Many people are after a website. Some care more about how it looks visually whilst others care a lot about their google ranking. Some are even after custom features on their website. Web Designer or Web Developer? Who should you hire?

Am I looking for a Web Designer or a Web Developer?

This is a question many people often ponder. Am I supposed to ask for a designer? Am I really after a developer?

Web Designer

Web Designers are often very good at creating pretty websites. They have a keen sense for design, know how to place certain colours and fonts together and generally create a concept in photoshop first. Some Web Designers have basic HTML and CSS skills which enables them to freelance and make websites for clients. Usually a Web Designer will purchase a theme that matches the clients desires and will use HTML and CSS to change the design slightly to suit the client.

Web Developers

Web Developers are often coders. They are proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and also a backend language such as PHP, Java etc. They are able to get a colour scheme together and can create a good design but might have to rely on external designers or stock imagery to give the website some visual pop.

So who should I choose?

That is entirely up to you! If you are more interested in the visual appearance of your website and might even need a logo created too, a web designer may be the way to go. If they select the correct base theme, the code quality should be ok.

If you are more interested in making sure your code is fantastic for SEO reasons, a developer might be able to assess the code of themes you purchase or even be able to write a custom theme with all the SEO tricks in mind.

If you have a theme and love everything about it except a few colour and images, a designer would be able to assist. If you have a theme but want some custom features created, you would need to hire a developer.

I have actually met many people who are both fantastic designers and developers. Sometimes you don’t need to choose!