Both freelance and experienced developers would be familiar with API and probably used them extensively in their web development projects. API stands for Application Programming Interface. It can be thought of as a useful agent between two applications, facilitating user action. For instance, APIs are involved when users send messages on Facebook messenger. To be precise, APIs perform some niche or custom functions as per client requirements, thereby removing the burden of having to create them manually. Fortunately, we have a lot of APIs in the market which are sure to entice various developers and clients. These APIs play the crucial role of handholding between the client’s website and the corresponding application and also enhancing the browsing experience of end-users in the process.

Given the important function played by the APIs, it goes without saying that clients need to implement them with diligence. In this blogpost, we will look at some of the popular and useful APIs that we have come to use whenever clients hire dedicated developers from us for their visionary projects.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most advanced analytics platform on the internet. What does it do? It builds and displays custom dashboards having website data and insights and trends – whatever the client might possibly require. With a certain degree of automation on generating reports, it is sure to attract those clients who are serious about improving the traffic of their website. For example, if it is an e-commerce site, client can get data insights on conversion rates, purchase value of individual customers spread across categories and so on.
 

YouTube

Most clients do not post videos on their website on account of degrading of browsing performance. This API removes that barrier by embedding videos into the webpage. There is also a lot of customisation settings possible. Clients can resize their videos, pull in video data or even enable live streaming. With the preference for mobile search increasing, clients can even accordingly make provision for mobile video playback.
 

Google Translate

This API is particularly useful those to clients catering to an international audience. With Google Translate, users will be able to instantly translate the website into their native language. This way, end users won’t feel left out and clients can reach out to more audiences with ease. It says a lot about the business making efforts in this direction. Localisation can be achieved with this API in a dynamic manner.
 

Dropbox

Want a secure place for storing files from your website? With Dropbox, users can upload documents and other relevant files in a safe manner. As you might already know, Dropbox stores files on the cloud and through this API, users can, for instance, upload their resumes or purchase invoices onto the website directly, depending on who they are. This can be effectively used if proper use cases are formulated by clients. Dropbox brings about efficiency with more work done electronically.
 

Payment API

Many businesses that hire a dedicated programmer are looking to sell a unique product or service. So almost in every web development project, there is some sort of payment involved. There are plenty of APIs available. PayPal is quite popular and we think it should get the job done for most clients. The entire gamut of services under payment is covered in this API – collecting, tracking, dispute resolution, refunds etc;

 
There are many more useful APIs that can be harnessed by clients – for instance, there are social media APIs like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. We have covered some of the essential APIs that is most sought after. That too, in today’s scenario where there is increased competition and there is greater patronage of online purchase, these APIs go a long way in creating fruitful customer touch points.