This approach has become less popular over the years. Developers prefer using a provider that offers computing power on its own equipment on a paid basis.
Advantages:
Full physical control over the servers
High data security and confidentiality
Disadvantages:
Financial costs for server hardware
Financial costs for maintenance (specialists, equipment)
Need for experience and expertise to support data centers
Servers managed by another organization
The application developer chooses a provider from whom they remotely rent computing resources. Today, this is the most optimal option for most companies.
Advantages:
No need for own equipment
The amount of computing resources used is flexibly adjustable
No need for experience or expertise in network communications
Disadvantages:
The provider is responsible for data security and confidentiality
No physical control over the servers
What Are Cloud Technologies?
Cloud technologies are technical solutions that provide users with computing power through a flexibly configurable online service.
The cloud belongs to the provider of cloud resources, who owns the physical servers.
Although clouds from different providers have their own unique features, they generally include the following basic components:
servers
storage
databases
network infrastructure
software
testing and analytics tools
Physical and Logical Layers
The main feature of the cloud is that, unlike the traditional server-rental model, it separates the physical and logical layers.
This means that data processing and network interactions exist on top of the physical base—the server machines located in data centers (DCs).
This is why cloud allows the flexible configuration of the resources a specific application requires.
This architecture can be represented hierarchically:
Logical layer: operating systems, virtualization systems, containers, server applications, application-level network protocols, business logic, client applications
Physical layer: server machines, motherboards, ASIC controllers, low-level network protocols
Cloud Models
There are several types of clouds that differ in the degree of abstraction of the software (logical) level.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
Only computing power is provided, with just the operating system and sometimes additional software.
Examples:
Amazon Web Services
Microsoft Azure
Google Cloud
Hostman Cloud Servers
PaaS (Platform as a Service)
Along with computing power, a set of tools for development and administration is provided.
Examples:
Red Hat OpenShift
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Google App Engine
Hostman App Platform
SaaS (Software as a Service)
A client application with ready-to-use functionality that does not require specialized knowledge.
Examples:
Google Drive
Salesforce
Dropbox
Types of Clouds
Clouds differ in their degree of isolation, from fully public to fully private. There are also mixed implementations.
Public
Computing resources are located in the provider’s data center. All cloud provider resources are distributed among users depending on the chosen pricing plans.
Private
The cloud is completely isolated (sometimes even disconnected from the global Internet) and is physically located on the user's server equipment.
There are also cases when the cloud provider offers isolated server resources for a specific client, while other users use the public part of the cloud.
Hybrid
A combination of a private cloud and a public one. Usually, business logic containing sensitive data is placed in the private cloud, while “peripheral” computing is performed in the provider’s public cloud.
Advantages of Cloud Technologies
Simplified Development
Using any of the existing cloud models clearly simplifies the development process.
The closer a chosen model is to SaaS, the easier it is to interact with the cloud, but the more standardized and typical the solution becomes.
The closer a chosen model is to IaaS, the more precisely the cloud can be configured, but the more complex it becomes to maintain.
Therefore, the cloud model is selected individually for every case. A standardized solution may not fit someone if the product being developed requires a more unique technical implementation.
For example, using cloud databases (DBaaS) provided by Hostman removes many responsibilities from the developer regarding managing their own storage.
While deploying a database cluster can be done fairly quickly and easily, using it properly “in the long run” requires certain expertise.
Thus, to stay focused on development, it makes sense to entrust this function to an experienced provider with established methodologies, expertise, and the necessary technical solutions.
Cost Optimization
In the cloud, user expenses match the amount of resources used in their work tasks.
This payment model, "pay-as-you-go", is fundamental to cloud computing: you pay only for the resources you use.
If, at some point, more resources are needed, they are allocated quickly and increase costs. Conversely, extra resources can be “returned” to the provider, reducing expenses.
In other words, the user’s financial expenses correlate with the number of resources consumed. Allocation and release of resources happen instantly.
Additionally, delegating cloud-infrastructure management to the provider eliminates the developer’s costs associated with maintaining their own data center:
Hiring specialists and administrators
Purchasing server equipment
Renting premises
Faster Deployment
Instant access to cloud resources and the ability to configure them flexibly significantly reduces the time:
From the start of MVP development of a new product to its deployment in a production environment
From the start of developing new features to adding them to the finished product
For example, the development process of a new service might look like this:
Managers formalize requirements for the future product.
Developers determine the technology stack.
The development company rents the necessary computing resources from a cloud provider, including cloud servers, Kubernetes clusters, and object storage.
Developers write code, which is automatically deployed in the provider’s cloud environment.
The new product is tested, and user feedback is collected.
Based on the collected data, managers decide whether further support is justified. If the product does not meet expectations, the allocated resources are returned to the provider. If successful, the computing resources can be expanded.
In some cases, a developer may use multiple clouds from completely different providers, forming what is called a multi-cloud.
1. Cloud Server
Cloud servers differ from dedicated servers in that the “physical” configuration is adjusted within a certain range.
For example, Hostman cloud servers can be parameterized using a configurator. In this case, the rental cost corresponds to the capacities selected in the account panel.
Accordingly, when workloads change, a cloud server can be scaled: CPU cores, RAM, disk space, or connection speed can be increased.
2. Cloud Databases
In addition to the computing power provided by the cloud server, most projects require a specialized database.
Hostman provides most popular database engines as a separate cloud service:
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Redis
and others
As with servers, computing resources for a database can be configured based on several parameters:
Number of cores
RAM
NVMe disk size
Rental period
When ordering a database, you don’t need to configure hardware, track software updates, or administer the database: the infrastructure is managed by Hostman.
3. Kubernetes
A crucial component of cloud development is automation of building, deploying, and testing using CI/CD pipelines.
CI/CD is the basis of the DevOps methodology, whose goal is to automate changes to software.
Cloud services provide the needed capabilities for this. For example, GitHub CI/CD and GitLab CI/CD infrastructures have special cloud tools that simplify creating CI/CD pipelines, including test environments, storage, notification functions, and databases.
Modern applications consist of microservices placed in containers. Kubernetes, the standard for container orchestration, is used for management and monitoring.
Kubernetes clusters from Hostman can be a suitable solution.
In this case, the developer avoids the costs associated with maintaining their own infrastructure as the execution of Kubernetes applications is handled by the provider.
Conclusion
In this article, we reviewed what efficient development using cloud services looks like, and also mentioned the most popular developer tools:
Cloud servers
Databases
Monitoring tools (CI/CD, Kubernetes)
While creating your own data centers requires time, expertise, and significant financial investment, the cloud is provided by a provider in a refined and secure form.
A ready-made cloud helps developers immediately focus on the business logic of the application, thus speeding up development and integration of innovations.
Today, public cloud services are available even in areas that were previously predominantly non-cloud. Clouds are being implemented even in enterprises unrelated to IT.
Therefore, cloud technologies not only accelerate development but also accelerate digital transformation as a whole.
24 November 2025 · 8 min to read
Infrastructure
Microservices Architecture: What It Is, Who It’s For, and Tools to Use
Every developer strives to speed up product development while maintaining enough flexibility and confident control over the process. Microservices application architecture helps solve these tasks and, over the past 10 years, has begun actively competing with the traditional monolithic approach. To begin, let’s look at the difference between them.
Microservices Architecture vs. Monolith
The difference between these two software development approaches is easiest to illustrate with an example. Let’s imagine two online stores: one implemented as a monolith and the other as microservices.
A monolithic online store is a single, indivisible structure that combines all components: databases (catalog, customer data), shopping cart, order and payment forms. All of these elements are tightly interconnected and located on the same server.
In a microservices system, each component is an independent module that developers can work on separately. And naturally, nothing requires hosting these modules on a single server.
Thus, microservices architecture is a kind of constructor that allows you to add new elements painlessly as you scale the application. A monolith, on the other hand, can be compared to a solid wall: scaling here is only possible by adding another identical monolith.
It’s worth adding that microservices are sometimes mistakenly perceived as a set of very small services. This is not the case: for example, the database of a large online store may contain millions of records and occupy tens of gigabytes, yet still be just one of the modules within the microservices architecture of the whole application.
Comparing Microservices and Monoliths by Key Criteria
Now let’s look at the main characteristics of microservices technology in comparison with a monolith and see how both approaches solve the same developer tasks.
Release Cycles
Development speed and frequency of updates increase with microservices thanks to modularity: changes are made not to the entire codebase but to individual modules. With a monolith, however, the whole platform must be updated first, which increases testing and debugging time. As a result, development slows down and updates are released less frequently.
Technology Stack
The microservices model offers significantly greater flexibility because each service can be written in its own programming language and may use different libraries and data-storage technologies. With a monolith, the situation is different: changing the technology stack is nearly impossible. Developers are forced to stick to the initial tools.
Developer Onboarding
Each module in a microservices architecture is self-contained, making it possible to bring in programmers who are familiar with the functionality of a specific service. This substantially lowers the onboarding threshold. With a monolith, new developers must dive into the code of the entire application, understand the functions of every block, and only then begin productive work. Thus, maintaining a monolith is more dependent on specific team members.
Optimization Characteristics
The modularity of microservices architecture also positively affects optimization, since developers can optimize each service separately. Optimizing a monolithic structure is more difficult because the team must account for links between indivisible blocks, and updating any one of them inevitably affects the entire application.
Application Scalability
The distributed structure of microservices and their ability to run on separate servers make scaling fast and easy. In monoliths, scaling one component inevitably requires scaling the entire application as a whole.
Fault Tolerance
Because services are hosted on different servers and have a modular structure, microservices architecture achieves independence of each module. This significantly increases system resilience: a failure in one service does not cause the entire application to fail. With a monolith, the situation is different: all components are tightly interconnected, so the failure of one module can make the entire application inoperable.
Do I Need to Switch to Microservices Right Now?
As we’ve seen, microservices have advantages in many key areas. But does this mean you need to abandon monoliths as an outdated approach and immediately switch to microservices? The answer depends on the current state of your project. And let’s say right away: rushing to adopt microservices is not always the right choice. Distributed architecture also has its drawbacks.
First, microservices require ensuring network connectivity between modules. If a network connection is unstable, this leads to delays and data inconsistencies, which create potential problems in application behavior.
Second, each module of a microservices system requires separate testing and health monitoring. Additionally, you will need to allocate cloud resources for each module, which may increase costs.
Third, with the microservices approach, teams responsible for different modules may encounter interaction issues. This means you may need a connecting link in the form of DevOps specialists who can streamline collaboration and speed up development.
All the factors listed above allow us to conclude that the transition to microservices must be timely. Usually, during the early stages of a project, this is unnecessary, especially if developers have limited human or financial resources.
Switching to a microservices architecture makes sense when there is a clear need for significant scaling, and scaling a monolith has already become difficult. Microservices may be right for you if:
You have a large team. In this case, it makes sense to divide the team into separate, independent groups, each responsible for its own service;
You have a complex, branched application. In this case, it’s far more convenient to update and maintain modules separately than to rebalance the entire system each time;
Your application traffic is highly variable. For example, you see sharp spikes in load during certain periods. Microservices' distributed structure allows quick scaling during peak loads, after which you can easily return to normal capacity levels;
Your application is frequently updated. Working with separate modules in this scenario is much simpler, and new releases will be significantly faster.
If your project meets at least one of these criteria, this is a reason to consider breaking it into independent elements. However, if your application is relatively small and does not require frequent updates, it is reasonable not to rush away from monolithic architecture.
Useful Tools for Organizing Microservices
A modern development approach requires a containerization platform. In most cases, developers use Docker for these purposes. Docker tools allow them to isolate the application from the infrastructure, meaning they can work with it equally well locally or in the cloud, which is very convenient for development.
Once containers become numerous, an orchestrator becomes essential for managing and organizing groups of containers. Kubernetes is most commonly used as an orchestrator due to its strong compatibility with Docker.
Another necessary tool is a load balancer, which ensures even distribution of network traffic across all cloud resources. This significantly increases the application’s fault tolerance.
21 November 2025 · 6 min to read
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