What is the Difference Between Web Design and Web Development?
If you’re confused about the difference between web design and web development, you’re not alone. The two go hand in hand, and people often say one when they mean the other.
So, let’s clear things up.
But first, you should know that WorldLight Media provides both web design and web development for our clients. So we know and value the differences between the roles.
Web Design
The web designer plans how a website will look and function. They consider both the company’s goals and what the user hopes to accomplish when coming to the site, and then they create a site designed to achieve both.
How the site looks (colors, fonts, images) is certainly part of the equation. But so is the user experience when on the site. Things like easy-to-read formatting, accessible navigation, intuitive next steps, and clear calls to action are all components of the web designer’s plan for a great website.
Web Development
The web developer takes the designer’s plan and makes it a reality. This includes the coding and scripting on the backend of a site as well as the technical aspects of a website like performance, speed, capacity, and security.
Things like HTML, CSS, Java, PHP, SQL are all in the web developer’s toolbox.
How Web Designers and Web Developers Work Together
If you think of building a website like building a house, the web designer is the architect who plans how the house will look based on how it will be used. The web developer is the contractor who actually builds the house.
Can a single person be both a web designer and a web developer? Of course! The disciplines are so closely related that it is often helpful when a web designer also knows web development, and vice versa.
As we mentioned earlier, WorldLight Media does both under our one roof. We design and build beautiful, technically solid websites that provide great user experience and meet the goals of our clients.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or need to revise and update your existing website, we’d love to help you! Contact us to learn more.
