Today, there are more than 1.5 billion websites on the internet. All small and big enterprises have established their own website in order to grow. But you need outstanding web design and incredible web development to win this race of the tech-savvy world.
Do you know the power and the potential of superbly built websites? We all know how it helps in growing any business. They help in generating leads, traffic, sales, and ultimately more revenue. In fact, such websites are very important for introducing products and services to your potential customers. Here are some crucial stats on how web design and development can drastically impact your business:
- First impressions of websites are 94% related to design.
- It takes 0.05 seconds for users to create an opinion about your website.
- 84.6% of web designers said that crowded web design was the most common mistake by small businesses.
- Most mobile users expect a website to load in 3 seconds or less.
- 88.5% of website designers believe slow loading is the main reason people leave a website.
The above-mentioned statistics clearly show how little things can drastically affect your business. Both web development and design blend together to create an appealing and engaging website.
Web Design vs Web Development – Meaning
Website Design is not limited to a particular area. Anything and everything on the website that attracts visitors and converts them into customers is included in website design. Web design is a broad task rather than just choosing color combinations and aesthetic templates.
Website design includes a lot of psychological as well as marketing aspects. This enables web designers to render personalized web experiences to the users. Web design also includes creating a fine balance between the design and code of the website while syncing them.
Web Development included everything in website development except designing the website. Web developers convert the design conceptualized by the designers using different codes. There is a to and fro coordination with the design team to transform ideas into reality while including technical integrations and cost optimization.
At first glance, web development may seem like the next stage of web design but it’s not like that. Web developers transform clients’ requirements and designer’s concepts into reality by collaborating with them and using technical knowledge as well as tools.
Web Design vs Web Development – The Parts
Both web design and development consists of various subcategories. Let’s have a look at them:
Website Design Service Include:
- Web Design
It includes services such as WordPress Web Development. Here, mainly smaller websites are developed using CMS (Content Management System).
- UX Design
This includes researching data and analyzing human behavior to design an outstanding user experience. The testing process in UX design includes a stringent validation process to render an exceptional user experience and hence is time-consuming.
- UI Design
UI Design includes visual designs, illustrations, spacing, text size, and its arrangement along with typography. The main focus of user interface design is to gain a flawless and smooth website that drives conversions.
- UX/UI Design
When both user interface and user experience are worked upon, it’s UX/UI design. Here the UI/UX designer’s main goal is to focus on achieving high-end performance and usability of a website that results in high lead generation.
Website Development Service Include:
- Front-end Development
This service includes client-side web development with the technologies like HTML, Javascript, and CSS. Front-end developers transform designs into coding and are involved with a web designing company.
- Back-end Development
This service includes server-side website development. A few examples of back-end website development services include Java, PHP, and .NET which ensure the full functionality of the website.
- Full-Stack Development
Full-stack development includes coding on both ends of the website. These developers have the knowledge and skills of all the technologies and can render cost-efficient options for developing websites.
Read Also: 5 Web Development and Digital Marketing Case Studies Businesses Can Learn From
Web Designers vs Web Developers – The Skills
As website design and development are different professions but interlinked with each other, both web designers and web developers need different skills to achieve success in their respective fields. Below mentioned are a few skills you need to look for in a web designer and developer.
Skills of Web Designers
- Mapping the User Journey
A web designer must have the skills to be able to decide how a user will travel or navigate through their website for conversion. The website design must be in alignment with the visualized path.
- Brand Development
Web designers must have the right skills and knowledge to elevate any company’s brand value in the market by implementing appropriate design theory while crafting a website design.
- Color/format/font Theory
Color/format/font theory is the basic need for designing any website. Almost every designer has these skills. These features of the website lay a deep impact on the user interface and experience.
- Accessibility Knowledge
An easily accessible website is the new trend. People don’t tend to like a complex website these days. Hence, a designer must have the ability to design a website in a manner it can be easily accessed by a large audience.
- HTML and CSS Coding
There is a popular misconception that designers have no ideas about codes. They must have a basic idea about coding which can act as an add-on to their skills in order to make a robust website.
- SEO
The designers having skills in custom SEO can enhance the conversion rates by implementing efficient ways to boost the website rankings.
- Interactive Design
This enables the web designers to craft empathetic designs for the target audience which ultimately accelerates user interaction. Such designs drive conversion rates.
Skills of Web Developers
- Programming Languages – Frameworks – Libraries
Developers must have the ability in some programming depending on the part of the website they work on. There are various different languages in which a website can be developed.
- Version Control System
It enables web developers to solve issues during the development without the fear of overwriting work. Git is one such popular VCS that allows developers to seamlessly manage web development.
- Responsive Web Design
This skill has become a must-have skill for any website development. Hence you cannot afford to hire a web developer who lacks such skills where a user can seamlessly access the website on all the devices.
- Debugging and Testing
Testing plays a very important role in web development as the website has to go through a strict testing process to make sure that the final product is free from all the bugs. Developers must have the skills to debug every bug found in the codes.
- SEO
Developers must have a brief knowledge of SEO in order to boost conversion rates. They must have a basic While drafting codes, they must be able to take necessary steps to optimize the website for search engines.
Web Design vs Web Development – The Tools
Tools in Web Design
- Web Design Software
It is a must-have tool for web design services. A web designer utilizes various tools such as Photoshop, CorelDraw, Sketch, etc for designing.
- Image Optimization Tools
Images are a vital part of a website as compressing and resizing them is necessary to make them appropriate for a quick-loading website.
- Prototyping Tools
These tools enable designers to quickly build products without wasting any time. They render an overview of the design ideas as well as the interaction ability. There are various prototyping tools available in the market such as Abode XD.
- Stock Photography
Website design is all about images and graphics. Thus, it’s very necessary to be skilled with image tools like iStock where there are a lot of image options.
- Wireframing Tools
It is a very important tool that enables you to build a screen blueprint after understanding the requirements of the clients and users. One of the popular wireframing tools is Mockflow.
Tools in Web Development
- CMS
There are various websites developed in CMS such as Drupal, WordPress web development, Joomla, and many more. The developer must have deep knowledge about all these content management systems.
- Integrated Development Tools
The developers can get comprehensive development facilities with these tools. It consists of a code editor, debugger, and automation tools.
- Web Hosting Tools
There are various control panels that render the strong web hosting management. The developers manage the website, email, and much more with tools such as cPanel.
- Testing Tools
Various tools help in testing various functions of the website such as performance, speed, and optimization. Some of the popular tools are TestRail and Lighthouse
- Browser Development Tools
Web Development tools in a web browser are very important tools. Browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc. have built-in tools that can be easily downloaded from their plugin centers.
Web Designers vs Web Developers – Types
There are different types of website designers and developers based on the particular services. Here are their roles and the things to keep in mind while hiring them:
Types of Web Designers
- UX Designers
The designers that work with the user experience aspect of design are called UX designers. They must have the ability to conduct good research as well as psychological and analytical skills. - UI Designers
The designers that work with the user interface aspect of the design are called UI Designers. They must have in-depth knowledge of typography, theories, color palette, and SEO. - UX/UI Designers
The designers that possess both the needed skills are known as UX/UI designers. You can easily save a lot of costs when you hire them as they have the right knowledge to look after the entire functionality of the website.
Types of Web Developers
- Front-end Developers
The developers that take care of the front-end development of the website are called front-end developers. They must have in-depth knowledge and skills of CSS, HTML, and Javascript. - Back-end Developers
The developers that take care of the back-end development of the website are called back-end developers. They must have in-depth knowledge of back-end programming languages such as Java, Ruby, PHP, etc. - Full-stack Developers
These developers are the most cost-effection option for any web development company as they can hire one developer instead of two. They have knowledge of both – front-end and back-end development and thus can be hired for client and server-side development.
Web Designers vs Web Developer – Whom Should I Hire?
You are the one who can decide whom should you hire based upon the priorities and requirements of your company. Who can develop a successful website for your business? Loading speed is an important aspect of website development and can equally impact both activities. There are various aspects such as navigation, experience, optimization, and much more where are dependent on each other.
You can build a successful website when web design and development processes are interlinked simultaneously and collaboratively. You cannot eradicate one out of your web development plan.
Today, there is fierce competition in the market. And you can’t risk to overburden a single professional with various tasks. Thus, it is important to hire a web designer and a web developer if you want to render extraordinary solutions to your clients.
Webential can be your reliable partner in doing so. We have an entire team of certified web designers and professional web developers who can craft beautiful websites with full functionalities to help you soar high in the market. As a web design, development, and digital marketing agency, we have rendered top-class solutions to our clients. Talk to our Experts and they will be more than happy to help you in the entire journey.
