Web Design Vs. Web Development Key Differences To Help You Differentiate The Two

Web design and web development are terms that have been used interchangeably by people for some time now. Although they both pertain to the creation and maintenance of websites, these fields are quite distinct. Both require different skill sets that are fundamental to getting a great site. From information gained by Google Analytics, companies are looking for web design Jacksonville and web design Rome GA . As such, it makes sense to get some clarity on the matter.

A quick overview: Web Designers vs. Web Developers

Both these professionals are critical in building a fully functional website but are involved in entirely different areas. As for the web developer, they create a website’s foundation by the use of coding languages such as JavaScript, JQuery, and the likes.

Web designers in Jacksonville, on the other hand, are focused on the user and creating something that’s visually appealing to the target audience. In a nutshell, you can think of the web developers as the construction workers and the designers as the architects, both crucial in realizing your dream house!

The Web designer

A web designer is in charge of making your website look good. Their main agenda is in the feel and styling of the website. They use different tools at their disposal, such as Photoshop, to create custom visual elements and coding language such as HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to enhance their designs. In the field of web design, these professionals often specialize in some areas so that they can provide their best work. Some of them include:

  • User Experience (UX) designing

The job of a UX designer is to get visitors to the website hooked on it. This means that they know how to perfectly craft a website for a particular audience to draw them in and keep them there. They achieve these results by doing thorough, intensive research into users’ website needs and intensely analyzing demographic data.

Furthermore, there is plenty of prototype testing and site restructuring so that they can get it right for the customer. When people enjoy using a website, nine times out of 10, they will revisit it and even recommend it to a couple of people. This way, you get the most reliable form of advertising on your site: word of mouth or its share equivalent.

  • User Interface (UI) designer

The role of a UI web designer in Jacksonville is to optimize user’s interactions with various elements on the website. That is often done by translating brand values and ideas into a website. This way, they provide value to the website’s visitor and also ensure that the visitor enjoys their time on the platform. While the role of the UI and UX designers might seem to overlap, the major difference in the two is that a UX designer largely focuses on research for a solid foundation while the UI designer is solely focused on the aesthetics.

The Web Developer

As highlighted earlier, web developers’ focus on making the website function as it should. Their main goal is to help turn the designs into a live website that functions properly. They leverage software tools and web languages to get the website functional.

Although a website might be quite appealing to the eyes, if it doesn’t provide the visitor with the function they need, it’s utterly useless. Web developers create a framework for a smooth running website via software such as JQuery and JavaScript and then hand it over to the web designers to work their creative magic on them.

Web developers also have different specializations that help them to do their best work. They include:

  • The back-end developer

The back-end developer is crucial in creating and maintaining a proper website. Although their work is not visible to the user, without their input, websites are simply shells with nothing underneath. They code directly onto the databases and web servers using complex software languages such as Java, SQL, and C#. They, therefore, create functional websites by continuously fixing bugs and testing the website so that actual website visitors have a smooth experience using the website.

  • Front end developer

Also known as client-side development, front end development is closely related to web-design. That is because it often involves using code to create things people can see using languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. To bridge the gap between these two developers, there is a full-stack developer. They have a lot of knowledge on both the front and back end and can, therefore, work across both fields comfortably.

Conclusion

Companies and individuals looking to get a website redesign or a fresh start for their websites will need both web developers and designers to make the project a success. Both of these parties are essential in the digital world as such their roles have been clearly highlighted above. Although they perform different roles, it’s not wise to hire them separately. Finding an agency that does both is better since they can better collaborate and produce the best possible outcome.