Web Development vs. Web Design – What’s the Difference?

When you think about web design & development, you’re essentially talking about two different parts of creating a website. Web design is like the blueprint or the look and feel of the site, while web development is like building the actual structure and making everything look alike. So, one deals with appearance, and the other deals with functionality.

Web Development

Web development is all about writing the code that makes a website work. There are two main parts: front-end and back-end. Front-end deals with how the website looks and behaves, while back-end handles data storage and processing. 

Front-end developers work closely with web designers to make sure the site looks good and functions properly. Some skills and tools commonly used by front-end developers include:

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript: These are the fundamental languages used to create and style web pages, as well as add interactivity to them.

• CSS Preprocessors (i.e., LESS or Sass): These are tools that extend the functionality of CSS, allowing for variables, functions, and other features to make styling more efficient.

• Frameworks (i.e., AngularJS, ReactJS, Ember): These are pre-built collections of code and libraries that provide structure and functionality to web applications, making development faster and easier.

• Libraries (i.e., jQuery): These are collections of pre-written JavaScript code that provide commonly used functionality, such as DOM manipulation and event handling, to simplify web development.

• Web Template Design: This involves creating pre-designed layouts or templates for websites, which can then be customized with content to create the final website.

• On-site SEO: This Involves, optimising a website’s content, structure, and HTML code, technical SEO aspects to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results.

• Git & GitHub: Git is a version control system used to track changes to code, while GitHub is a platform for hosting and collaborating on Git repositories.

Front-end web developers bring designer mock-ups to life. They use their skills to code and create the visual and interactive elements of a website. While designers provide the overall look and feel, developers use their understanding of UI/UX best practices to choose the right technology and deliver the desired user experience.

Back-end developers work on the behind-the-scenes part of an application. They handle tasks like managing data and making sure everything runs smoothly. They use languages like PHP, Python, Java, or C#, along with frameworks like Ruby on Rails or Symfony. They also work with databases like MySQL or MongoDB to store and retrieve information. Additionally, they set up APIs to allow communication between the front and back ends of the application, & ensure security measures are in place to protect user data. 

When you put together the abilities for both front-end and back-end development, you become a full-stack developer.

Web Design

Web design is all about making websites look good and easy to use. This includes things like choosing colours, arranging content, and making sure everything is easy to find and use. Web designers use special skills and tools to make websites look their best like:

• Logo design
• Graphic design
• Typography
• Colour palettes
• UI/ UX design
• Layout/format
• Branding
• Placing call-to-action buttons
• Wireframes, mock-ups, & storyboards
• Adobe Creative Suite or other design software

Web design focuses on creating the visual elements that users see on their screens, like colours, images, text styles, and layout. It’s about making the digital experience look nice and accessible, rather than dealing with the technical stuff that makes it function behind the scenes.

Many web designers know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which lets them make interactive mock-ups of websites to show their ideas or improve the user experience. They also use tools/ CMS like WordPress or Joomla to create websites easily without needing to code everything from scratch.

What Is The Difference Between Web Development & Design?

Basically, web design & development are related but different. It’s important to invest equally in both for a great website. Design makes it look good, while development makes it work well. They work together to create a website that people can use easily. Here are some key differences between the two.

1. Creating Assets

The big difference between web design and web development is, Designers make things look good and improve the user experience, while developers make those things actually work. Designers create visual assets like images and layouts, while developers use code to bring those designs to life on the website.

2. Codding

Web designers typically don’t write code. They focus on tasks like creating images and layouts using tools like Photoshop. Coding isn’t part of their main responsibilities. Instead, web developers handle the coding part. Some companies use ‘no code’ website builders so designers can make the site look great without coding.

3. Collaboration

Web development often involves collaboration with web designers to implement the visual elements of a website and ensure that they function correctly. Web designers collaborate with web developers to ensure that their designs are translated accurately into code and to address any technical restrictions or requirements.

4. Hiring Cost

Hiring a web developer usually costs more than hiring a web designer. On average, developers charge around $36 per hour, while designers charge about $29 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter. This difference is mainly because there are more designers than developers, and coding skills are in high demand. As more people learn to code, the price gap may shrink. Ultimately, whether you hire a developer or designer, you’re paying for their experience and expertise.

To sum up, web development and web design are both important but different. Web development is about coding and technical stuff, while web design is about making things attractive and easily operated. Both are necessary for a successful website, working together to make it enjoyable and functional for users.

We hope this article has answered all your questions about web development and design. If you have any doubt or wanna know more about web development & web designing,feel free to reach out to us. As a digital marketing & web development company, we can guide you in a better way & give suggestions that suit your requirements regarding your business.

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