What’s the Difference Between a Website Designer and a Website Developer?
So you’ve decided to give up your 9-to-5 and make your dream of owning your own business come true. OR, you’ve been rocking out at being your own boss for a few years and you need to do some much-needed marketing.
Either way, you find yourself in need of an eye-catching and user-friendly website that perfectly represents your brand and the DIY route is not your jam. Who do you call? A web designer or a web developer?
What Website Designers Do
A website designer’s primary role is to design the visual elements of a website that we, the users, will see, in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing and reflective of the brand it represents. So essentially, any and all parts of the website that an audience will interact with. This includes the design layout of the pages, graphics, font style, typography and more.
Is generally more visually creative by nature. They’re the artists, not the engineers.
Translates your brand essence in aesthetically pleasing designs.
Considers the user experience and visual cues to guide them through the website and — ultimately — to convert prospects into would-be clients.
What a Web Developer Does
A web developer takes a web designer’s vision and designs and builds the fully functioning website. A web developer is also called a programmer, which means they know how to code and they utilize programming languages such as Javascript, HTML, Python, Umbraco, Wordpress, etc. to create effective and efficient websites. If you’ve ever been on a site with server issues, it’s the website developer, not the designer, to sniff out and fix those issues.
Website developers:
Are programmers and generally more technical by nature. They’re the engineers, not the artists.
Code and build the core structure of the website and/or apps. It’s the actual functionality of the website — scrolling, loading, domain setup, etc.
Turn beautiful designs by website designers into fully functioning websites.
Analogy for Website Designer vs. Website Developer
Consider your dream home: How many rooms does it have? How would you decorate it? Where do you want people to flow and and out of? Using the analogy of building a custom home, your web developer is the builder and architect — creating the solid foundation that won’t crack, creating the blueprint for a good flow/layout to host people and make sure nothing falls apart.
A website designer is the person who makes the home look beautiful with the right colors, furniture and decor and a common theme to draw visitors to the best parts of the home and want to see more.
Many website companies will have both a website developer and designer for custom website. If you’re spec’ing a custom website company, it’s important to know that many solopreneur business owners wear multiple hats, so don’t be surprised if you find a number of web designers who have coding experience and/or web developers who are also skilled in Photoshop, DreamWeaver and other tools that designers primarily use.
What to Look for In a Website Developer or Website Designer
Although this post only scratches the surface of the complex web design and web development world, the goal here is to illuminate which type of professional you’ll need.
When hiring a professional, ask for several website portfolio examples and take the time to fully interact with those websites before moving forward with a project. Also ask if they have a specialty — are they better at one of the disciplines (development or design) or do they only offer one of the two?
Who knows? Maybe the person who’s skilled in both is the right fit for you and your business.
Learn more about how we can work together to bring your brand story to life on and offline.
