For businesses, getting the right information about whether they need a web designer or web developer to create their websites can be confusing, especially since both can work together to create their websites. The purpose of this article is to help you understand what web design and web development are and to help you decide which professionals you may need to help you with that process.
The Basics of Web Design: What Is It?
As the name suggests, web design is about the visual aspects of your website or app, in addition to how the aesthetics play a role in how easy it is to use the site. For a web designer to create an appealing and practical layout, they need to take into consideration current design trends, in addition to the industry standards and best practices. As a result of this framework, they are able to create pages that are not only visually appealing to visitors but also incorporate elements that make them stay on the site for a more extended period of time.
As well as ensuring that the overall design layout is functional for a diverse range of platforms and devices, web designers also ensure that their design elements are responsive. A web designer can also be responsible for a variety of other tasks, such as creating a style guide to ensure visual consistency across platforms and all pages on the website.
In general, there are three types of web designers:
- User Interface (UI) designers increase the conversion rate of a website by optimizing its design.
- User Experience (UX) designers optimize the design of a website to make it more intuitive and engaging for visitors by analyzing the data.
- Visual Designers design the website’s layout and visual elements in a way that is both appealing and user-friendly.
How Does Web Development Work?
By definition, web development is the process of constructing and maintaining the structure of a website through the use of programming or coding. A web developer uses the information that web designers provide in order to create an actual, live website that users will be able to access and complete tasks on. As part of their duties, they will also be responsible for the setup of the necessary servers and databases, as well as creating the elements needed to make the website function correctly.
A web developer also debugs websites and supplies ongoing support for server and hosting issues in order to ensure that the website continues to operate as expected.
A web developer can be classified into three types:
- back-end developers are responsible for the development of the database, server, and other components of the website.
- front-end developers are responsible for coding and programming the parts of the website that users will be able to see and recognize.
- full-stack developers develop both the back-end and front-end of a website.
What Is the Difference Between Web Development and Web Design?
Web Development
- Describes how a website is structured and how it functions
- Utilizes complex coding and programming techniques
- Deals with non-design aspects of a website
- Utilizes tools such as content management systems, coding libraries, and FTP clients
Web Design
- Refers to the visual appearance and usability of a website
- Coding is only required at the basic level
- The appearance, attractiveness, and cohesiveness of a website
- Analyzes how users interact with a website
There is a significant difference between web design and web development in terms of their purpose. Web design is primarily responsible for creating a website’s visual appearance, while web development is responsible for creating the website and providing it with functional capabilities.
The purpose of web design is also to create a site’s overall layout, visual elements, and flow for the user, but it does not require complex coding language to accomplish this task. This is a role that falls under the category of web development, a technical job that is not responsible for developing a design plan.
Generally, web designers use software such as Photoshop, InVision Studio, and Adobe Dreamweaver. A number of web development platforms are used by web developers, such as Python, Ruby On Rails, and GitHub.
The Difference Between a Web Designer and a Web Developer: Which Should You Hire?
Whether you need a web designer or developer for your project depends on the tasks involved on your site. Here are some tasks that you may need to address on your site and who you should contact for assistance.
You may need to hire a web designer if you need to:
- Your landing page’s visual layout should be ordered and arranged
- Create a mobile platform that reflects your brand’s style
- Design an eye-catching and responsive website layout
- Enhance the user experience or conversion rate of your website
- Improve the search engine optimization of your website by revising its design.
Invest in a web developer if you need to:
- Develop a custom website
- Create a functional website by coding it
- Add a custom inquiry form or live chat function to your website
- Create a website that incorporates animations, videos, or content sliders
- Enhance the speed and capacity of your website
In Conclusion
There is not much difference between web design and web development. The creation of a finished website is often the result of collaboration between web designers and developers. However, it is not uncommon for freelancers in these industries to have a broad range of skills that encompass aspects of both. It is true that some web designers are capable of performing front-end web development, whereas some web developers have the ability to incorporate design principles when creating functional websites. Whether you require a web designer, a web developer, or a combination of the two, you will be able to find them on Fiverr.
