Web Design VS Web Development: Which Is More Crucial For Your Business? 

Do you know there are more than 1.5 billion websites on the internet? The reason behind the vast volume of websites over the internet is the power that these websites hold. This is why every small and large company has established its own website. Both web design vs web development has become an indispensable part of contemporary businesses.

Are you wondering about the incredible potential that websites hold? We are all aware of the ability of websites to contribute to the growth and success of a business. They are well-known for their lead generation. In fact, websites are the most crucial online weapon to introduce your products and services to the target audience.

Anything messed up on your website can cost hundreds of customers to your business. Let’s check the incredible potential of websites to affect the minds of your potential customers. Here are some statistical data which shows how the efficiency (inefficiency) of web design and development will impact your business:

• The unattractive layout can stop 38% of visitors from engaging with your website
• Around 47% of people expect a web page to load in less than 2 seconds
• 97% First impressions are based on the website design
• 62% witnessed a rise in sales after designing responsive websites.
• 64% of visitors expect contact information on the homepage of the website

These stats are a clear indication of how little things have an extreme impact on the way a user will interact with your website. Both Web design and web development contribute to all these little things in their own ways.

For example, as we just read in the stats that people expect a website to load within 2 seconds. Whom will you blame if the loading speed becomes the reason for your website failure? Here comes the moment when we get confused about whom we should depend upon more; web designers or web developers. Let us try to resolve this:

• Web design can lower the loading time by using compressed image files, avoiding too much content, trimming pages, and other such things.
• Web development can lower the loading time by using advanced file compression, save bandwidth by using CSS sprites which will improve the delivery network.

You will be able to curb the low loading speed issue with a collaborative effort of web designers vs web developers. Undoubtedly, both web design and web development have their own roles in uplifting the performance of a website. So, do you think your website can manage without any one of them?

Apparently, the doubt about the design vs development strikes us all. Which one is more crucial for the growth of our business? This blog is an attempt to resolve this doubt in a systematic way.

Here are some top queries related to web design vs web development:

• What is web development vs web design in brief?
• What are the parts of web design and web development?
• How are the skills of web designers different from web developers?
• What are the tools used in web design and web development?
• What are the different types of web developers and web designers?
• Whom should I hire; web designers or web developers?

The answers to these queries are given below. They are based on the practical experiences and study of the web design and development industry. It is an attempt to show both sides of the coin without any prejudices.

What is Web Development vs Web Design in Brief?

Website Design is not restricted to a particular area. Anything on a website that can attract visitors and convert them into clients is related to web design. Web design is often misunderstood as a task which involves choosing aesthetic templates and color combination.

Contrary to this misconception, web design involves a lot of marketing and psychological aspects. This allows web designers to provide a customized web experience to end-users. Moreover, web design also involves creating a balance between the design and coding of the website to ensure both of them get into sync.

Web Development involves every process in website development except web designing. The design conceptualized by the designer is converted using codes by web developers. They coordinate with the web design team and convert their concepts into websites with cost-effectivity and optimum technology integration.

It may seem that web development is the next stage of web design but it is not so. Web developers put the designers’ concepts and clients’ requirements on the same page and work in collaboration with them in a scientific approach by utilizing technical tools and knowledge.

What are the Parts of Web Design vs Web Development?

After understanding the concept of web design vs web development in a brief, let us explore their various parts. They both are constituted of various sub-categories which are explained in detail below:

Web Design Services Include,

Web Design:

It involves services like WordPress web development where simple websites are developed using content management systems with a focus on designing for smaller sites.

UX Design:

It involves designing the user experience which requires data research and human behavior analysis. The testing process in UX design is time taking as it involves a stringent validation process to create the impeccable user experience.

UI Design:

It involves visual design, typography, and illustrations that are presented on a website. User interface design aims at achieving flawless websites that lead to conversions.

UX/UI Design:

It involves working for both the user interface and user experience. UX/UI designer strives to achieve high-end usability and performance of a website with high lead generation.

Web Development Services Include,

Front-end Development:

This deals with client-side web development with the help of technologies like CSS, HTML, and javascript. They convert designs into coding and are closely involved with the web designing company.

Back-end Development:

It involves the development of server-side websites. Java, .NET, PHP website development services are a few examples of back-end programming that ensures the overall functionality of the website.

Full-Stack Development:

This involves the coding of both sides of the website. Full-stack developers are knowledgeable about all the technologies and are the cost-effective options for website development.

How to Identify the Skills of Web Designers vs Web Developers?

Being different professionals, web designers and web developers require different skills to succeed in their respective fields. Here are a few skills which you must look for in a web designer vs web developer

Skills of Web Designers

• User Journey Mapping: A web designer must be able to decide how a user will travel through their website for conversion. The design should be aligned with the visualized pathway.
• Brand Development: The web designer should be skilled to enhance the position of your brand in the market by using appropriate design theory while constructing a website design that highlights your brand values.
• Color/format/font theory: It is the basic requirement for web designing and almost every designer holds these skills. These attributes of a website have a great impact on the user interface and experience.
• Accessibility knowledge: Accessible web design has become the new trend to make your website accessible by users with different physical abilities. If you do not have one then go for a website redesign.
• HTML and CSS coding: It is a popular misconception that designers do not code but the basic coding knowledge is an add-on in their skills that make them more proficient in delivering web design services.
• SEO: The web designer who possesses the expertise in custom SEO can improve conversion rates by incorporating effective ways to boost the ranking of a website. This opens the SEO vs web developer argument as well.
• Emotion and interaction design: This strengthens the web designers to create empathetic designs for the target persona which in turn increases the user interaction. These designs boost conversion rates by many folds.

Skills of Web Developers

• Programming languages and their frameworks and libraries: Depending on the part of the website they work, developers need to have efficiency in some programming language. There are many languages out of which a web designer has hand-on experience in a few.
• Version Control System: It allows web developers to resolve issues during development with the help of other developers without any fear of overwriting work. One such popular VCS is Git which allows them to manage web development.
• Responsive web design: This has become a standard for website development. Hence you cannot afford to hire web developer who lacks the skills to create websites that can be accessed seamlessly through all types of devices.
• Debugging and Testing: Testing holds an important role in web development work as the website has to undergo a stringent testing process to ensure the final product is bug-free. Apart from testing, the web developer must be skilled in debugging every bug found in their codes.
• SEO: A brief knowledge of search engine optimization for web developers in must-to-have skills to boost the conversion rates. While writing codes, they can take the necessary steps to optimize the website for search engines if they are clear about SEO basics.

What are the tools used in web design and web development?

Similar to the differences in their skills, there is a substantial difference in web design vs web development tools also. The professionals use separate tools to execute these two jobs. Let us find out some of the crucial tools used in web design and web development

Tools used in Web design

• Web design Software: These are the souls of web design services. A web designer uses various designing tools like Photoshop, CorelDraw, Sketch, etc.
• Image Optimization Tools: Images make a crucial part of websites as compressing and resizing them is important to make them appropriate for your website’s quick loading.
• Prototyping tools: These tools allow designers to create products faster without any time wastage. They provide an overview of the design ideas and interaction ability. There are several prototyping tools like Adobe XD.
• Stock Photography: Web designing is all about playing with graphics and images. Hence it is important to be versed with image tools like iStock where there is an abundance of image options.
• Wireframing Tools: It is also a crucial tool that helps in creating a screen blueprint after understanding the needs of the clients as well as users. Mockflow is one of the popular wireframing tools.

Tools used in Web Development

• CMS: Yes there are many websites developed on CMS like Drupal, Joomla, WordPress web development, and so on. The developer must have knowledge about these content management systems.
• Integrated Development Tools: These tools provide developers with comprehensive development facilities. There is a code editor, debugger, and automation tools.
• Web Hosting Tools: There are control panels that offer powerful web hosting management. With these tools like cPanel, the developers manage the website, email, and others.
• Testing Tools: There are tools that assist in checking the website for various functions like speed, performance, and optimization. Lighthouse and TestRail are some of the popular testing tools.
• Browser Development Tools: Web development tools in web browsers come as an add-on. Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc have built-in tools that can be downloaded from their plugin centers.

What are the Different Types of Web Designers vs Web Developers?

Based on the types of web design parts and web development parts, their professionals, web designers vs web developers, are also divided. Let’s explore their roles and the things you need to keep in mind while hiring them:

Types of Web designers:

• UX Designers:

The designers that deal with the user experience aspect of design are known as UX designers. Make sure they possess good research and psychological analytical skills.

• UI Designers:

The designers that deal with the user interface aspect of the design are known as UI Designers. Make sure they possess strong knowledge of color, typography, theories, and SEO.

• UX/UI Designers:

They possess all the required skills of both types of designers. If you will hire them, you will be able to save costs as these designers will look after the complete functionality of the website.

Types of Web developers:

• Front-End Developers:

These developers will look after the front-end development of the website. Hence, you need to check them for their skills in HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

• Back-End Developers:

These developers will handle the back-end development of the website. They generally possess the knowledge of back-end programming languages like PHP, Java, Ruby, etc.

• Full-Stack Developers:

They are the most cost-effective option as you can hire them instead of hiring two separate developers for the client and server-side development.

Whom should I hire; web designers vs web developers?

The answer to this question can be found by only you. Without whom you can develop a successful website for your business? It has been described earlier how loading speed is impacted by both of these activities equally. There are many such attributes like navigation, optimization, experience, and others which are dependent on both of them.

A successful website is developed when web design vs web development processes are executed simultaneously and collaboratively. There is no option to eliminate one of these out of your website development plan.

Keeping in mind the fierce competition among websites, you cannot risk overburdening a single professional with different activities. Hence, it’s necessary to hire web designer and web developer if you aim to achieve extraordinary outcomes with your website!

Sparx IT Solutions can help you with this. We have certified web designers as well as developers to create a website that can take your business to new heights. As an acclaimed web design and development company, we have a demonstrated history of successfully launched websites. You can contact us today to create a new and incredible journey for your business!