Web Developers and Designers: Do You Know the Difference?

By the Book 

Let’s break this down before getting to the knitty gritty. There can sometimes be overlap between designers and developers, but there is a difference. 

The first question to be answered is: what is a web developer? These are the people who build and maintain the websites. They really focus on the functionality and programming of the site. Developers learn many different coding languages for front end and back end coding. They use these to create a fully functional and user appropriate site. There are a lot of behind the scene things that are important that you have to avoid any issues along the line. These are the individuals who make sure your site is accessible for all people, no matter their needs. 

Front End	Back End
HTML	PHP
CSS	Ruby
JavaScript	JAVA

Our next question to answer is: what is a web designer? These are typically people who specialize in graphic design. A web designer will determine the layout of the site, the colors, imagery, etc. They will use their creativity to help enhance the site beyond just having great functionality. Without a great design, websites wouldn’t get as many clicks as they could. Human beings are visual creatures. They love when colors, text, and images flow together to create an awesome viewing experience. This is why designers are so important! 

Joining Forces

Oftentimes, and mostly in my own experience, you can see teams of people working together on one project.  This is very beneficial in the sense that two brains are better than one. Having multiple people on a project is good for time management, brainstorming, and creating an amazing user experience. 

“ The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team, ”

Phil Jackson 

Teams play off its members strengths and weaknesses. Which is another reason why being a part of a team is beneficial. Having someone there to back you up and help when needed is what makes the magic happen. 

Why You Should Hire Professionals

There are a lot of Build-It-Yourself website hosting services that allow you to do little to no work and still create an okay website. The problem with this is that you have no idea what you’re actually doing and there are a lot of setbacks to doing so: 

• You can’t access the HTML or CSS
• You can’t edit the themes – what you get is what you get
• You have almost no control with what you can make 

This is why hiring and individual or team to make your website is the better option! Not only do you get an awesome and unique website, but you also get to network and get your name out there. 

Having an impressive online presence is important nowadays. Everything is online and people like nice websites. Hiring a professional means your site won’t be delayed getting pushed out to the internet, you get full control and input into what your site can look like, and web developers/designers have knowledge of all the new technology and options for you. 

To say the least, web designers/developers are the gurus of the web!