Web Developer or Web Designer? Who Should You Hire

If you’re a business owner looking to build your company’s website, who should you hire, a web developer or web designer? It depends on what you need for your website, but, let’s be clear about it: web developers do coding, while web designers, in a word, design.

Seeing these two jobs might confuse you, especially if the distinction you have for your site is unclear. Let’s delve a little closer between the job titles.

Web design

If you want to prioritize visual aesthetics, a web designer is the one who cooks up the colour scheme, visual flow, branding, and typography aspects. They focus on the overall look of a page, using applications like Illustrator or Photoshop. Sometimes, they even integrate videos or web animations to bring digital design experience to life. However, there’s more to just design to the web designer. We’ll tackle what they usually do.

• User experience. Not only should the website look good, but it should also be functional on the visitor’s end. Usually, web designers are equipped with basic coding and programming languages such as CSS, HTML, and Java to make it happen.
• User interface. A web designer should integrate all design elements that will complement the web’s brand, marketing goals, and user satisfaction. Its aesthetic factors should complement the reason why you made a website in the first place.

Today’s trend brings the need for web designers to learn how to do basic coding. Looking pretty can only get you noticed, but, a working website will make a customer stay and engage with you.

Web development

A web developer is someone who frames and plans out the look of the website with programming languages. One can be a front-end or back-end developer to determine how the website functions. Front-end developers overlap works with web designers especially if the designer knows how to code. Basically, designers provide colours, branding, and typography while front-enders code the elements to make it work.

Back-enders creates the backbone or foundation of your website. They don’t aim for an appealing look but create sites that are technically clean and well-sound. These individuals are highly flexible given that their work with various systems for mobile, gaming, and app development. They deal with servers and databases, as well as looking for bugs and errors.

Web developers make use of programming languages such as:

C++

SQL

Java

HTML

CSS

JQuery

Git and GitHub

Basically, a designer and developer are akin to an architect and engineer. Similar to web designers, some developers also tinker with design elements to know what ticks the visitors. Netizens often use the layman’s term of “UNICORN,” to individuals who serve as both designers and developers.

Web Developer or Web Designer?

If you’re confused about who to hire, you should look into the needs of your website. You can’t just say it has to be one or the other. For example, building a custom website from scratch will require both developer and designer. The designer can create layouts, graphic elements, and photo editing services, while the developer can code to bring these elements to life.

If you have a website mainly built with templates, and you wish to have little adjustments, you may call on for help with a designer. However, if you need to tweak the codes on the template itself, you need to seek help from a web developer.

What to look for in a digital marketing agency

If you’re looking to create a powerhouse website, you might need the assistance of a digital marketing team. Web designer, check. Web developer, check. Marketing team, check. Content creator, check. What else?

Relevant experience

Choose a digital marketing agency that has garnered relevant experience and expertise within the industry. Can they deliver what they or all are just big talks? Take a look at their portfolio and the work they’ve done. Take time to visit the sites they’ve designed and look for similarities in every site they design. Chances are, that’s they’re branding. Are they into minimalism? Negative space? Or, quirky designs?

A roundup team

Your digital marketing agency should be made up of a diverse team with varying talents, experience, and expertise – multi-disciplinary, if possible, and whether they would be a web developer or web designer, content creator or social media manager. As mentioned in our previous posts, a digital agency comprises of brand imaging, content creation, social media, online marketing strategy, search engine optimization, design, and web development. You don’t want to hire a digital marketing agency that specializes in one thing only, do you? You can, actually. But, if you want to optimize your website, you need all the creative minds together.

Has a culture that cares

The team you’re hiring will be working closely with you for the duration of the project. It’s important that their company personality, culture, or vibe is in line with yours for smooth project creation. Are they fun, passionate, and supportive? Do they meet your needs and garner you positively even when the work is demanding?

Communicative

Does the agency reply back in an acceptable and timely manner to your problems? Other than being able to respond back in time, the agency should be able to communicate their ideas and beliefs when working with you. Can they even describe what they want for your website? Or rather, can they comprehend what you’re asking them to do? Communication is a two-way factor that contributes to the success of your website.

Creativity

Especially for designers, one needs to be creative to bring your website to life. It’s not just about putting a page about your company out there, you need to hook visitors with visuals, storytelling, colour schemes, and copy. Being blah about your website reciprocates similar responses from your visitors.