Web Designers vs Web Developers… Thinking about which way to go? Web design or Web development? This post will help you to make up your mind. Web design and web development are often thrown together under one heading, usually design as this is the best known term. They are actually two very different aspects of creating a website. In layman’s terms, the design aspect is the bit the customer sees, and the development part is how it all works below the surface. While many employees in the field will be adept at both aspects, most will specialise in one area whilst retaining enough knowledge of the other to get by.
Web Designers
Interested in the layout of the site in terms of how a customer views it, they focus on the look and feel of a page, and client needs are the top priority. Designers look at the usability of a site, especially ease of navigation and clarity of purpose. They will be the ones who decide which graphics to use and where to place them, based on their knowledge of the purpose of the site and the requirements of the customer.
Generally, designers don’t use much code, although few people make it far in web design without at least a working knowledge of JavaScript. They concentrate on making the website a place people want to be by creating an interface that customers feel comfortable using.
Web Developers
More like the backstage crew – the audience is largely unaware of their existence, yet without them the show would quickly fall apart. The development team behind any website will work on the effective running of the site, using programming code to enable pages to load smoothly amongst other things. They are primarily concerned with the performance of the site rather than the layout, and focus on operational aspects.
Income
In terms of who brings in the most money for a business – the designers are probably responsible for bringing in the most new business, as their work is the first thing a visitor to the site sees. However, a site can look wonderful, but if it takes too much time to load each page or the site fails to operate properly then customers will soon switch to another, faster site.
In general, web developers can expect to be paid slightly more than web designers, partially due to the fact that they need to be fluent in all types of backend programming code. However, designers must spend more time examining markets and have a more creative flair, so should perhaps have their pay increased to fall in line.
Web designers in Birmingham, London and indeed across the UK work in tandem with the developers to create websites that are informative and easy to use, and which look good and work perfectly.
This post was provided on behalf of Fast-Fwd
