For those who aren’t in the web design field, the two terms “design” and “development” get mistaken for each other quite a bit. In fact, a lot of people use the terms interchangeably, thinking they mean the same thing: making a website. However, that’s not true! Website design and website development are two different entities, and knowing the difference can really help you focus your search for exactly what you’re looking for.
Website Design
So, what is website design? Website design can be thought of as the appearance of the website. It’s the customer-facing component of the website, or the front-end of the site that visitors will look at. A great website designer will know where to place and lay out content or links to help the visitor navigate through a site with ease. Not only will a good website designer use the principles of design to create a site that looks great, but he or she should be able to design a site or theme that represents your business or service. Since website design is solidly rooted in aesthetics, graphic design is a necessary skill to achieve great website design abilities.
Website designers use Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver to help design a website. They may also use HTML and CSS coding to help convert a website design into a theme, which steps into the realm of a website developer.
Website Development
Website development can be thought of as the inner workings of a website. It’s the back-end component of the site that visitors will not see, the coding that makes the website tick. A website developer focuses on how a website works and what visitors can do on the site via different functions. They are responsible for converting a website design into a fully-functioning website to make the content dynamic and interactive.
Website developers use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, MySQL and more to help confer functionality to a website. Website developers are very strong with code and have the experience needed to help you create a website that functions to your needs, whether it be a customized database, feature, or more.
So Who Makes Websites?
To be honest, it’s hard for a website designer to not know a bit of web development, and it’s hard for a website developer to not know the importance of website design and aesthetics. As a result, the line is extremely blurred between website designers and website developers.
However, there is a general difference that sets these two apart. Website designers are more of the creative type, while website developers are usually more technical in nature. If you’re hiring a website designer and you want a website with a lot of functionality and customization, make sure that website designer has extensive knowledge in website development and programming language so that he or she can take that project from start to finish for you. If you’re hiring a website developer who is only interested in converting ideas to reality, make sure they have a good design sense and a portfolio to look at as well.
Always think about what you want first as the client. Once you know what you want, ask around and be sure that whomever you choose to go with for that project is capable of getting you exactly what you need!
CryoDragon is well-versed in both website design and website development, so don’t forget to include us in your list of companies to contact for your next website project!
