Web Designer Or Web Developer: Which Do You Need?

A website is important for small businesses to have an online presence to display their products and services to those in need of what the business has to offer. Prior to the pandemic, more than 60% of local business shoppers first checked the internet for what they were looking for prior to deciding where to spend their money. Post pandemic that number has risen significantly along with online ordering for nearly everything a person would need on a daily basis. Businesses that did not make the shift to internet marketing suffered tremendously during the pandemic. Some small business even had to shut their doors never to return to business because they did not make the shift to online marketing.

In today’s web-focused world, it is not uncommon to see web designers and web developers working side by side. However, what exactly is the difference between a web designer and a web developer? In addition, if you are in need of either one, how can you tell which one will be best for your project needs?

Need A Web Designer?

Web designers specialize in the design aspect of web development. The web designer is the person that comes up with the layout and design of a website. They often work on logos, branding, graphics and typography to create an attractive interface for visitors. Web designers can also be called “graphic designer,” but they do more than just place images and photos on pages of your website. They are more artistic than web developers are. They are often concerned with aesthetics such as color schemes or layout in a way that web developers might not be as involved.

Web designers can work independently without any coding knowledge while web developers require extensive knowledge of the intended purpose for the website. So knowing and understanding how to write code is important for web developers but not necessarity for web designers.

Web Developers: What they do

Web developers are web programmers and software engineers. They do more of the technical work such as coding to create features like search engine optimization (SEO) or online stores. They are more concerned with coding and backend aspects like databases and web servers that make websites run smoothly. They are more likely to spend their time in front of a computer screen rather than worrying about site visitors’ reactions.

Web designers design the entire website, but web developers can only create certain aspects such as how it looks and navigates. Web developers also help with coding which web designers do not typically do. A web developer will spend their time on coding the site with scripts, programming languages, HTML or CSS. They are also responsible for making sure it is user-friendly so people can easily find information they want online.

Web Designers and Web Developers Work Together

More often than not, companies need to hire Web teams that can work together to create sites. A reliable Web team will have at least one developer and designer. A web development company, such as Home Service Direct, is needed when you need reliable web teams who know how everything works together in order to create an amazing new website for your business.